# CEDU

CEDU Educational Services, Inc., known simply as CEDU (pronounced see-doo), was a company founded in 1967 by Mel Wasserman and associated with the troubled teen industry. The company owned and operated several therapeutic boarding schools licensed as group homes, wilderness therapy programs, and behavior modification programs in California and Idaho. The company's schools have faced numerous allegations of abuse. CEDU went out of business in 2005, amid lawsuits and state regulatory crackdowns.

## Origins

CEDU originates from Synanon, a new religious movement founded in Santa Monica, California in 1958 by Charles E. Dederich. Mel Wasserman, the founder of CEDU, was a former Synanon member. According to Maia Szalavitz, author of Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids, "Synanon sold itself as a cure for hardcore heroin addicts who could help each other by 'breaking' new initiates with isolation, humiliation, hard labor, and sleep deprivation." The troubled teen industry has continued to be associated with Synanon and the various CEDU spin-offs. Former students have made the assertion that CEDU was an acronym for Charles E. Dederich University, while CEDU marketing materials claim, this stood for "See Yourself As You Are and Do Something About It".

## Program

The average time a child spent at a CEDU program before graduating was 2+1⁄2 years. Teenagers were often held beyond their 18th birthday with conservatorship or extended custody, until they completed the full program. The programs were year-round. CEDU had its own language, derived from Synanon. Three times a week, for 3–4 hours, teenagers would attend "raps," pseudo psychology group sessions led by untrained staff based on Synanon's "the game." Children and staff were incentivized to "indict" residents for minor rule infractions, previous traumas, and "disclosures" or items individuals were ashamed of, in the name of emotional growth. This is commonly referred to as attack therapy, where screaming, swearing, and humiliation is appropriate and expected. At night there would be Group touching, called "smooshing", consisted of hand holding, spooning, snuggling, caressing, sitting on laps, petting hair, was expected of both teenagers and staff. It was common for staff to engage in this form of touch with teenagers.
In addition to raps, in order to advance in the CEDU program, a resident would have to earn the privilege to participate in a workshop known as a "propheet" every three months. The propheets were based on Synanon's "trip", and would last from 24 hours to several days at a time. The propheets were led by unlicensed staff along with teenagers at an advanced stage of the program, known as "upper school". They employed sleep-deprivation, humiliation, exposure to large variations in temperature, guided imagery, loud and repetitive music, regression therapy, physical reenactments of trauma, and forced emoting. The propheets were based on the book The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran as well as the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Each used "tools" from the historic literature, that were later used as stepping stones in the program that teenagers were expected to act upon in everyday life. There were seven propheets (Truth, Children's, Brother's Keeper, Dreams, I Want To Live, Values, and Imagine), and two workshops (I and Me, and Summit)
During intake, which occurred upon a teenager's arrival to a CEDU program, they were strip searched by staff and upper school residents, were placed in generic clothing after their belongings were taken away, and made to sign a contract consenting to CEDU's agreements. The three most emphasized agreements were no sex, no drugs, and no violence, yet there were agreements for every part of life, including timed showers, the way hair was worn, and the way people must speak. Violators would be sent to the Ascent Wilderness Program located in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, which was CEDU's version of a six-week boot camp, or placed on a "restriction", which included emotional growth writing assignments, manual labor, isolation, "bans" or forbidding a teenager to speak to, look at, or be acknowledged by peers, and sometimes "bans" from singing, smiling, reading, learning, drawing, and being touched.
To graduate from Cedu High School the students were required to complete 232 units. Diplomas were accredited by the Western Association of School and Colleges. There were even restrictions on clothing items allowed at CEDU. Brand names, rock star imagery, and major league sports team logos were banned.

