Since 1992, when an arm of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church rescued the University of Bridgeport from bankruptcy, a coalition of local citizens and students has been warning that the school had become a front for Moon's global church recruiting activities.
University officials have strongly denied the allegations, insisting there are no hidden agendas or ulterior motives behind the more than $100 million that the church-affiliated Professors World Peace Academy has pumped into the school, and that there have been no attempts by the church to influence curriculum.But the recent opening of New Eden Academy International, a Unification Church boarding school on the university's campus, has given new ammunition to critics. The high school serves 44 children of Unification Church members.
University officials say they are merely renting an empty former dormitory to the church for use as a high school.