Regent University
Encyclopedia
Regent University is a private
Private university
Private universities are universities not operated by governments, although many receive public subsidies, especially in the form of tax breaks and public student loans and grants. Depending on their location, private universities may be subject to government regulation. Private universities are...

 coeducation
Coeducation
Mixed-sex education, also known as coeducation or co-education, is the integrated education of male and female persons in the same institution. It is the opposite of single-sex education...

al interdenominational Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 university located in Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay...

, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The school was founded by the American televangelist Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....

 in 1978 as Christian Broadcasting Network University. A satellite campus located in Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...

 was sold in 2008. Through the main campus, Regent offers an extensive distance education program in addition to its traditional on campus programs. Through its eight academic schools, Regent offers associate's, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in over 30 courses of study. Regent University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is one of the six regional accreditation organizations recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation...

 and Association of Theological Schools.

History

Plans for the university (originally named CBN University) began in 1978 by Christian Broadcasting Network
Christian Broadcasting Network
The Christian Broadcasting Network, or CBN, is a fundamentalist Christian television broadcasting network in the United States. Its headquarters and main studios are in Virginia Beach, Virginia.-Background:...

 founder and current Chancellor
Chancellor (education)
A chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....

 Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....

. In 1990, the name was changed to Regent University. The university's name is designed to reference a regent, who is someone that exercises power in a kingdom during the absence of the sovereign; according to the school's catalog, "a regent is one who represents Christ, our Sovereign, in whatever sphere of life he or she may be called to serve Him." The university's current motto is "Christian Leadership to Change the World".

The first class, consisting of seventy-seven students, began in fall of 1978 when the school leased classroom space in Chesapeake, Virginia
Chesapeake, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 199,184 people, 69,900 households, and 54,172 families residing in the city. The population density was 584.6 people per square mile . There were 72,672 housing units at an average density of 213.3 per square mile...

. 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
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay...

. The school proceeded to open its Schools of Business, Divinity, Government, and Law by the mid-1980s. In 1984, Regent University received accreditation
Educational accreditation
Educational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met...

 from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is one of the six regional accreditation organizations recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation...

; later in the decade; it started a distance education
Distance education
Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom...

 program.

Five years later, Regent began outreach programs geared to teachers in the Washington, D.C. area
Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area
The Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area is a combined statistical area consisting of the overlapping labor market region of the cities of Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C.. The region includes Central Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Jefferson County in the Eastern Panhandle of West...

, 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.

Undergraduate studies

The newest addition to Regent is the School of Undergraduate Studies, designed for on-line non-traditional students as well as traditional students who wish to complete undergraduate degrees. Regent's School of Undergraduate Studies offers associates and bachelor's degrees in Accounting, Biblical and Theological Studies, Business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...

, Christian Studies, Christian Ministry, Communication, Criminal Justice
Criminal justice
Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...

, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, General Studies, Government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

, History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

, Human Resource Management, International Business, Marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...

, Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

, Organizational Leadership and Management, Psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

, and Religious Studies. Furthermore, five bachelor's programs are offered exclusively on-campus: Animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...

, Cinema
Cinema
Cinema may refer to:* Film, motion pictures or movies* Filmmaking, the process of making a film* Movie theater, a building in which films are shown* Cinema or Bommalattam, a Tamil film...

-Television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

, Mathematics, Theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 and Interdisciplinary Studies (Elementary Education).

Graduate studies

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 majority of Regent's students are enrolled in one of seven graduate schools.

School of Divinity

The School of Divinity offers Masters degrees in Biblical Studies
Biblical studies
Biblical studies is the academic study of the Judeo-Christian Bible and related texts. For Christianity, the Bible traditionally comprises the New Testament and Old Testament, which together are sometimes called the "Scriptures." Judaism recognizes as scripture only the Hebrew Bible, also known as...

, Missiology
Missiology
Missiology is the area of practical theology that investigates the mandate, message, and mission of the Christian church, especially the nature of missionary work...

, Church Doctrine and History and the traditional seminary degree, the Master of Divinity
Master of Divinity
In the academic study of theology, the Master of Divinity is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America...

