Impact Volume 5 Issue 2 - February 2014 Highlights

IMPACT A P U B LICAT IO N O F R EGE N T UN I V E R SI T Y

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hirty years strong, the Robertson School of Government (RSG) was launched to train students with high expertise and principled character to influence the arena of public policy.

During the annual Clash of the Titans™ debate, Regent University’s founder, chancellor and CEO, Dr. M.G. “Pat” Robertson, spoke of one of the school’s legacy: “We are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Robertson School of Government, named in memory of my father, U.S. Senator A. Willis Robertson, who represented Virginia in Congress for more than 30 years. My father never forgot that he was a servant of the people and that his private and public life must be above reproach.”

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These values led Pat Robertson to a lifetime of public service—including a run for the U.S. presidency in 1987.

They also motivated him to launch RSG. “The number-one accomplishment of RSG is more than 1,000 alumni serving in all walks of life,” says RSG Dean Eric Patterson. “The mission of the school is to train the next generation of leaders who desire to uphold Judeo-Christian principles that undergird our society. We emphasize three things in our mission

INSIDE: REAGAN’S TURNING POINT DEFENDING FAITH & FREEDOM

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statement: individual liberty, representative democracy and constitutional government.”

Patterson notes that Christians have thought about these issues of leadership from St. Augustine to George Washington and beyond. “We are very intentional here at RSG about teaching our students how to deal with difficult questions of public policy from a Christian worldview,” he says. “It’s disingenuous for political opponents to say ‘you can’t bring your Christian values into the marketplace of ideas, but we can bring our secular or humanist values.’

Rather than get bitter, we encourage our students to understand Biblical principles and how to make a winsome argument in the public sphere based on a common morality.”

the way for his presidential appointment as Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). He also served two terms as an official delegate to the United Nations General Assembly.

Hannah Bell ’12 (Government) is also making a difference by helping young adults develop a holistic view of public service. She launched a leadership conference to train Christians to get involved in public life, integrating their faith into their vocation in every possible way.

“RSG professors gave real-life lessons and then connected that with God’s purpose for my life in a culturally relevant manner,” Bell recalls. “So many of my professors functioned as mentors. Once I was done with Over the past 30 years, RSG alumni have the program, they looked at me as a put this training into practice, serving in colleague. It’s a unique and special various levels of government and public way to approach education.” administration.

Patterson is quick to highlight the Dr. Paul Bonicelli ’87 (Government), accomplishments of the RSG faculty: now the executive vice president at “Associate Professor Mary Manjikian Regent, received his master’s was awarded a Fulbright Fellowdegree in public policy. ship and studied at the University of Durham in the UK. Dr. Jeffry Morrison That opened

The number-one accomplishment of RSG is more than 1,000 alumni serving in all walks of life...

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was named the academic director of the federal government’s James Madison Foundation in Washington, D.C. Our faculty also includes retired Admiral Vern Clark, former Chief of Naval Operations and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and also former Attorney General of the United States John Ashcroft.”

The school’s faculty is publishing books and peer-reviewed academic journal articles that demonstrate their roles as first-rate scholars and exemplary teachers.

As Patterson looks to the future, he is excited about the growth of the Master of Public Administration program. “There are 18 million government employees in the U.S., and almost all those people need further education to advance in their career,” he explains. “We want to serve these people who work as public administrators at city hall, in county governments, and in the military from a Christian perspective.”

Along with an emphasis on the American founding of government institutions, RSG has developed an equally strong international relations and foreign policy program. “Our faculty includes a retired admiral,

along with scholars like Bonicelli, Manjikian, Dr. Popescu and myself, who have international security and foreign experience and interests,” says Patterson. “This emphasis is very attractive to prospective students, and it ties into the university’s calling to be a global entity.”

“We’re impacting the world,” asserts Courtney Herron ’09 (Government), who works in Washington, D.C. “Most of my job is making sure that people across America have a voice that is represented in the nation’s capital. By studying at RSG you focus on the most critical components of government and how you can have the most impact.”

As a resolute Patterson explains: “Every generation has needed strong, moral leaders. We are very intentional here at RSG to train Christian leaders in government to go out and change the world.”

