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'Regent University' is an accredited institution of higher education with a curriculum based on Christian principles. It was founded by the American televangelist Pat Robertson in 1978. Regent's main campus is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and a satellite campus is located in Alexandria, Virginia. Regent has eight academic schools, two campuses, as well as distance education; it offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. As of 2007, 4,266 students (1,953 full-time, 2,313 part-time) are currently enrolled.

Contents

History

Accreditation

Academics

Undergraduate school

Graduate schools

Law school

Bush administration hires

Alumni

Notable Faculty

References

External links

History

Plans for the university (originally named CBN University) began in 1978 by Christian Broadcasting Network founder and current Chancellor Pat Robertson. In 1990, the name was changed to Regent University. The university's name is designed to reference a regent, who is someone that exercises the ruling power in a kingdom during the minority, absence, or disability of the sovereign. The university's current motto is "Christian Leadership to Change the World."
The first classes were not conducted until the fall of 1978, when the school began to lease classroom space in Chesapeake, Virginia. The first students were all enrolled in what is now the School of Communication & the Arts. In May 1980, the first graduating class held its commencement, while the School of Education opened the following October. Simultaneously, the university took residence for the first time on its current campus in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The school proceeded to open its Schools of Business, Divinity, Government, and Law by the mid-1980s. In 1984, Regent University received accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; later in the decade; it started a distance education program.
Five years later, Regent began outreach programs geared to teachers in the Washington, D.C. area, which eventually led to the opening of its Alexandria campus. In 2000, Regent began an undergraduate degree-completion curriculum under the auspices of a new program, the Center for Professional Studies, which became Regent School of Undergraduate Studies in the fall of 2004.

Accreditation

Regent University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees.[1] The School of Divinity is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS).[2] Whereas, the School of Law is accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA).[3] The Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D) is accredited by the Committee on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association. Lastly, The Community Counseling (M.A.) and School Counseling (M.A.) program areas offered by the School of Psychology & Counseling of Regent University have been accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).

Academics

Undergraduate school

The newest addition to Regent is the School of Undergraduate Studies, designed primarily for non-traditional students who wish to complete undergraduate degrees. Regent's School of Undergraduate Studies offers bachelor's degrees in Communication, Global Business, Interdisciplinary Studies (Elementary Education), Government, Psychology, Organizational Leadership & Management, Religious Studies and English beginning in Fall 2007. Furthermore, four new bachelor's programs are set to begin in the fall of 2007 focusing on theater, animation, journalism and cinema-television. These programs will be taught through the School of Communications & the Arts.
Regent's School of Undergraduate Studies, as with the rest of the university, teaches its programs from a Judeo-Christian perspective, emphasizing Christian values and ethics.

Graduate schools

Robertson's original vision for Regent University was that of a graduate institution. Although Regent now offers undergraduate programs, the school has mostly remained true to its original focus. The vast majority of Regent's students are enrolled in one of seven graduate or first-professional schools.² Regent's schools offer master’s, doctoral, and law degrees, as well as a professional degree completion program, from a Judeo-Christian perspective.

Law school

Regent Law School, located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, was founded in 1986, after Oral Roberts University School of Law closed and donated its library to Regent University.¹⁶ The law school was approved by the American Bar Association ("ABA") in 1989⁷, receiving full accreditation in 1996.¹⁶ It had an enrollment of 489 students in 2006. Currently, the school offers a J.D. degree, which is typically completed in three years of full-time study or four years of part-time study.^[4]
Thirty-six (36) of the 59 Regent students took the Virginia Bar Exam in Summer 2004 and Winter 2005, and sixty-one percent (61%) passed on their first attempt.^[5] According to Regent Law School Dean Jeffery Brauch, the bar passage rate for the class of 2006 is seventy-one percent (71%).¹⁶ According to statewide and national statistics, Regent's four-year average Virginia bar pass rate is 51.5%, which is 21.5% below the statewide average of 73%, and the lowest in the Commonwealth of Virginia.^[6]
In the Fall 2006 entering class, 333 of 630 applicants were offered admission.^[7] Of 333 students accepted, 161 matriculated. The median Law School Admission Test (LSAT) score of the entering class was 153 and the median undergraduate grade-point average was 3.30.
U.S. News & World Report ranks Regent Law as a Tier 4 school.^[8] The Princeton Review ranked the school fourth in the country for quality of life^[9] and the second most conservative law school.^[10]