## History
### Original CEDU period (1967–1985)

CEDU was founded by Merle "Mel" Wassermann. Wasserman had been a furniture salesman and had been involved with sponsoring people undertaking the Synanon program. CEDU was initially based in Reche Canyon and was operating out of a ranch. In 1968, there were 28 people living on the ranch under the guidance of Wassermann, ranging from 13 to 24 years old. However, despite the fact that they were working on the ranch, they were not receiving any payment for their labor. CEDU had been given non-profit status.
In September 1968, CEDU faced a setback when county planners denied their ranch a permit for public use. This decision meant that the program would have to find a new location to continue its operations.
In 1969, CEDU bought a town house in San Bernardino and was also operating a gasoline station in Loma Linda. Contemporaneous newspaper reporting cited allegations of "sex orgies" and "brainwashing", claims that were at the time rebutted at length by CEDU. CEDU was later accused by a critic of telling problematic students that they may end up at California Youth Authority, Juvenile Hall or Patton state hospital if they left prior to completing the program. Cedu moved into the town house property in Running Springs that had previously owned by Walter Houston and turned it into the Running Springs campus.
In a 1973 news article titled "Center a beacon light leading addicts out of world of drugs", it was reported that students were being assigned jobs such as construction, kitchen duties, landscaping, and plumbing. Including digging out tree stumps.

### Expansion (1982–1990)

In 1982, a small group of staff and residents known as the "original seven" left the Running Springs, California campus for Bonners Ferry, Idaho, to open Rocky Mountain Academy (RMA). RMA's curriculum and philosophy were identical to the original school, CEDU Running Springs. In 1989, CEDU expanded tuition sources to allow payment from school districts and insurance companies, and started an endowment fund to allow scholarships. On rare occasions, staff and students were transferred between schools. The staff generally transferred campuses for promotions, while students were transferred because the staff felt a "fresh start" was the best (and usually last) option for the student. Rocky Mountain Academy was one of the largest employers in Boundary County, Idaho during the period, diversifying its timber and agriculture economy.
In the 1990s, CEDU expanded with the opening of three programs: CEDU Middle School, a program for 12-14 year-olds on the CEDU Running Springs, CA, campus; when Cedu middle school first opened in 1994, the age group was 9+1⁄2 to 13+1⁄2. Ascent, a 41-day wilderness camp in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, where many children were sent prior to enrollment before a second CEDU program, and where participant's age varied, ranging from 13 to 20 years old; Northwest Academy, a therapeutic boarding school founded in 1994 for 13-17 year olds located in the state of Idaho near the Selkirk mountains; and Boulder Creek Academy, a therapeutic boarding school, which was established in 1993. cedu also ran another program called Hilltop that was established in 1984. it's age ranged from 17+1⁄2 to 27+1⁄2.

### CEDU Education — Brown Schools (1998–2005)

CEDU Education was sold to Brown Schools in 1998.

### Closure

Brown Schools operated 11 boarding schools and educational facilities in California, Idaho, Texas, Vermont, and Florida. Upon closure, several CEDU employees reported to Lake Arrowhead Mountain News that pending litigation against CEDU for abuse and violation of rights as well as citations against the schools contributed to the downfall. In March 2005, Brown Schools declared bankruptcy. The same year, Universal Health Services bid $13.5 million for the Brown School properties in bankruptcy.
During the closure, a group of parents paid for 12 of the students to receive two of the emotional growth workshops

### Idaho Educational Services

Universal Health Services Inc., a public company focused on hospitals and behavioral health centers, subsequently reopened three of the former CEDU facilities: Boulder Creek Academy (located on the former Rocky Mountain Academy property), Northwest Academy, and Ascent Wilderness Program, whose name they later changed to Caribou Ridge Intervention. These operate under the new name of Idaho Educational Services. Each program is overseen by individual directors.

