William H. Dallas, D.C., president of Western States Chiropractic College (WSCC), announced that he will not renew his contract as leader of the institution at the end of the college's fiscal year, June 30, 2003.

The announcement brought mixed reaction from chiropractors. Some credit him with the school's achievements, such as becoming the first chiropractic college to receive a federally funded research grant through HRSA (the Health Resources & Services Administration). During his tenure, the school also constructed Hampton Hall, which the college called "a state-of-the-art lecture hall that greatly enhances the learning experience of students at the institution."

However, others cheered his departure, accusing him of turning the college into a second-rate, medically oriented school that has failed to preserve the unique qualities of chiropractic.

Among his more dubious actions was to propose a new degree program: the Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine (DCM), a suggestion that generated outrage among doctors and earned the condemnation of the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA) and International Chiropractors Association.

In 1997, he allowed the WSCC campus to be used as a vaccine center and passed out material touting vaccines as a way to prevent illness. To promote the event, the WSCC newspaper, The Synapse, published a notice that proclaimed: "Need a booster shot for your three-year old? Looking to update your child's immunization records for school next September? If so, then you'll want to take advantage of a free immunization day at the College's Campus Clinic... The Campus Clinic's family practice physician, Tom Harris, D.O. ...and clinic interns will be on hand... students are encouraged to bring their children to the free clinic..."

The school also erected a large sign identifying the school's clinic as the "Western States Campus and Medical Clinic." When asked about the role of the subluxation in chiropractic for a Chiropractic Journal survey of college presidents, he refused to answer, as he did again when asked for his school's position on the Mercy Guidelines.

Dallas has long been an advocate of drug prescription rights for chiropractors, and his school reportedly provides little training in traditional chiropractic philosophy, according to many dissatisfied students there.

While many Colorado doctors were fighting to preserve the drug-free character of chiropractic in their state, Dallas wrote a letter to the Board supporting an expansion of the scope of practice to include drugs.

"This letter is to affirm our support of the pending legislation concerning the drafting of authority to doctors of chiropractic in your state to prescribe certain pharmaceutical agents in the conduct of their practices," he stated.

According to the letter, "There is a serious deficit in statutory authority regarding the use of pharmaceuticals in treatment protocols used by most chiropractic physicians. ...The need to refer to other physicians for prescribing imposes an unnecessary burden on the patient, the financial system and the treating chiropractic physician."

In 1998, the Oregon Doctors of Chiropractic (ODOC) demanded Dallas' resignation, stating that he "has been, and still is, a major embarrassment to the chiropractic profession in Oregon as well as across the country. ODOC feels that nothing short of his demise as president of WSCC will offset the damage he has done to the public's understanding of our noble profession."

Later that year, the group wrote to all chiropractic college presidents and urged them to stop the continued medicalization of the profession, exemplified by Dallas and the WSCC. The letter urged the presidents throughout the country to remove Dallas as president of CCE or censure him for his actions.

"This school has started a dangerous precedent, one that could harm our patients and our profession irreparably in the next few years if it is not dramatically and intensely fought," James K. Warner, D.C., president of ODOC, stated in the March 1998 issue of The Chiropractic Journal. "This is a battle worth fighting." ODOC also requested that the college presidents "take a bold step forward and denounce what he is doing."

Terry A. Rondberg, D.C., WCA president, also filed a complaint with the CCE against Dallas. He argued that Dallas violated the CCE's concept of chiropractic, as set forth in the "Foreword" to its "Standards for Chiropractic Programs and Institutions."

According to that document, "The application of science in chiropractic concerns itself with the relationship between structure, primarily the spine, and function primarily coordinated by the nervous system of the human body as that relationship may affect the restoration and preservation of health. Further, this application of science in chiropractic focuses on the inherent ability of the body to heal without the use of drugs or surgery."

In his complaint, Rondberg listed actions during the prior year in violation of CCE standards. He noted, "The overt medicalization of Western States is not in accordance with the spirit of the CCE's principles and definition of chiropractic," and demanded that Dallas be forced to maintain CCE standards or be denied accreditation for WSCC.