# Regent University A Christian-conservative university in Virginia Beach, Virginia, founded by [[Pat Robertson]] in 1977 (originally as CBN University, renamed Regent in 1990). Regent operates eight schools (Business and Leadership, Communication and the Arts, Divinity, Education, Government, Law, Nursing, Psychology and Counseling) with ~12,000 students enrolled across residential and online programs, and positions itself as a "world-class Christian university" credentialing students for "Christian leadership" across professional sectors. The institution's stated mission frames "Christian leadership to change the world" — an explicit framing of vocational education as cultural-leadership-formation in [[Dominionism]]-adjacent terms. Regent's significance in the [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]] is concentrated in its **government and law schools**, which during the [[George W. Bush]] administration came under heavy scrutiny when *Washington Post* reporting (2007) revealed that an unusually large fraction of Justice Department civil-rights division hires under Monica Goodling came from Regent Law (then a relatively young and modestly-ranked law school) rather than from higher-ranked secular law schools. The Goodling-Regent connection became a case study in religious-right institutional pipeline-building during a Republican administration. Subsequent investigations of the U.S. Attorney firings of 2006–2007 implicated Regent-trained DOJ staff in coordination with religious-right political objectives. For the Right Wing KB, Regent is the **Robertson-era Christian-conservative pipeline university** — analytically distinct from the more-academically-rigorous-but-also-CN-aligned [[Hillsdale College]] (secular-conservative-with-religious-overlap), [[Patrick Henry College]] (younger, smaller, more explicitly biblical-worldview), and [[Liberty University]] (mass-market dispensationalist-evangelical). Each of these institutions occupies a distinct niche in the [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]]'s educational-pipeline layer; Regent's specific niche is producing graduates for explicit Christian-conservative legal, governmental, communications, and counseling careers, with [[American Center for Law and Justice]] (Sekulow), [[Christian Broadcasting Network]], and Republican-aligned policy organizations as the principal post-graduate placement vectors. ## Founding and Institutional Development [[Pat Robertson]] founded the institution as **CBN University** in **1977**, initially offering graduate programs in communication, education, and theology — designed to produce professionals who would extend CBN's mission into academia, media, government, and ministry. The university was renamed **Regent University** in **1990** to signal a broader institutional identity beyond the CBN brand ("regent" reflecting the concept of ruling as God's representatives — a [[Dominionism]]-inflected naming choice). The university achieved regional accreditation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and has expanded to eight schools: Business and Leadership, Communication and the Arts, Divinity, Education, Government, Law, Nursing, and Psychology and Counseling. ## Regent University School of Law The law school was founded in **1986** and received **ABA provisional accreditation in 1989** and full accreditation in **1996**. Current *U.S. News & World Report* ranking places Regent Law approximately **#91** among ABA-accredited law schools — a mid-tier ranking that is substantially higher than its earlier reputation but still below the elite schools that traditionally supply federal government legal positions. Regent Law's significance is less about its academic ranking and more about its **pipeline function** into Republican-administration legal positions — a function that became nationally visible during the George W. Bush administration. ## The Monica Goodling Scandal (2007) The event that brought Regent into national political scrutiny. **Monica Goodling** — a 1999 Regent Law graduate — served as the **DOJ White House Liaison and Senior Counsel to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales**. During the **2006–2007 U.S. Attorney firings scandal**, congressional investigations revealed that Goodling had applied political and ideological litmus tests to career DOJ hiring — a practice that violated federal civil-service law. Goodling was granted immunity and testified before the [[House Judiciary Committee]] in May 2007, acknowledging that she had "crossed the line" in considering political affiliation in career-attorney hiring. *Washington Post* reporting revealed that an unusually large number of DOJ hires during the Bush administration — estimated at **150 or more** across the department — had come from Regent and similar Christian-conservative law schools, disproportionate to those schools' academic rankings and class sizes. The Goodling affair became a case study in **religious-right institutional pipeline-building**: Regent's explicit mission of training Christians for government leadership produced graduates who, when placed in hiring-authority positions, systematically favored ideologically-aligned candidates. The pipeline operated exactly as designed — which was the point, and the problem. ## Enrollment and Programs Current enrollment is approximately **11,500 students**, with the majority enrolled in online programs. Like [[Liberty University]], Regent has substantially expanded its online footprint — the online-program revenue model subsidizes the residential campus. The School of Government and the School of Divinity remain the programs most directly relevant to the [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]]'s pipeline function. ## Robertson Family Governance Pat Robertson served as **chancellor** until his death on June 8, 2023. **Gordon Robertson** — who had already assumed operational control of [[Christian Broadcasting Network]] — has continued the family's governance role. Regent, CBN, and [[American Center for Law and Justice]] share the Virginia Beach campus complex and institutional overlap — the three organizations function as an integrated institutional ecosystem under Robertson family direction. ## KB Significance Regent is the **Robertson-era government-and-law pipeline university** in the [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]]. Its strategic niche is narrower than [[Liberty University]]'s mass-market operation and different from [[Patrick Henry College]]'s elite-homeschool-to-conservative-government model. Regent's specific contribution is producing law and government graduates for placement in Republican-administration positions — a function that was revealed and partially discredited by the Goodling scandal but that continues to operate through normal alumni-placement channels. The Virginia Beach co-location with CBN and ACLJ creates a uniquely integrated institutional ecosystem: students at Regent can intern at ACLJ, appear on CBN programming, and enter government service through Robertson-network alumni connections. ## See Also - [[Pat Robertson]] - [[Christian Broadcasting Network]] - [[American Center for Law and Justice]] - [[Jay Sekulow]] - [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]]