. The School also offers the Doctor of Ministry
Doctor of Ministry
The Doctor of Ministry degree is, according to The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada , a doctoral level degree oriented toward ministerial leadership often in an area of applied theology, such as missions, evangelism, church leadership, pastoral psychology or the...

 degree along with a Ph.D in Renewal Studies with concentrations in Biblical Studies, Theology and Church History. The School of Divinity is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada
Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada
The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada is an organization of seminaries and other graduate schools of theology. ATS has its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has more than 250 member institutions...

 (ATS).

School of Education

The School of Education offers an undergraduate Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 degree in addition to its Master and Ed.D. degrees in Education along with teaching certificate programs.

School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship

The School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship provides a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership
Leadership studies
Leadership studies is a multidisciplinary academic field of study that focuses on leadership in organizational contexts and in human life. Leadership studies has origins in the social sciences , in humanities , as well as in professional and applied fields of study...

. Additionally available is a Doctor of Strategic Leadership offering three concentrations: Strategic Leadership, Leadership Coaching, and Strategic Foresight. The school also provides Masters in Organizational Leadership, Strategic Foresight and a Master of Business Administration
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...

.

School of Communication & the Arts

The School of Communication & the Arts offers degrees for undergraduate students in:
Additionally, they offer a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 degree in:
And terminal degree offerings are available with a Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...

 degree in:
And a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 in Communication.
The School of Communications and the Arts also offers students opportunities through the year with seasonal plays, Reel Dreams Film Festival and the OTIS Film Festival.

Robertson School of Government

The Robertson School of Government offers a Masters of Arts in Government with specializations in Public Administration, Political Management, and Law and Public Policy among others.

School of Law

Regent University School of Law is housed in Robertson Hall located on the south side of the campus plaza. The law library is situated on the top floor of the university library building. The school offers a Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 (J.D.) degree. The founding Dean was Herbert Titus, who served as Dean of the Law School until 1993. In 1993, he was terminated and Professor Paul Morken was selected as the Interim Dean of the Law School. When several professors filed a complaint with the American Bar Association stating that the termination of Dean Titus and statements by both Pat Robertson and the Board indicated that the University did not have tenure in violation of ABA rules concerning certification, Paul Morken was replaced with an adjunct professor, Nelson Happy, who served as the Interim Dean of the Law School. The current Dean is Jeffrey A. Brauch.

The law school was founded in 1986. The law school was approved by the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...

 ("ABA") in 1989 and received full accreditation in 1996. The Law Library received the bulk of its collection after Oral Roberts University
Oral Roberts University
Oral Roberts University , based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the United States, is an interdenominational, Charismatic Christian, comprehensive university with an enrollment of about 3,790 students from 49 U.S. states along with a significant number of international students from 70 countries...

 School of Law closed and donated its library to Regent University.

The size of the student body numbers approximately 500 students. Currently, the school offers both a full-time and a part-time track for completion of the J.D. degree. For the 2007 entering class, 153 matriculated
Matriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...

 out 619 applications, the average LSAT
Law School Admission Test
The Law School Admission Test is a half-day standardized test administered four times each year at designated testing centers throughout the world. Administered by the Law School Admission Council for prospective law school candidates, the LSAT is designed to assess Reading Comprehension,...

 score was 153 (out of a possible 120-180) and a GPA of 3.29 (out of 4.0).
Admission policies

In addition to the academic requirements of the university, the admissions process also places emphasis on personal statements and recommendation letter
Recommendation letter
A letter of recommendation is a letter in which the writer assesses the qualities, characteristics, and capabilities of the person being recommended in terms of that individual’s ability to perform a particular task or function. Recommendation letters are almost always specifically requested to be...

s. According to Regent, the school seeks students who are "dedicated to becoming Christian leaders who will change the world for Christ" and want "to receive a legal education integrated with Christian principles."
Publications

Law students publish the Regent Law Review, established in 1991. The journal describes itself as "committed to a jurisprudence based upon a Higher Law; that is, law based upon the Law of God, yet remains open to publishing opposing viewpoints in certain contexts." Previous contributors include United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Court....

, Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, Judge Edith H. Jones, Attorney General Edwin Meese III, Robert P. George
Robert P. George
Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, where he lectures on constitutional interpretation, civil liberties and philosophy of law. He also serves as the director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions...

, George Allen
George Allen (U.S. politician)
George Felix Allen is a former United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the son of former NFL head coach George Allen. Allen served Virginia in the state legislature, as the 67th Governor, and in both bodies of the U.S. Congress, winning election to the Senate in 2000...

, Nancy R. Pearcey, Charles E. Rice
Charles E. Rice
Charles Edward Rice is an American legal scholar, Catholic apologist, and author of several books. He is best known for his career at the Notre Dame Law School at Notre Dame, Indiana. He began teaching there in 1969, and in 2000 earned Professor Emeritus status...

, Phillip E. Johnson
Phillip E. Johnson
Phillip E. Johnson is a retired UC Berkeley law professor and author. He became a born-again Christian while a tenured professor and is considered the father of the intelligent design movement...

, Charles W. Colson, and David Barton.

Additionally, the students publish the Regent Journal of International Law, founded in 2000, and the Regent Journal of Law & Public Policy, founded in 2008.

School of Psychology & Counseling

Offers four graduate degrees, a Certificate of Advanced Counseling Studies, and an undergraduate degree. The Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D) is accredited by the Committee on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...

. 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). Recently, the Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision became the first on-line doctoral program to be accredited by CACREP.

Main campus (Virginia Beach, VA)

Regent University's Virginia Beach campus is 70 acres (283,280.2 m²) with historicist
Revivalism (architecture)
Revivalism in architecture is the use of visual styles that consciously echo the style of a previous architectural era.There were a number of architectural revivalist movements in the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries....

 neo-Georgian architecture. The University Library Building houses the school's libraries while Robertson Hall is home to the Schools of Divinity, Government, Law and Undergraduate Studies. The Communication & Performing Arts Center, home for the School of Communication & the Arts, is a 135000 square feet (12,541.9 m²) building with two theaters, a production studio, sound stage, screening theaters, and a backlot
Backlot
A backlot is an area behind or adjoining a movie studio, containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions, or space for temporary set construction....

. The Student Center is a 31000 square feet (2,880 m²) facility includes a bookstore, student organization offices, dining hall, computer lab, and student lounge. The Administration Building, along with administrative offices, includes the School of Education. The Classroom Building accommodates the schools of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship and Psychology & Counseling.

Student government and councils

The Student Bar Association (SBA) is the student society
Student society
A student society or student organization is an organization, operated by students at a university, whose membership normally consists only of students. They are often affiliated with a university's students' union...

 for the School of Law which is governed and represented by the Student Senate
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature or parliament. There have been many such bodies in history, since senate means the assembly of the eldest and wiser members of the society and ruling class...

. The SBA Student Senate represents the law school’s student body to the school’s administration and the University. The Council of Graduate Students (COGS) and Regent Undergraduate Council (RUC) serve a similar function for the balance of the student population. The groups, in addition to their organizational responsibilities, hold social and religious events. The Student Advisory Leadership Team supports the Washington D.C. satellite campus.

Student organizations

Student organizations at the school include the student divisions of the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...

 and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, Association of Black Psychologists, Black Law Student Association, Business Transactions Law Society, Christian Legal Society, College Republicans
College Republicans
The College Republican National Committee is a national organization for college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States...

, Regent Democrats, Intellectual Property & Entertainment Law Society, Federalist Society
Federalist Society
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, most frequently called simply the Federalist Society, is an organization of conservatives seeking reform of the current American legal system in accordance with a textualist and/or originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution...

, International Law Society, International Student Organization, Law Wives Association, Moot Court
Moot court
A moot court is an extracurricular activity at many law schools in which participants take part in simulated court proceedings, usually to include drafting briefs and participating in oral argument. The term derives from Anglo Saxon times, when a moot was a gathering of prominent men in a...

 Board, National Law Student Association, Newman Club, Public Interest Law Association, Regent Students for Life, Students in Free Enterprise, Student Alumni Ambassadors, and The King's Knights.