Bush administration hires

A Regent web page stated 150 graduates have served in the George W. Bush administration.^[11] Boston Globe journalist Charlie Savage, noting that previously it was rare for Regent graduates to join the government, has suggested that the appointment of Office of Personnel Management director Kay Coles James, formerly dean of Regent's government school, caused this sharp increase in Regent alumni employed in the government. Savage used Regent as an example of the Bush administration hiring applicants with strong conservative credentials but weaker academic qualifications and less civil rights experience than past candidates in the Civil Rights Division.^[12]
Similar assertions have been made by columnists Dahlia Lithwick of the Washington Post,^[13] Paul Krugman of the New York Times^[14] and Andrew Cohen of CBS News.^[15] Savage illustrated the increased politicization in the Justice Department's hiring practices with the example of a Regent graduate who stated he may have obtained a job after telling his interviewer that ''Lawrence v. Texas'', the ruling striking down an anti-sodomy law, was the Supreme Court decision from the last 20 years with which he disagreed most. However, Savage also suggested that the school had improved since its days of "dismal numbers," quoting a prominent critic of the school, Reverend Barry Lynn, who advised against "underestimat[ing] the quality of a lot of the people that are there," and noting the school's recent wins in national moot-court and negotiation competitions.^[16][17]
On May 23rd 2007, alumna Monica Goodling testified at the House Judiciary Committee under a grant of immunity and admitted using political affiliation as a determinant for hiring career posts at the Department of Justice.^[18] Her testimony has been referred to as "lamentable."^[19]

Alumni

Name	Known for	Relationship to Regent University
Maria Boren	Candidate/cast member in the second season on ''The Apprentice''	2002 graduate of the School of Business (now the School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship)
Sharon Weston Broome	Current Louisiana State Senator	1984 graduate of the School of Communication & the Arts
Monica Goodling	Controversial former Director of Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Justice (2001–March 2007)	1999 graduate of Regent University Law School[5]
Tony Hale	Actor	1994 graduate of the School of Communication & the Arts
Nicole Johnson	Miss America in 1999	1998 graduate of the School of Communication & the Arts
Lisa Kruska	Current Assistant U.S. Secretary of Labor	1988 graduate of the School of Government
Bob McDonnell	Current Attorney General of the State of Virginia	1989 graduate of the Schools of Law and Government
Cheryl McKay	Screenwriter of ''The Ultimate Gift''	1995 graduate of the School of Communication & the Arts
Nevers Mumba	Former Televangelist and Former Vice President of Zambia (2003-2004)[6]	Former student in the School of Government
Jason Upton	Contemporary Christian Worship Artist	2000 graduate of the School of Divinity with a Master's in Divinity
Jay Sekulow	Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice	Ph.D. with a dissertation on American Legal History

Notable Faculty

Name	Position	Known For
John Ashcroft	Distinguished Professor of Law and Government	Former Attorney General of the United States and Politician
Admiral Vern Clark	Distinguished Professor of Leadership Studies	Former Chief of Naval Operations, U.S. Navy
Graham Twelftree	Distinguished Professor of New Testament	Biblical Scholar, Studied under James D.G. Dunn

References

1. About Regent University
2. http://www.regent.edu/about_us/quick_facts.cfm
3. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/directory/brief/drglance_30913_brief.php
4. http://law.regent.edu
5. The Virginia bar exam is the bar exam most commonly taken by Regent students.[4] Data from http://officialguide.lsac.org/OFFGUIDE/pdf/aba5822.pdf.
6. http://www.ilrg.com/rankings/law/view.php/71
7. http://officialguide.lsac.org/OFFGUIDE/pdf/aba5822.pdf
8. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/brief/lawrank_tier4_brief.php
9. http://www.princetonreview.com/law/research/rankings/rankingDetails.asp?topicID=10
10. http://www.princetonreview.com/law/research/rankings/rankingDetails.asp?topicID=6
11. http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:JBb_IR-fNWMJ:www.regent.edu/general/about_us/facts.cfm
12. For general information about this trend, see http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/07/23/civil_rights_hiring_shifted_in_bush_era/.
13. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601799.html
14. http://select.nytimes.com/2007/04/13/opinion/13krugman.html
15. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/09/opinion/courtwatch/main2665402.shtml
16. Scandal puts spotlight on Christian law school Charlie Savage
17. http://www.abanet.org/lsd/competitions/negotiation/home.html
18. http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/23/goodling.testimony/index.html
19. The American right - Under the weather

External links

★ Regent University — Official website

★ Regent Undergraduate Site

★ Regent University School of Law

★ Regent University School of Divinity