Robertson School of Government at 30 – Watch Video: regent.edu/rsg-freedom Learn more about RSG: regent.edu/government

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Reagan’s Turning Point:

A TIME FOR CHOOSING

The year 1964 was a turning point when America began a long descent into cultural and moral decay. At this critical juncture in American history, Ronald Reagan stood to warn the nation with his famous speech, “A Time for Choosing,” presented during the U.S. presidential election campaign on behalf of Republican candidate Barry Goldwater. In this landmark address Reagan called for an embrace of America’s historic values of freedom, responsibility, faith and strong national defense.

The soaring rhetoric launched Reagan to national political prominence and helped set the tone for the conservative movement.

To mark the 50th anniversary of this important event, Regent University’s Robertson School of Government (RSG) hosted the 9th Annual Ronald Reagan Symposium, “A Time for Choosing,” featuring a panel of experts in the fields of public policy, government and history.

“The reason the speech resonated then and the reason it resonates now is that we have a sense of having lost our way,” noted City Journal contributing editor Claire Berlinksi.

King’s College Associate Professor Joseph Loconte agreed: “For Reagan the threat was always the encroaching arm of government.

Things change, and they stay the same.”

“The Reagan Symposium continues to be the premier academic event in the country, analyzing the impact of Ronald Reagan on American politics,” says RSG dean, Dr. Eric Patterson. “We were proud to host 4

internationally known public intellectuals like Amity Shlaes, Claire Berlinski and Joseph Loconte. This continues to demonstrate Regent’s commitment to superior academic programming.”

Panelist Stewart McLaurin, vice president of American Village Citizenship Trust and former executive director for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, has traveled to 6,900 high schools and more than 100 colleges to show young people the “Time for Choosing” speech. “In listening to the words of these students, I heard how this speech still resonates 50 years later,” he said. “Reagan spoke his mind and his heart, and that’s what resonated with young people then and today.”

“Our freedom has never been so fragile,” said Ryan T. Anderson, a Fellow at The Heritage Foundation. “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness: These values have been challenged in the areas of rights to life, marriage and religion.”

“Reagan saw that if you don’t institutionally curb government, it will, by default and gravitational pull, create a greater and greater pull that just means the erosion of freedom,” Loconte added.

“Americans are attracted to conviction politicians,” noted Regent’s executive vice president, Dr. Paul Bonicelli. “They are impressed by somebody who means what he says, has strong beliefs, and intends to implement them—a person who has sought and won the presidency in order to make a difference based on the values they hold dear.

And that’s what stands out about Reagan.”

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After going to work for the Christian Coalition in 1997, Gary Marx ’02 (Government) came into contact with Robertson School of Government (RSG) graduates—and he was impressed. He began to see how his grassroots experiences and a degree from Regent could prepare him for where he felt God was calling him.

Marx was accepted to RSG and spent the next two years immersing himself in the concepts of public policy and servant leadership.

Marx was awarded the prestigious Beazley Scholarship, an honor that allowed him to enjoy a scholarship luncheon with Regent’s founder, chancellor and CEO, Dr. M.G. “Pat” Robertson. Marx gratefully used this encounter to learn more about the chancellor’s thoughts and heart toward the area of government.

That moment and the time he spent being sharpened in the classroom, along with constant dialogue among fellow students, helped Marx hone his gifts and talents in the area of public service. His interaction with professors and guest speakers helped prepare him to apply what he was

learning in real-world scenarios in the political realm.

Marx says he was particularly struck by the concept that the Golden Rule and Book of Proverbs apply to everything in life and have a fundamental application—ideas confirmed during his time at Regent.

His career path has included high-level posting as Conservative Coalitions Director for the Mitt Romney presidential campaign in 2008 and also at the Bush-Cheney ’04 national campaign headquarters. His coalitions program helped increase former President George W. Bush’s share of the “values voters” to 21.3 million, or 36 percent of the total Bush vote.

Joining the Faith and Freedom Coalition (FFC) in 2011 as the executive director, Marx has had ample opportunity to apply what he learned at Regent to his current area of influence.