Student housing

Regent Village houses graduate students and graduate student families with children. Regent Village consists of roughly 200 apartments located within a mile of campus. All undergraduate students are housed in the Regent Commons.

Rankings

In the U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...

 2011 Best Colleges listing, Regent University's ranking is "National Universities, Tier 2". The Sustainable Endowments Institute, an environmental report card based in Cambridge, Mass., gave Regent a grade of D in its 2009 College Sustainability Report Card, an improvement from the previous year's F grade.

U.S. News & World Report ranks Regent University School of Law as a Tier 4 school, the lowest ranking within the law school category. The Princeton Review ranked Regent University Law School seventh in the country for quality of life, and the most conservative school.

ABA national competition wins

In 2006 and 2007, Regent Law won several national ABA
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...

 moot court
Moot court
A moot court is an extracurricular activity at many law schools in which participants take part in simulated court proceedings, usually to include drafting briefs and participating in oral argument. The term derives from Anglo Saxon times, when a moot was a gathering of prominent men in a...

 and negotiation competitions succeeding teams from Harvard and Yale. Previous wins took place in 1995 and 2002. In 2008, two students won honors at a national moot court competition hosted by The College of William & Mary.

Bar passage rates

The 2010 bar passage rate for students taking the Virginia State Bar Exam was 85.7 percent, the highest Bar pass rate in the school's history. The passage rate has improved every year from at least 2001, when the Regent University pass rate was 43.9 percent, compared to the state average of 73 percent.

Identification with the Christian right

In 1995, Harvey Cox
Harvey Cox
Harvey Gallagher Cox, Jr. is one of the preeminent theologians in the United States and served as Hollis Research Professor of Divinity at the Harvard Divinity School, until his retirement in October 2009...

, the liberal Harvard theologian, wrote that Regent has been called "the Harvard of the Christian Right
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...

" and noted that "Regent, it appears, is not so much a boot camp for rightist cadres as a microcosm of the theological and intellectual turbulence within what is often mistakenly seen as a monolithic 'religious right' in America".

While expressing concerns about Robertson's alleged past expressions of antisemitism (faculty blamed this on poorly chosen ghost writers) and associations with dominion theology
Dominion Theology
Dominion Theology is seen by some as a subset of Dominionism, a term used by some social scientists and journalists to describe a theological form of political ideology, which they claim has broadly influenced the Christian Right in the United States, Canada, and Europe, within Protestant...

 promoting Christian control of secular institutions that some critics believe inspired the school's name, Cox said the faculty insisted that Regent didn't support Dominionism
Dominionism
Dominionism is a term used to describe politically active conservative Christians that are believed to conspire and seek influence or control over secular civil government through political action, especially in the United States, with the goal of either a nation governed by Christians, or a nation...

, pointing to the firing of Herbert Titus, the founding dean of the Law School, who was inclined to such a philosophy. Cox pointed to historian Bruce Barron's suggestion that the Regent faculty serve as a "moderating influence": "They are pragmatists who accept religious pluralism and do not insist on the universal applicability of Old Testament law" while preferring to focus on constitutional
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...

 issues. Cox characterized Regent's mission as continuing in the tradition of religiously trained professionals by various Catholic and Protestant faiths such as Jesuit universities and (originally) Harvard. He found that academic freedom
Academic freedom
Academic freedom is the belief that the freedom of inquiry by students and faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy, and that scholars should have freedom to teach or communicate ideas or facts without being targeted for repression, job loss, or imprisonment.Academic freedom is a...

 was promoted and that although half of the student body were either Pentecostals or charismatics, there existed a wider range of political attitudes than he first imagined.

With the goal of expanding its mission from a solely conservative base and to “posture itself as a broadly evangelical institution”, the Regent School of Divinity convened a scholarly colloquium
Colloquium
Colloquium can refer to:* the Parliament of Scotland, called a "colloquium" in Latin records.* any musical piece celebrating birth or distribution of good news, a hymn...

 with the more liberal National Council of Churches
National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member denominations, churches, conventions, and archdioceses include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, and historic peace...

 and the Virginia Council of Churches, associations of mainline Protestant churches in 2008. The conference discussed their common approaches to evangelizing.

