by Gene Cretsinger, D.C., ICA Chair of the Assembly

Note: the following memo was sent May 6, 2004, and is reprinted here with permission of the author.

To: ICA Representative Assembly, ICA Board of Directors and SICA Officers Copied to Dr. Don Kern, Interim President PCC, and all interested parties

From: Gene Cretsinger, D.C., ICA Chair of the Assembly

To appreciate the need for immediate action, it is vital that we understand Palmer's primary objective in excluding Dr Rondberg from Homecoming and the forced resignation of Dr. Riekeman. These are not separate events. They are inextricably tied to Palmer hiding their actions regarding the lawsuit with CCE, hiring a Past CCE president, Dr. Peter Martin, for Palmer West, permitting legislation for FSU to proceed with a chiropractic medicine college, and claiming that The WCA is counterproductive to unity. In addition to all of these events and actions, Palmer has initiated a lawsuit against Dr. Riekeman to prevent his attendance at his daughter and son‑in‑law's graduation, done for the sole purpose of mudding the waters and to complicate the struggle.

Palmer's action against Dr. Rondberg, like their action against Dr. Riekeman, is an attempt to eliminate the discussions pertaining to the philosophical concepts that promote chiropractic as a separate and distinct profession, and to undercut the growing student and field appreciation for the WCA and Dr. Rondberg. If the students are not allowed to participate in discussions on non‑therapeutic chiropractic, and the rational for objecting to chiropractic medicine, then they will most likely re‑present the information provided. This is the way education and training works, and it is the method Palmer and all the other colleges use to regulate the profession. It is about the politics of the CCE and Palmer's repositioning to support chiropractic medicine while claiming to adhere to the Palmer tenets. To advance chiropractic medicine, Palmer had to put an end to that segment of philosophical discussions differentiating chiropractic from chiropractic medicine. They had to get rid of Riekeman and they had to get rid of Rondberg.

Rumors had been circulating that Dr. Rondberg was no longer a part of the Homecoming program. In the first flyer announcing Homecoming 2004, the inside first page reads "Get Involved," " Learn more about professional organizations and why it is critical to get involved. A reception will be held with representatives from the ACA, ICA and WCA in attendance."  On April 22nd Dr. Rondberg e‑mailed Dr. Kern and asked if he was taken off the program and if so why. Dr. Kern responded on April 27th and said that Palmer College has not invited Dr. Ronberg to speak and went on to say that Dr. Rondberg and the WCA may be counterproductive to unity. Dr. Kern further stated that in his opinion, the WCA did not "represent a significant element of our profession."

Since I have copied this to Dr. Kern, I hereby ask you, Dr. Kern, if I may copy the one page letter you wrote to Dr. Rondberg, and forward it in its entirety, to the readers of this letter?  

Abolishing the detractors to chiropractic medicine is Palmer's objective, and the reason given for excluding Dr. Rondberg was that the WCA did not "represent a significant element of the profession." Apparently, Dr. Kern and his leadership group are discounting the magnitude of the Chiropractic Coalition. The Coalition was formed over a year ago and is made up by the WCA, FSCO and the ICA. The significance of the Coalition is unquestioned. As an example,  the Coalition just held on April 29th, the largest legislative summit in the history of the profession, with the largest gathering of chiropractors ever to lobby in Washington, D.C.  If that is not considered significant, those claiming such are terribly prejudiced.

 For Palmer to exclude Dr. Rondberg and the WCA from campus, they demonstrate their rejection of the Chiropractic Coalition and challenging the Coalition's very existence.  Palmer has drawn a very clear line in the sand and has taken an action that we cannot ignore. For the Coalition to allow one of its partners to be excluded from Palmer, or anywhere else for that matter, and not take decisive action, we will by default, destroy the very purpose for the Coalition.  If we do not stand together now, we will individually not stand for long. If we do not stand for the WCA, who will stand for the ICA?

I am requesting of the ICA, that unless Dr. Rondberg is again allowed to speak on campus and welcomed at Palmer, and the WCA, FSCO and ICA student organizations given equal opportunity to thrive like the ACA student organizations, we as the International Chiropractors Association, and strong members of the Chiropractic Coalition, withdraw Palmer's status as an affiliate college of ICA and remove the Palmer seat on the ICA Board of Directors. In addition, we take action to remove as soon as feasible, the ICA diplomate programs offered at Palmer and any other support programs currently provided Palmer.

It is troublesome to take action of this nature against the College that we all have loved. The old adage;  if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck...it must be a duck... is no longer true.  Ethics deterioration, political pressures, misinformation and disguise techniques have complicated our ability to discern a real duck from a decoy. Palmer proclaims to serve the same tenets that Dr. Riekeman advanced.  The fact is however, Palmer has changed.  The tenets have not changed, but the political machinery running the college has changed.  The Duck is not real, it is a decoy.  It is set to lure us into a trap, and to kill us...to kill the organizations of the coalition so that chiropractic can be used for the nourishment of chiropractic medicine. It may already be too late. Too many have hesitated. Too many are confused. Too many are afraid. Too many are still in shock.

 The Chiropractic Coalition either takes a stand at this line Palmer has drawn, or we are done, and we will fall one by one over time. It is that critical and that important and that urgent.