Democrats of Regent stake out new ground and form club

VIRGINIA BEACH

It’s not as daring as, say, Pat Robertson’s Republican run for the White House in 1988. But there’s no denying that starting a Democratic student group at Regent University, which Robertson founded and heads, seems a bit audacious.

“Here, it is definitely a startling idea,” said Kalila Hines, one of the founding members of Regent Democrats.

Regent, where Robertson is president and chancellor, has long had a student Republican group.

Robertson, a Christian broadcaster, is a staunch political conservative who often disparages Democrats, including during his commentaries on “The 700 Club.” The television show is produced by the Christian Broadcasting Network, which is based next to Regent.

The university approved Regent Democrats as an official student organization in late January. Robertson was not available for comment on the group.

But Carlos Campo, Regent’s vice president for academic affairs, said Robertson gave his thumbs up to the new group.

“He said, 'You know what, it reflects the openness of our campus and how open we are to sharing of ideas,’” Campo said of his talk with Robertson.

Brandon Carr, Regent Democrats’ vice president, described the group as “Democrats and independents who want to be Christian leaders to change the world … explaining to others how you can be a Christian and agree to some Democratic principles as well.”

As a Christian-based school, Regent has a strongly evangelical, charismatic accent, and all faculty are expected to be Christians. They sign a statement binding them with Regent’s Christian beliefs, such as the infallibility of the Bible.

But Regent’s 4,282 students represent a spectrum of religious denominations – and, obviously, political beliefs as well.

“There’s basically been an underground kind of movement to kind of get a Democratic organization on campus and to show that Christians can side with the Democratic Party,” Heather Carr said. About 30 students are members.

Carr and her husband, Brandon, both are Regent students – she in the divinity school, he in the law school.

Last year, amid the national excitement of the presidential campaign, the couple started a Facebook site to gauge student interest in launching a Regent group for Democrats and political independents.

The response was big enough to start the group with students including Andrea Chandler, a former high school teacher and voting rights activist; Takeshia Stokes , who wore her Obama buttons proudly; and Hines, who is studying government.

“I went to the first meeting and was very excited to be able to express myself here on campus,” said Hines, who noted that local schools such as Norfolk State University had Democratic clubs.

Evangelical Christian colleges with student Democratic organizations include Wheaton College in Illinois (Billy Graham’s alma mater), Biola University in California and Anderson University in Indiana.

Regent’s student Democrats said they were pleased, but not surprised, by welcoming comments they’ve gotten from faculty and classmates.

“Just with this group out there, people are realizing that being Christian does not always equal Republican,” Heather Carr said. “Your faith should direct your politics, not your politics directing your faith.”

Hines said the encouraging feedback showed that Regent “is just a diverse university, and that’s what we thought.”

Ollie Bates, chairman of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee, said he was thrilled by the new student organization.

“We were very, very pleased to see this come forth,” he said. “It’s no secret that Pat Robertson and his team have pretty strong Republican leanings.”

Regent for years has invited some of the country’s leading liberals and Democrats to visit, including 2000 presidential candidate Al Gore, his campaign manager Donna Brazile, 1984 vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro, and the Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The visits typically involve formal debates with leading conservatives.

David Gushee, a Mercer University Christian ethics professor and author of “The Future of Faith in American Politics: The Public Witness of the Evangelical Center, ” said he’s not surprised to see a Democratic group pop up at the 32-year-old Regent .

Christian colleges typically get more mainstream as they respond to expectations from accrediting agencies, academia and students with varied backgrounds, he said.

“My first thought was that Regent is moving outside of the hyper-conservative Christian subculture to be a somewhat broader climate,” he said. “It actually speaks well of Regent that there is diversity there.”

But the Democratic club is also evidence of a generational shift in values among evangelicals, Gushee said.

“Younger evangelicals are trending toward the center and loosening this kind of reflexive Republican Party identity,” he said. Gushee said that in 2008, young evangelicals voted for Barack Obama twice as frequently as their elders.

Those younger Christians have a broader moral agenda that goes beyond abortion and gay rights to include poverty, war, genocide and environmentalism, he said.

That’s a good description of Brandon Carr, who said his moral concerns include the poor, stewardship of the Earth and avoiding pre-emptive wars.

“As a Bible-believing Christian, I believe in the truth that’s in here,” he said, tapping the book. “Some of his greatest commandments in here are to love one another, care for one another, to be peacemakers, and that’s how I approach his w ord,” he said, referring to God.

Yet there’s no generational shift among some students. Chandler said black Christians such as herself already had a tradition of leaning toward Democrats’ social justice agenda.

“Their support of the people’s right to vote and of the entitlement to be part of the American political system, I closely identify with that,” she said .

“It’s the heart I feel the Democratic Party has for helping 'the least of these,’” added Stokes , quoting Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew. “And that’s something that’s dear to my heart.”

At the same time, many Regent Democrats don’t embrace the party’s agenda wholesale. Stokes said she opposes abortion, though many in the Democratic Party support legalized abortion.

Gushee said some liberals may take partisan glee at seeing a Democratic group in the bosom of Robertson’s university.

“The long-term mistake on the Christian right of identifying Christ with the Republicans, as if Jesus was the head of the Republican Party, has created an environment for that culture-war back-and-forth,” he said.

He also said such glee would be misguided.

“You can’t really be a university of any quality without allowing your students freedom of affiliation and reflection and political identity,” he said. “To their credit, Regent has permitted that.”

Steven G. Vegh, (757) 446-2417, steven.vegh@pilotonline.com