Freedom of expression controversy

In September 2007, Adam Key, a second-year law student at Regent,
posted a photograph on the social networking website Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

 of the school's chancellor, Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....

, making an obscene gesture
Finger (gesture)
In Western culture, the finger , also known as the middle finger, is an obscene hand gesture, often meaning the phrases "fuck off" , "fuck you" or "up yours"...

. Key also criticized Robertson for urging the assassination of Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

n President Hugo Chavez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...

. School officials asked Key to remove the still, publicly apologize and withhold public comment or, alternatively, defend the posting. While Key did remove the photograph, he refused to apologize and submitted his defense on the grounds it was protected speech. Regent rejected his argument and Key was subsequently suspended and later removed. In November 2007, Key filed a lawsuit against Regent claiming fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...

, violation of his right to free expression as governed by rules tied to Federal funding, and defamation. Robertson said that, in general, freedom of speech doesn't encompass the use of these kinds of images. The university stated that Key violated the school's standards of conduct. However, Key's attorney countered with examples of racist
Racism in the United States
Racism in the United States has been a major issue since the colonial era and the slave era. Legally sanctioned racism imposed a heavy burden on Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latin Americans...

 images posted on Facebook by other Regent students about which the school took no action.

The school later claimed its actions were unrelated to the photograph and that he was a "security risk"; Key's attorney countered with an internal memo sent the day before the suspension indicating that Robertson was concerned with Key's "complaints".

In June 2009, the lawsuit was dismissed. The judge ruled that despite federal funding, Regent's decisions were not state actions
State actor
In United States law, a state actor is a person who is acting on behalf of a governmental body, and is therefore subject to regulation under the United States Bill of Rights, including the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which prohibit the federal and state governments from violating...

 and hence not governed by the First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...

. He also found that Robertson had not defamed Keys and that "generic recruiting correspondence" from the school could not be considered a contract and thereby dismissed the fraud complaint. In November 2007, a civil rights lawyer representing Key sent a complaint to the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...

 calling for them to revoke the school's accreditation
Educational accreditation
Educational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met...

. Key claimed the university suspended him for his political and religious views in violation of ABA accreditation standards.

Bush administration hires

According to Regent University, more than 150 of its graduates had been hired by the federal government during the George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 presidency including dozens in Bush's administration. As it was previously rare for alumni to go into government, Boston Globe journalist Charlie Savage
Charlie Savage
Charlie Savage is a newspaper reporter in Washington, D.C., with the New York Times, which he joined in May 2008. In 2007, when employed by the Boston Globe, he was the recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting on the issue of Presidential Signing Statements, specifically the use...

 suggested that the appointment of Office of Personnel Management
Office of Personnel Management
The United States Office of Personnel Management is an independent agency of the United States government that manages the civil service of the federal government. The current Director is John Berry.-History:...

 director Kay Coles James
Kay Coles James
Kay Coles James is the President and Founder of the Gloucester Institute, a leadership training center for young African Americans. She was the director for the United States Office of Personnel Management. She was nominated by George W. Bush in 2001 and left in 2005...

, the former dean of Regent's government school, caused this sharp increase in Regent alumni employed in the government. An article about a Regent graduate who interviewed for a government position and Regent's low school rankings were cited as an example of the Bush administration hiring applicants with strong conservative credentials but weaker academic qualifications and less civil rights law experience than past candidates in the Civil Rights Division
United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is the institution within the federal government responsible for enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. The Division was established on December 9, 1957, by...

. In addition to Savage, several other commentators made similar assertions. The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

 contrasted the employment of Regent employees by Bush to the hiring practices of his successor Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 who tended to select from higher tiered colleges.

However, Savage noted that the school had improved since its days of "dismal numbers" and that the school has had recent wins in national moot-court and negotiation competitions. Though a prominent critic of the school, Reverend Barry Lynn
Barry W. Lynn
Barry W. Lynn, Esq. has been the Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State since 1992. He is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, and a prominent leader of the American religious left...

 of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State advised against "underestimat[ing] the quality of a lot of the people that are there."

