Dr. Robertson Turns 80

Regent University's Chancellor and Founder turns 80 on March 22. To celebrate, Regent is doing nothing less than the elegance of true regent style - white tents and fried chicken.

Early last week party trucks lined up in front of Regent University's communications building to set up a big white tent for our Chancellor's, birthday celebration. All students have been invited to the luncheon and a birthday card has been passed around the university so all who wish to may sign it.

Pat Robertson's wish for the event is personal donations provided on a monthly basis or a one time gift of $80. This money will go towards building Regent's own Chapel and School for Divinity. Dr. Robertson's vision for this building is that it may stand as a reminder of to all of what Regent University has done and will do in the world with its graduates. For more information on this birthday wish or if you would like to make a donation, click here.

I am sorry to say that I will miss this celebration as I will be in Philadelphia supporting another Regent on-campus group, Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), the university's own business and community outreach group. For everyone here on campus, by all means show up have some good old fried chicken with our founder. These days with President Robertson are few and far between as his presidency will end in July 2010. Pat Robertson only turns 80 once, though I am sure 85 will be an even grander celebration, hopefully none of us students will be here that long.

Happy Spring.

NYC: A Picture Story

Ok, my secret is out. Maybe I went to NYC on New Years Day this year. I turned 22.

And maybe it was wonderful. The best birthday I have had yet. (And this above was the Metropolitan Museum of Art).

New York City is a very special place. If you have not been, I sincerely encourage you to go. It makes you think and feel a little bit like anything is possible. Who knows? Maybe anything is possible.

I've Got a Feeling

I've got a feeling....that tonights gonna be a good night.

The hot Black Eyed Peas song blared over the speakers at around 10 p.m. and people headed out dance on the marble floor of Robertson Hall.

It was a good night. Last night, December 5, 2009 was Regent University’s 2009 Christmas Ball. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Christmas ball, it is an annual dance held for Regent’s students both graduate and undergraduate.

Some people have been preparing for the ball since September when the ballroom dance lessons began. Regent offered a series of ten dance lessons for $25 hosted at a local dance studio.

The dance started at 8p.m. and was hosted in the lobby and three floors of Robertson Hall, a.k.a. the law building. There were a few waltzes, a few swing dances and much to my dismay – not many rumba dances. Then 9 p.m. rolled around and the crowds were pouring in the door. Everyone knows it is best to show up fashionably late.

The event’s theme was “Old Hollywood” but dresses of all kinds rustled on the floor and there were even a few glimpses of a tux or two – a very prestigious event.

Before coming to the ball I heard from my roommate there was a special dessert planned. Much to the wisdom of the party-planners, this special dessert was located on the third floor of the building right by the elevators.

It was a chocolate mouse-filled decadent cake. I could only eat ¼ of a slice and my friend had to finish the other ¼. Good thing we only took a half-slice. The cake was even decorated with flowers.

At 10p.m. the Regent dance team did a performance. It was a swing dance. I watched from the second floor, oohing and ahhing with the rest of the crowd as the boys swung the girls every which way around the floor - very exciting. Then the real dancing broke out. All the hip-hop you could imagine. There was an electric slide thrown in the mix too.

We have some talented break dancers at Regent. Unfortunately I did not get a picture, but they were bold enough to part the crowd into a small circle around them as they “broke it down.”

You definitely get a fair share of dancing culture at Regent. It is not a typical Christian college in the sense that they shy away from dancing or even hip-hop dancing for that matter. It makes for quite a varied crowd.

The Christmas ball was great. The only thing missing was champagne. This was a champagne kind of event. Then I remember we are a Christian university and don’t drink champagne - at least not on campus.

Anyways, it was a great night. If you went to the ball, you know what I mean. If you did not go to the ball, I suggest you go next year. It is definitely a defining moment of Regent culture and the Regent experience. ‘Til next year.

And for now, Merry Christmas.

Ida: A Picture Story

Hello Ida!

Hurricane Ida hit Virginia Beach this week. It went a little bit like on Monday I was warned a storm was coming. On Tuesday I figured it would just be torrential rain. On Wednesday I tried to walk through this storm to class and my umbrella was completely torn inside out and I got wet. On Thursday class was cancelled and I stayed home. And on Friday I drove in the pouring rain to Harris Teeter and ate free salami, cheese and cake samples.

The storm was more than expected. It involved rain, killer wind and broken trees. Unless the Regent University lawn crew has recently decided to tear down well-established trees for no apparent reason, then Hurricane Ida is left her mark. Eek. She even blew a kiss to Walmart.

Good thing for Walmart that kiss is easily fixed. In Colorado we call these kinds of things flash floods but they don't have the wind. I tried to leave the Regent Commons on Thursday but the foot-deep puddle of water on Centerville Turnpike was a little bit disheartening. I asked my little Honda Civic if she was up for an adventure through the puddle. Partly due to the instructions of my Old Testament professor not to drive through standing puddles but mostly due to common sense, she said "Absolutely not."

As much fun as it would be to spend all my Christmas gift money on getting towed two blocks back to the Regent Commons and having my engine saturated with water, I opted to go back home and watch television instead of dropping off my passport application at the Post Office. It is a good thing that I decided this because when I made it to the Post Office on Friday, there was a paper sign with orange magic marker scribbles saying, "Closed due to Power Outage." Darn for my passport.

When I woke up on Friday morning, there were little leaves like this one plastered all over my car. Best of all, though, was that my car was not a victim of the tree pictured at the top of this post. That would have been a dilemna slightly larger than getting stuck in the Centerville Turnpike puddle.

Life is still good, even with Ida.