Christian law school 'has had no better friend than the Bush administration'
 The Pat Robertson-founded Regent University School of Law has come under the media's spotlight in recent days, as one of its graduates, Monica Goodling, has been placed at the center of the debate over the firing of U.S. attorneys, according to the Boston Globe.
Many are finding that Regent's influence and alumni placements in the current administration outpace its academic record and credentials.
"Regent University School of Law, founded by televangelist Pat Robertson to provide 'Christian leadership to change the world,' has worked hard in its two-decade history to upgrade its reputation," writes Globe staff writer Charlie Savage, "fighting past years when a majority of its graduates couldn't pass the bar exam and leading up to recent victories over Ivy League teams in national law student competitions."
Savage continues, "But even in its darker days, Regent has had no better friend than the Bush administration. Graduates of the law school have been among the most influential of the more than 150 Regent University alumni hired to federal government positions since President Bush took office in 2001, according to a university website."
Goodling, a graduate of Regent and a now-former aide to Alberto Gonzales, was in charge of overseeing U.S. attorney firings at the Justice Department. Goodling resigned from her post last week after pleading the Fifth in order to avoid testifying in front of Congress on the matter. Many are now questioning whether Goodling had the qualifications to be in that position in the first place.
"Because Goodling graduated from Regent in 1999 and has scant prosecutorial experience, her qualifications to evaluate the performance of US attorneys have come under fire," writes Savage. "Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, asked at a hearing: 'Should we be concerned with the experience level of the people who are making these highly significant decisions?'"
Regent's ease of entry into administration positions was first initiated with the Bush administration's hiring in 2001 of Regent's government school dean to be the director of the Office of Personnel Management, the office tasked with hiring and overseeing executive branch employees.
That trend was hastened with a move by former Attorney General John Ashcroft to do away with the process of veteran civil servants reviewing career service applicants.
Excerpts from the article follow...
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In a recent Regent law school newsletter, a 2004 graduate described being interviewed for a job as a trial attorney at the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in October 2003. Asked to name the Supreme Court decision from the past 20 years with which he most disagreed, he cited Lawrence v. Texas, the ruling striking down a law against sodomy because it violated gay people's civil rights.
"When one of the interviewers agreed and said that decision in Lawrence was 'maddening,' I knew I correctly answered the question," wrote the Regent graduate . The administration hired him for the Civil Rights Division's housing section -- the only employment offer he received after graduation, he said.
The graduate from Regent -- which is ranked a "tier four" school by US News & World Report, the lowest score and essentially a tie for 136th place -- was not the only lawyer with modest credentials to be hired by the Civil Rights Division after the administration imposed greater political control over career hiring.
The changes resulted in a sometimes dramatic alteration to the profile of new hires beginning in 2003, as the Globe reported last year after obtaining resumes from 2001-2006 to three sections in the civil rights division. Conservative credentials rose, while prior experience in civil rights law and the average ranking of the law school attended by the applicant dropped.
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