Someone decided that the current architecture of American higher education wasn’t suitable for everyone, and there is a building somewhere that is probably more modest than its aspirations suggest. Harvest Christian University, which operates outside the well-known bounds of federal oversight, state regulation, and regional accreditation bodies and appears perfectly comfortable doing so, was born out of that quiet and mostly unnoticed decision by mainstream academia.
To comprehend Harvest Christian University’s accreditation, one must first acknowledge that accreditation is a multifaceted concept. The majority of people envision a stamp from a regional organization such as SACSCOC or HLC. However, this framing overlooks centuries of educational history, which includes institutions with royal charters, religious schools, tribal colleges, and faith-based universities that have always functioned under distinct but legal systems of governance.
The Kingdom of Hawai’i Royal Accreditation Commission, or KOHRAC, has granted Harvest Christian University what it refers to as Royal Accreditation. HRM King Edmund K. Paki-Silva Jr. issued a royal decree establishing KOHRAC in January 2018 with the express purpose of formally recognizing educational institutions that prioritize Indigenous knowledge and cultural values. Without a doubt, it’s an unusual framework. Unusual, however, does not imply illegitimacy. Additionally, the university functions under a Royal Charter structure, which dates back to 12th-century England, when establishments such as King’s College School and Christ’s Hospital were directly granted independent legal standing and self-governance by monarchical authority instead of state machinery.
Critics might still be dubious after reading that history. That response makes sense—possibly even rational. However, there is a feeling that contemporary skepticism regarding non-traditional accreditation frequently reveals more about institutional gatekeeping than about actual quality issues. In actuality, a number of legal frameworks, such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act, specifically safeguard the type of autonomous educational mission Harvest Christian University asserts. These are not obscure technicalities. These are international and federal safeguards created specifically for this circumstance.
The announcement that Chris Brown would receive an honorary doctorate from the university attracted expected attention. As you watch that happen, it’s difficult to ignore how quickly public discourse devolved into ridicule without addressing the real philosophical question: what does a degree recognize? Over the course of two decades, Brown has maintained a global career, sold over 140 million records, and had over 100 entries on the Billboard Hot 100. The university’s stance is directly comparable to that of Maya Angelou, who never earned a traditional degree but held over 50 honorary doctorates from mainstream universities. The discussion about Brown becomes much more complicated if Angelou’s honorary recognition is celebrated, which it is.
It appears that Harvest Christian University sincerely supports second chances. That’s not language used in marketing. It is ingrained in the institutional philosophy, which holds that traditional scholarship is not as important as redemption, tenacity, and contribution to human life. It’s still unclear if this belief leads to rigorous education or just cozy validation. The university claims to be actively seeking additional regional accreditation, indicating that its leadership is aware of the challenges they face.
In American education, faith-based institutions have always been contentious. The distinction here is that Harvest Christian University isn’t attempting to use the conventional strategy to prevail in that dispute. It simultaneously draws from Indigenous sovereignty, ecclesiastical authority, and royal charter heritage to create something that defies easy classification. That could be both carefully crafted ambiguity and truly inventive.
The debate over Harvest Christian University’s accreditation appears to be a reflection of a larger conflict: who gets to define what constitutes a legitimate education and for whom.