Faculty

Regent has 165 full-time and 465 part-time faculty members with graduates from Yale, Harvard, Duke, Johns Hopkins and others, two of whom are Fulbright Scholars. Faculty are responsible for lecturing classes, advising both graduate and undergraduate students, and sitting on academic committees.

Several members are drawn from high levels of government. Former U.S. Attorney under the Bush administration
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

, John Ashcroft
John Ashcroft
John David Ashcroft is a United States politician who served as the 79th United States Attorney General, from 2001 until 2005, appointed by President George W. Bush. Ashcroft previously served as the 50th Governor of Missouri and a U.S...

, was named Distinguished Professor in 2005 teaching a two-week course each semester in the Robertson School of Government and lecturing on national security law. Also named Distinguished Professor was former Chief of Naval Operations
Chief of Naval Operations
The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...

 Admiral Vern Clark who teaches courses in leadership and government. In 2006, former Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

 Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 until 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government....

 was a visiting faculty member for the School of Undergraduate Studies. Herb Titus
Herb Titus
Herbert W. Titus is an American attorney, writer, and politician. He was a candidate for Vice-President of the United States in the 1996 U.S. presidential election on the Constitution Party ticket....

, founding dean of the Law School, was the 1996 vice-presidential candidate of the Constitution Party
Constitution Party (United States)
The Constitution Party is a paleoconservative political party in the United States. It was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers' Party by Howard Philips in 1991. Phillips was the party's candidate in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 presidential elections...

 and a drafter of the Constitutional Restoration Act to permit government officials to acknowledge "God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government". Titus was fired in 1993 for being "too extreme".

The School of Divinity includes both biblical scholars and religious practitioners, notably the theologian Graham Twelftree
Graham Twelftree
Graham H. Twelftree, Ph.D. is an Australian born biblical scholar who currently serves as Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Regent University's School of Divinity in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Upon earning his master's degree from Oxford University, Twelftree went on to study under world...

, Dean Emeritus H. Vinson Synan
H. Vinson Synan
Harold Vinson Synan, , is an historian and author within the Pentecostal movement. Synan has published a total of sixteen books, fifteen of which are related to Pentecostal and Charismatic history. He once served as the Director of the Holy Spirit Research Center at Oral Roberts University...

, Pentecostal theologian Amos Yong and church historian Stanley M. Burgess. The late J. Rodman Williams
J. Rodman Williams
Dr. J. Rodman Williams , regarded as the father of modern Renewal Theology, was a charismatic theologian and Professor of Renewal Theology at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia....

 was Professor Emeritus.

Noted alumni

Many of Regent University's graduates have had success in public service, entertainment and the legal community. Alumni currently in American politics include the Virginia Governor
Virginia gubernatorial election, 2009
The Virginia gubernatorial election of 2009 took place on November 3, 2009. The election chose Bob McDonnell as the next Governor, Bill Bolling re-elected as Lieutenant Governor, and Ken Cuccinelli as the next Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The winners were inaugurated on January...

 Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Bob McDonnell
Bob McDonnell
Robert Francis "Bob" McDonnell is an American politician who has been the 71st Governor of Virginia since January 2010. A former lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, McDonnell served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1993 to 2006 and served as Attorney General of Virginia from 2006...

, former Assistant U.S. Secretary of Labor Lisa Kruska, and Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Louisiana State Senator
Louisiana State Senate
The Louisiana State Senate is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All Senators serve four year terms and are assigned multiple committees to work on. The Republicans control the State Senate following a Special Election Victory in District 26 by Jonathan W. Perry...

 Sharon Weston Broome
Sharon Weston Broome
Sharon Weston Broome is a Democratic member of the Louisiana Senate, representing the 15th District since she won a special election in December 2004. She serves as President Pro Tempore. Earlier she was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1991 through 2004...

. Monica Goodling
Monica Goodling
Monica Marie Goodling is a former United States government lawyer and political appointee in the George W. Bush administration who became known in 2007 in the midst of a political controversy surrounding the firings of several United States Attorneys...

