George Wythe University

rdf:langString George Wythe University

rdf:langString George Wythe University (GWU) was an unaccredited, non-profit university in Salt Lake City, Utah. GWU's curriculum borrowed from the Great Books of the Western World published in 1952 by Britannica and it claimed that its methodology was based on the Socratic seminar and Oxford tutorial system. The school was named in honor of George Wythe, mentor to Thomas Jefferson. The college closed in August 2016. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, "the education at George Wythe University is unorthodox and undoubtedly conservative, pushing a small-government vision, and has roots in the teachings of Cleon Skousen." Skousen is "a significant figure in far-right politics", a frequent speaker for the John Birch Society, and was portrayed on the cover of its magazine. The university received "bad publicity for awarding degrees students never really earned", based on administrators granting "life experience credits". In a highly unusual move, the Utah Division of Consumer Protection required the university to end operations in August 2016 because its degrees were of questionable value and the university was misleading students. A Ph.D. the university awarded to Ann Tracy was revoked.