THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 10, 1996 TAG: 9608100002
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 47 lines
Hampton Roads is the setting for two law schools. The Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary has been around for a couple of centuries. The Regent University School of Law on the grounds of the Christian Broadcasting Network complex in Virginia Beach opened its doors a decade ago.
This week, after announcing that the American Bar Association's House of Delegates had voted to fully accredit the law school, Regent University founder and chancellor Pat Robertson expressed hope that the institution will soon take its place among ``the premier law schools of America.''
That will take some doing, but so did winning full ABA accreditation. And Robertson long ago demonstrated superior ability to realize big dreams. With God's help, as he would assure everyone, Robertson nurtured an unpromising seed - a tiny, down-at-the-heels radio station in Portsmouth - into the global CBN communications empire, an astonishing achievement by any measure.
So ruling out distinguished status for the Regent University School of Law would be premature. Accreditation by the ABA confers upon the school credibility that should boost its appeal to potential faculty and students.
Regent University has flourished largely because Robertson is unmatched in raising funds from the faithful. But he won't be around forever, of course. Only when he departs the scene, perhaps, will it be possible to assess the degree to which the fate and standing of the institution depend upon its principal benefactor and champion.
Meanwhile, the university itself, which predates its law-school component by nine years, is a thriving enterprise with a $190 million endowment and annual expenditures of $24 million (and possible economic impact of $100 million). Last spring, Regent awarded degrees to 363 graduates.
Begun in 1977 as ``a college of communication and the arts,'' Regent today includes also, in addition to the law school, graduate schools of government, divinity, education, counseling and business, all accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Regent's faculty consists of 60 full-time and 30 adjunct or part-time scholars and educators. Students number between 1,400 and 1,500 - more than 800 are full-time enrollees.
Regent is turning out filmmakers, business executives, journalists, actors, ministers and missionaries, counselors . . . and from now on lawyers from a fully ABA-accredited law school. Some of its graduates are in politics. Many of its graduates teach in Hampton Roads schools. Like its founder, Regent is a palpable presence and force. by CNB