Visible Music College is a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
Christian music school, with its main campus in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
and teaching sites in the Chicago,
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, and
Atascadero, California
Atascadero (Spanish for "Mire") is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, about equidistant from Los Angeles and San Francisco on U.S. Route 101. Atascadero is part of the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metropolitan statistical area, which e ...
areas.
Visible Music College is authorized for operation as a post-secondary educational institution by the
Tennessee Higher Education Commission
The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) was established by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1967 to coordinate and support the efforts of higher education institutions in the State of Tennessee. One of its statutory requirements is to ...
, offering four and three-year
Bachelor's degrees
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
, three-year
Master's degrees
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. and a one-year certificate program. It is accredited by the
Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools
The Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) is a U.S. based institutional accreditation organization that focuses on Christian colleges, universities, and seminaries seeking collegiate accreditation in the United Stat ...
(TRACS).
The small size of the school has not prevented controversy, including student-led lawsuits regarding intellectual property theft and staff attempts to stifle rape allegations.
History
Visible School was created in early 2000, after Dr.
Ken Steorts
Ken Steorts (pronounced 'storts') is the founder and president of Visible Music College in Memphis, Tennessee and founding guitarist of the Grammy-nominated band Skillet. Visible Music College is an accredited, bachelor-degree-granting institu ...
, founding guitarist of the Christian rock band
Skillet
A frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a flat-bottomed pan used for frying, searing, and browning foods. It is typically in diameter with relatively low sides that flare outwards, a long handle, and no lid. Larger pans may have a small grab ha ...
, had left the band to travel to
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...
, England to view a Christian music college resembling the idea of Visible School. After visiting the Nexus Academy of Music, he began Visible Community School of Music and Worship Arts as a ministry of Grace Covenant Church, also located in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
. The 2000–2001 school year began with twenty-one students and four full-time faculty.
During the 2001–2002 school year, the school formally separated from Grace Covenant Church, now Lifelink Church, and became an incorporated and authorized school of higher education in the state of Tennessee. In August 2002, the school grew to sixty-nine first and second year students, and partnered with
Victory University
Victory University, formerly Crichton College, was a private for-profit university in Memphis, Tennessee. It closed in May 2014 and was owned by California-based Significant Education. Victory University was accredited by the Southern Associa ...
(formerly Crichton College) for accredited coursework through the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The school also formalized relations with
Days Inn
Days Inn is a hotel chain headquartered in the United States. It was founded in 1970 by Cecil B. Day, who opened the first location in Tybee Island, Georgia. The brand is now a part of the Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, headquartered in Parsippany ...
,
Lakeland, Tennessee
Lakeland is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and a part of the Memphis metropolitan area. The population was 12,430 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Lakeland is located at .
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city ...
for dormitory housing, creating a campus for the institution. The faculty increased to twelve and programs increased to match student and faculty growth.
In late 2003, Visible School grew to seventy-nine first and second-year students, twenty faculty members, and added a school board. Two years later, the school ended its relationship with
Crichton College (Now Victory University). Students at Visible School were now able to receive loans and direct aid through
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Departmen ...
and
Title IV
Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) covers the administration of the United States federal student financial aid programs.
American colleges and universities are generally classified with regard to their inclusion under Title IV, ...
aid. However, the Department of Education denied Visible School the ability to obtain aid for its students due. Expected enrollment of 100 became 65, with the course load of 35 students paying in cash and unsecured loans. Financially the budget shrank, and many of the faculty took part-time hours and pay cuts to balance.
In the late 2005 and early 2006, a single donor stepped up to cover the costs of running the school for the remainder of the 2005–2006 academic year. Visible School was able to hire a full-time librarian and continue offering full course loads to students as a result of the TRACS accreditation process. In 2006 the school's enrollment grew to 65 full-time students.
In early 2007, the student body number rose again and the school focused on international programs and recording projects such as Visible Media Group, an artist development facet of Visible School, and Visible Music Week; a national and international week-long music training program. Two years later, TRACS accredited the institution.
![Memphis Campus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Memphis_Campus.jpg)
The school moved the campus into
Downtown Memphis, Tennessee
Downtown Memphis, Tennessee is the central business district of Memphis, Tennessee and is located along the Mississippi River between Interstate 40 to the north, Interstate 55 to the south and I-240 to the east, where it abuts Midtown Memphis.
It ...
, in 2011 after receiving a 3 million-dollar matching grant. That same year, Visible School announced its official name change to Visible Music College and launched Madison Line Records.
Campuses
Visible Music College has three campus locations in three different cities: Memphis, Chicago and Dallas.
Memphis
Memphis is the home to the flagship campus, a 45,200-square-foot building former bank headquarters. Students can gain access to the campus using the downtown trolley line. The original building used to be the C&I Bank Building that was salvaged and is now used for classrooms, offices, meeting rooms and personal practices spaces. The concrete structures were preserved, and now features a street level urban park.
The main campus also offers student housing with 63 residential units.
The average annual housing cost is $6,000 per year.
Chicago
The second campus is located less than 30 miles from Downtown Chicago in
Lansing, Illinois
Lansing is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Lansing is a south suburb of Chicago. The population was 29,076 at the 2020 census.
Geography
Lansing is located at (41.565785, -87.545791). It is south of the Chicago city limits a ...
.
Dallas
The third campus is located in North Central Dallas near Christ Fellowship Church in
McKinney, Texas
McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano and Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about north of Dallas.
The U.S. Census Bureau lis ...
.
Controversy
In 2019 Abraham Best, a former student of Visible Music College, claimed his professor Dr. John Johnson violated copyright law and stole his intellectual property. The student reported the situation to multiple staff at the college and was requested to keep it quiet, according to his complaint filed in court. After continuing to pursue the issue, the student Abraham Best was expelled from the college.
In 2022 a former student, Mara Louk, reported that Visible administrators had failed to investigate an
alleged
In law, an allegation is a claim of an unproven fact by a party in a pleading, charge, or defense. Until they can be proved, allegations remain merely assertions. sexual assault perpetrated by a male student and filed a
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Departmen ...
complaint regarding egregious misconduct by college administrators.
Instead of performing a
Title IX
Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
investigation regarding the assault, staff opened an investigation into the alleged victim for violating campus behavior contracts and engaging in
premarital sex
Premarital sex is sexual activity which is practiced by people before they are married. Premarital sex is considered a sin by a number of religions and also considered a moral issue which is taboo in many cultures. Since the Sexual Revolutio ...
. Later, Louk was offered a "Pastoral Care Contract" that stipulated that she "...would be required to finish her degree online, barred from campus and prohibited from talking to other students about her alleged assault." Louk refused the agreement, negotiations failed, and Visible expelled Louk.
Two Department of Education investigations into Title IX discrimination, and failures to abide by
Clery Act
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act or Clery Act, signed in 1990, is a federal statute codified at , with implementing regulations in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations at .
The Clery Act requ ...
provisions are currently pending.
References
External links
*
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Christian universities and colleges in the United States
Educational institutions established in 2000
Universities and colleges in Memphis, Tennessee
2000 establishments in Tennessee