## In the news

December 12, 1985 - Rescue teams search for five girls who went missing in a snowstorm during a survival course run by CEDU in the Joshua Tree National Park. The girls were found by a US Marine Corps helicopter safe after a 3-day search, unaware that anyone had been searching for them.
January 16, 1993 - John Christopher Inman goes missing from Cedu High School.
June 26, 1994 - Blake Wade Pursley goes missing from Cedu High School He was last seen about 8 p.m. going out to the barn to check the animals.
July 15, 1994 - A male client from Texas hanged himself with a belt from a pipe of an overhead sprinkler system in one of the dormitories of Lower Camelot at Rocky Mountain Academy in Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
July 28, 1994 - It is revealed that a former CEDU employee and white separatist planned to kidnap students attending Rocky Mountain Academy for ransom, including the children of celebrities Barbara Walters and Clint Eastwood. The employee, who was a friend of Randy Weaver, was fired after federal agents discovered the plot.
June 27, 1996 - John C. D'Abreo files a lawsuit against CEDU in Monterey County, claiming he was physically and emotionally abused at Ascent and Northwest Academy.
November 1996 - Former Rocky Mountain Academy staff and owner of Boundarylines Crisis Intervention Richard "Rowdy" Armstrong is accused of drugging, raping and sodomizing former Rocky Mountain Academy staff and Boundarylines Crisis Intervention co-worker Twila Stephenson.
January 1997 - Five people are injured in a riot at Northwest Academy in Ruby Ridge, Idaho.
March 31, 1998 - Marsha and Ronald Accomazzo file a lawsuit against CEDU. Their son was enrolled at Ascent and Rocky Mountain Academy, and injured in the Northwest Academy riot.
March 31, 1998 - Nancy Dark makes allegations leading to charges against CEDU. Her son was enrolled at Boulder Creek Academy, Ascent, and the Northwest Academy, and injured in the Northwest Academy riot.
April 1, 1998 - CEDU is sued for fraud, racketeering, and battery.
April 5, 2000 - Dianne and Robert Reibstein file a lawsuit against CEDU for neglect and abuse. Their son was at Ascent and Rocky Mountain Academy.
October 8, 2002 - an article titled "Hilfiger CEO Helps Kids" is published by Forbes. It goes into detail how the CEO Joel Horowitz with his friends founded the Friends of CEDU Foundation.
October 13, 2002 - An article titled "When Rich Kids Go Bad" is published by Forbes magazine. Leigh Horowitz, along with several other anonymous CEDU clients, are interviewed.
January 14, 2004 - An article about Boulder Creek Academy titled "The Last Resort" is published by the Chicago Tribune. Several CEDU clients and parents are interviewed.
February 8, 2004 - Daniel Ted Yuen goes missing from CEDU. The missing person case is still open in 2018.
May 26, 2020 - Adam Eget, an actor and comedian known for his work with Norm Macdonald, talks about his experiences with CEDU on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Eget describes CEDU as an abusive cult, and talks about multiple examples of child endangerment he saw as a client attending a CEDU School.
September 14, 2020 - This Is Paris, a documentary that covers the time Paris Hilton spent at CEDU School, Ascent Wilderness Program, Cascade School, and Provo Canyon School, premieres on YouTube.
January 17, 2021 - The Los Angeles Times publishes an article where CEDU client Rachel Uchitel describes allegedly having to dig a grave with a spoon and then being forced to lay in it.
April 23, 2022 - Rich & Shameless kicks off episode one of their first season with an exposé on Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis. Dead, Insane, or in Jail author Zack Bonnie is interviewed about the time they spent together at Rocky Mountain Academy in the late 1980s.
October 31, 2022 - Los Angeles Magazine published David Safran's article “Why Are Police Stifling the Investigation Into 3 Teens Who Vanished From a Controversial Residential Treatment Facility?” The article addresses the disappearance of John Inman, Blake Pursley, and Daniel Yuen who vanished from CEDU School's campus in Running Springs, California in 1993, 1994, and 2004.
March 1, 2023 - Los Angeles Magazine published a second David Safran article “Suspect No. 1: Inside Daniel Yuen’s Missing Person Case,” which does a deep dive into his disappearance from CEDU School's campus in Running Springs, California on February 8, 2004.
March 14, 2023 - Paris: The Memoir, an autobiography by Paris Hilton that exposes the time she spent trapped in the troubled teen industry including being sent to CEDU School, Ascent Wilderness Program, Cascade School, and Provo Canyon School from the summer of 1997 to January 1999 is published.

## Notable alumni

* Neal Bledsoe
* Val Broeksmit - whistleblower against Deutsche Bank, attended Rocky Mountain Academy
* Paris Hilton
* Mark R. Hughes
* Rachel Uchitel - American broadcaster, attended Cedu High School
* Jenny Pentland, daughter of Roseanne Barr

## former Staff members

Rudy Bentz — headteacher of Hidden Lake Academy and Academy at Swift River
Michael Allgood — headmaster of Cascade school