While with the FFC, his greatest focus has been voter contact, growing coalition members and building attendance for the Road to Majority Conference.

Marx recently launched a political consulting firm, Madison Strategies, and continues to works alongside FFC’s chairman, Ralph Reed, as a senior advisor.

One of his dreams is that the Faith and Freedom Coalition be the singlemost effective conservative voter contact operation in American history. “My hope is that as a result of the FFC and its influence on history, there will be scores upon scores of conservative men and women of faith sitting in office and implementing public policy in a conservative manner that reflects the vision of the Founding Fathers.”

Learn more at ffcoalition.com

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Regent World Changer

Marion O’Neill

Minnesota State Representative According to Minnesota State Representative Marion O’Neill ’95 (Psychology & Counseling), her studies at Regent helped prepare her for her current career in government and for the path that led her there. “At Regent, I gained the interpersonal and problem-solving skills needed to affect change on a statewide scale,” she says. O’Neill was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives for House District 29B in November 2012.

Before entering politics, O’Neill taught her children at home through an online public school for six years. Having also worked for various companies—and co-owning a company with her husband, Thomas,—she understands the pressures facing businesses and families today. “I want to reduce regulation and taxation and encourage free market competition,” she explains.

O’Neill is in favor of fixing the funding formula in public education to make it fair for all, giving freedom of choice and local control. She is also intent on protecting Second Amendment rights to bear arms, and she values life from conception to natural death. “I am looking forward to having an even greater influence in the future,” she shares.

Please pray for Marion O’Neill—and for all the Regent University graduates making a difference in public service.

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Right to Privacy.

National Security.

Free Press.

A Message From the Chancellor Dear Friends, I remember the first time I visited the White House. My father, who was then a senator from Virginia, took me along to see President Harry Truman. I have had the privilege of visiting the White House several times since then, and the magnificent simplicity of the Oval Office has never lost its power.

Keynote Speakers: Manny Garcia

Nuevo Herald Pulitzer Prize Winner

Clifford Christians

University of Illinois-Urbana

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During the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower, he reportedly had a portrait hung just outside the Oval Office that depicted the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

The artist, who was commissioned by Congress, died before he could complete it. The result was a work twothirds done, and the rest was a stark gray canvas. A few completed sketches of figures sat in the foreground. The rest of the figures were only dimly penciled in the background. Eisenhower suggested that the unfinished portrait might reveal the hand of Divine Providence and unfinished democracy.

In that uncompleted painting is a message for all of us— that it is not just the signers, or presidents, or Congress who have the responsibility of preserving our freedoms, but all of us. All of us belong in that picture.

We established the Robertson School of Government to train young men and women to carry the Biblical principles of freedom and justice under God into the arena of government service to help complete this portrait of America.

SUPPORT SCIENCE & FAITH Construction of our new Applied Science and Ethics Lab is estimated to cost $1.5M. Your gift can help us reach our goal. To make your donation, visit regent.edu/give, and enter “Applied Science Lab” in the special instructions section.

You can also use the enclosed postage-paid envelope. Simply make your check payable to “Regent University” and write “Applied Science Lab” in the memo section. Thank you for your support.

Our mission is to raise up leaders who desire to strengthen the ethical and moral foundation of Judeo-Christian principles in government, and who are called to preserve individual freedom, representative democracy and constitutional government.

Your ongoing prayers and financial gifts enable us to equip Christian leaders to change the realm of public service— and every discipline we offer at Regent University.

Thank you.

In Christ,

Pat Robertson Chancellor/CEO Regent University

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Regent University’s Impact is published monthly by the university’s Office of Advancement, free of charge, for alumni and friends of the university. Regent University admits students without discrimination on the basis of race, color, disability, gender, religion or national or ethnic origin. Regent University is certified by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to operate campuses within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Regent University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award associates, baccalaureate, masters, and doctorate degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404.679.4500 for questions about the accreditation of Regent University. Opinions expressed in Impact are those of individuals and do not necessarily represent the views of Regent University’s board, faculty, administration or staff. Regent University accepts news submissions from readers but reserves the right to edit based upon clarity, length and content.

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