Pat Robertson to retire as Regent University president

VIRGINIA BEACH

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson is retiring as Regent University's president on July 1, 2010, but he'll hardly be a stranger on campus afterward.

Robertson, 79, will continue at the school as chancellor, a job he held while president, and on the board of trustees, a news release issued Tuesday said.

"Our mission remains steadfast: to train Christian leaders who serve with excellence in every area of their lives," Robertson said.

Robertson, creator of the Christian Broadcasting Network and a pioneer of the evangelical political movement, founded the university in 1978.

He remains the host and public face of "The 700 Club," CBN's signature daily program blending news and a talk-show format. CBN is based in Virginia Beach, adjacent to Regent's campus.

Regent's trustees have created a search committee to choose a new president no later than fall 2010.

The university's campus is bordered by Interstate 64, Indian River Road and Centerville Turnpike. On its Web site, the school bills itself as "the nation's academic center for Christian thought and action."

The school has about 4,500 students in undergraduate and graduate programs, some of which are taught online.

Robertson was unavailable for comment Tuesday, said Sherri Stocks, Regent's vice president of marketing and public relations.

Stocks said Robertson chose the retirement date because it will mark his 10th anniversary as president. He also wants to put more time into a strategic plan he developed for Regent.

"Quite frankly, the day-to-day role of a president is quite absorbing on its own, and he'd like to concentrate on the capital plans of the university," Stocks said.

During a portion of his time as Regent's president, Robertson simultaneously was chancellor of the school; chief executive officer and chairman of the board of the Christian Broadcasting Network; president of the board of the American Center for Law and Justice; and chairman of the board of Operation Blessing International, a relief charity.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which is reviewing Regent's reaccreditation this year, requires university chief executives to keep their focus on their school.

"Whoever is serving as CEO needs to give primary attention to that institution as opposed to other external entities," said Tom Benberg of SACS, speaking broadly about schools. He did not talk specifically about Regent.

"If the president of an accredited institution, for instance, spent a substantial amount of time in some of these other roles, then it might bring into question the university's compliance," Benberg said.

But Carlos Campos, Regent's vice president for academic affairs, said SACS is satisfied with Regent's explanation that Robertson's first focus is the university.

"He certainly has lots of other duties and responsibilities; that is not atypical for a university president," Campos said.

He said Robertson did not schedule retirement to meet SACS requirements.

In December 2007, Robertson passed daily management of CBN to his son, Gordon Robertson, who became chief executive officer.

Asked at the time if he was considering retirement, Pat Robertson said, "Not anytime soon - I don't see anything in the Bible about people retiring; they just keep going on."

Stocks said Robertson was not retiring for health reasons and remained robust, working out in a gym and horseback riding several times a week.

In October 2007, Robertson was treated successfully for atrial fibrillation, a heart condition, at the Cleveland Clinic. He had a partial knee replacement in May 2007 after being diagnosed with osteoarthritis. In 2003, Robertson had a cancerous prostate gland removed via laparoscopic surgery.

He resigned in 2001 as head of the Christian Coalition, the grass-roots religious lobby he founded. The group helped push American politics rightward as it galvanized millions of evangelical Christians into political action in the 1990s.

Past Regent presidents have included retired Army Lt. Gen. Paul G. Cerjan from 1997 to 2000; Terry Lindvall, a film scholar now at Virginia Wesleyan College, from 1993 to 1997; and David J. Gyertson, a college administrator and ex-CBN executive, from 1991 to 1993.

When he succeeded Cerjan in 2000, Robertson said: "The university didn't need another shock of bringing somebody in who was strange to it. I am the founder. I have been the president twice before. So I'm not unfamiliar with it."

Adelia "Dede" Robertson, Pat's wife, and Timothy, his other son, have served on Regent's board of trustees.

Regent's academic program includes schools of law, divinity, counseling, government, education, leadership and communications.

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