Regent University
Christian private research institution in Virginia, US
Regent University is a private Christian university in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. Founded by Pat Robertson in 1977 as Christian Broadcasting Network University, its name was changed to Regent University in 1990. Regent offers on-campus programs as well as distance education. Regent offers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in over 70 courses of study. The university is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
History
Plans for the university, originally named Christian Broadcasting Network University, were begun in 1977 by Pat Robertson; Robertson remained Chancellor until his death in 2023. In 1990, the name was changed to Regent University. The university's motto is "Christian Leadership to Change the World."
The first class, consisting of seventy-seven students, began in fall of 1978 when the school leased classroom space in Chesapeake, Virginia. In 1980, the first graduating class held its commencement; the school of education opened that Fall. That year, the university took residence for the first time on its current campus in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Regent University” as christian private research institution in Virginia, US. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as christian private research institution in Virginia, US. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q502352. VIAF identifies the subject as 131489245. The Library of Congress control number is n92009327. Authority coordinates are 36.803, -76.196. 2 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1977, 1990, 2023 and 1978.
Later summaries often reconcile disputed chronology or motive more neatly than the contemporary record permits. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.
- Event chronology
- Institutional context
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Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Regent University”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Regent University primary sources, Regent University archive and Regent research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Regent University”?
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- Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Regent University” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.