JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Supporters of Edward Waters College flowed into the Federal Courthouse Thursday where a judge was asked to block the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' decision to rescind EWC's accreditation.

SACS decided to pull the college's accreditation after discovering one of the documents submitted to the oversight group was forged. EWC's appeal of that decision was denied last week, and the college asked U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan to block SACS's action.

The college's attorney said SACS didn't follow their own rules on the process of denying the college's accreditation and didn't allow EWC adequate time to respond.

Corrigan did not rule on the request, but took the arguments under advisement. One of the issues is whether this court has jurisdiction, since the SACS decision the college is trying to block was made in Atlanta.

"We're cautiously optimistic that the temporary restraining order will become the appropriate injunction that the school deserves and needs," said Bishop McKinley Young, chairman of the EWC's board of directors, after the hearing.

"I was hoping that we didn't get to this point, but we are, and, of course, we have to go through this process," said Nat Glover, the former sheriff of Jacksonville and a EWC alumni said outside the hearing.

The plagiarism is blamed on a college vice president who is no longer at the school, and Freed said the punishment is too harsh for the infraction.

EWC officials have warned that loss of accreditation, and the subsequent loss of federal tuition assistance for students, could be disastrous for the school. Students at non-accredited schools are also not eligible for scholarships from the United Negro College Fund.

An estimated 90 percent of the college's students receive financial aid.

The uncertainty about the school's future has already caused the second semester enrollment to drop from about 1,300 students to 900.

EWC President Jimmy Jenkins resigned last month, saying he wanted to give the private Jacksonville college its best shot at successfully appealing the decision to revoke its accreditation.

Edward Waters College, established in 1866 to educate the descendants of blacks newly emancipated from slavery, is a private four-year liberal arts co-educational residential institution, committed to Christian principles which emphasize high moral and spiritual values, as a result of its close affiliation with, and support from, the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

The college offers baccalaureate degrees in the arts and sciences and other career-based professional fields.