, 1999 graduate of Regent Law and former Director of Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Justice from 2001 to 2007, is best known for her involvement in the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy
Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy
The dismissal of U.S. Attorneys controversy was initiated by the unprecedented midterm dismissal of seven United States Attorneys on December 7, 2006 by the George W. Bush administration's Department of Justice. Congressional investigations focused on whether the Department of Justice and the White...

 as was her press aide, 1998 law graduate, John Nowacki, and Goodling's predecessor, 1998 School of Business and 1999 Robertson School of Government graduate Susan Richmond. Jay Sekulow, a Ph.D. graduate, is Chief Counsel for Pat Robertson's
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....

 American Center for Law and Justice
American Center for Law and Justice
The American Center for Law & Justice is a conservative Christian, pro-life group that was founded in 1990 by evangelical Pat Robertson.-History:...

, a non-profit
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 public interest
Public interest
The public interest refers to the "common well-being" or "general welfare." The public interest is central to policy debates, politics, democracy and the nature of government itself...

 law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...

 specializing in constitutional issues of religious freedom. Troy A. Titus, Regent Law graduate, son of the founding dean of the school, Herb Titus
Herb Titus
Herbert W. Titus is an American attorney, writer, and politician. He was a candidate for Vice-President of the United States in the 1996 U.S. presidential election on the Constitution Party ticket....

, and previously a nationally known asset protection
Asset protection
Asset protection is a set of legal techniques and a body of statutory and common law dealing with protecting assets of individuals and business entities from civil money judgments...

 expert, is best known for losing his law license for defrauding his clients, many of them elderly.

Terrance Bridges, a dissertation away from earning a doctorate from the School of Education, was featured in The Star Press
The Star Press
- History :The Star Press was created when The Muncie Evening Press was combined with The Muncie Morning Star. Both were owned and printed by the same company.-External links:**...

s Black History Month
Black History Month
Black History Month is an observance of the history of the African diaspora in a number of countries outside of Africa. Since 1976, it is observed annually in the United States and Canada in February, while in the United Kingdom it is observed in October...

 profile for his ministerial work with children and youth.

Notable alumni from the School of Communication & the Arts include actor Tony Hale
Tony Hale
Tony Hale is an American actor, best known for his role in the Fox comedy series Arrested Development as the neurotic Byron "Buster" Bluth.-Early life:...

, best known as Buster Bluth on the TV show Arrested Development, 1999 Miss America
Miss America
The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...

 Nicole Johnson and screenwriter Cheryl McKay
Cheryl McKay
Cheryl McKay is an American author and screenwriter, from Los Angeles, California.McKay holds an M.A. in Screenwriting at Regent University in Virginia, and is a winner of the 2006/2007 Art Within Labs....

 who wrote the screenplay for The Ultimate Gift
The Ultimate Gift
The Ultimate Gift is a film based on author Jim Stovall's bestselling novel released on March 9, 2007 in 816 theaters in the USA. The film was not well attended in the USA and produced low box office receipts, though DVD sales were quite high in relation to its theatrical receipts.-Plot:When his...

. Author Charles Martin
Charles Martin (author)
Charles Martin is an author from the Southern United States. He earned his B.A. in English from Florida State University and went on to receive an M.A. in Journalism and a Ph.D. in Communication from Regent University...

 graduated from the school with a degree in journalism and communications. Jason Upton
Jason Upton
Jason Upton is an American Christian singer-songwriter, musician, recording artist and composer. His musical creations are mostly Christian worship songs inspired by folk music. Jason Upton is evolving on the margins of the Christian music industry through his own record label Key of David...

, a graduate of the School of Divinity, is a Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...

ian. Antonio Zarro
Antonio Zarro
Antonio Zarro is an Academy Award-winning Italian-American screenwriter, director and actor. Zarro received a Student Academy Award in 1987 for Bird in a Cage, a 60 minute 1986 student film made while attending the Christian Broadcasting Network University which received a positive review in the...

 won an Student Academy Award for his 1986 student film Bird in a Cage
Bird in a Cage
Bird in a Cage is an Academy Award-winning 60 minute 1986 American comedic drama film written and directed by Antonio Zarro while he was attending the Christian Broadcasting Network University .-Production:...

,

External links

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