Not So Hidden Treasures Found On Campus

Twilight view of Regent Library taken on 1/11/12.

Leaving late from class last Wednesday. I was exhausted from work and class. It was cold and drizzly outside. The trees were bare and I asked God to show me something positive in my situation. How might he make the impending darkness and wintery weather more optimistic for me as I continued on with my day? (Yes, I did ask Him this very question as I lugged my bags to the car and my shoes dampened in the puddles.)

There was little change at first. The asphalt seemed to be the same. The line of cars building up didn't change my impression either. My shoes were getting even wetter and now my jeans too. I loaded up my books in the trunk of my car as it began to pour. For some reason, I turned around instead of quickly rushing to my driver side door. I stopped, probably looking like a nut, as I stared at the amazing beauty revealed to me in such an unexpected way. 

The backdrop as pictured above is of the library seen from the student parking lot that caused me to stare. I see this building every day I come to Regent and even when I leave for the day. In probably over a hundred times of me seeing it, the library had never appeared so warm and playful. The lights from the windows were dancing, an open invitation to enter. I especially enjoyed the reflections off of the ground. The whole vista actually tricked me into thinking I was on a rue in Paris.

Maybe this is why Claude Monet painted so many images of the Rouen Cathedral. An everyday building may appear to look the same at a glance on a daily basis to the average Joe who has his other things on the mind. However, upon closer inspection, the same building from day-in and day-out can look like a completely different place in just the right time of day, lighting conditions, and weather.

My eyes are now peeled (rain or shine). I'm readying my mind and eyes for more artistic revelations of everyday places seen on campus! I asked God to share something positive with me and moments later he undoubtedly did. How unexpected! How joyous! How wonderful!

By Stephanie Hartman

Amber Tones

Regent University is such a beautiful campus, especially this autumn season. I can't help but stop to admire the trees and flowers. I noticed this tree for the first time as I was walking towards Robertson Hall.

The saturated amber tones of the falling leaves reminded me that I am blessed to be alive. I am thankful for the change in seasons, the opportunity to study law, and for the passionate people who keep me encouraged. These are true blessings.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. What are you thankful for?


By Stephanie Hartman

A Little Facelift

If you have ever been on Regent’s campus you’ve undoubtedly seen the iconic eternal flame flickering outside of the CBN Studio Headquarters Building. It represents the innumerable souls that have been saved through God’s use of the Christian Broadcasting Network.

What was dedicated as an understated monument to evangelism recently underwent a little facelift. Instead of the sloping solid black base that peaked at the mouth of the flame, a simple, yet bold white silhouette of the globe has been painted over the black background. While this may seem an insignificant act of upkeep, it comes at quite the a propos time here in the law school.

As I type this, 12 Regent Law students are refusing to wait to change the world until after earning their degrees, but have instead fixed their faces like flints on God’s calling for their lives. From Richmond, Va. and San Diego, Ca., to Mexico City, Moscow, India, and South Korea, the 12 interns for the new Center for Global Justice are promoting the rule of law and seeking justice for the world's downtrodden. I could not help but think of these passionate and dedicated students as I walked by the flame that now seems to represent an entirely different aspect of Christ’s love.

The flame was built to represent the Love that saves from sin and death, and now the flame stands to represent the Love that frees from tyranny and oppression.

So next time you pass the flame I challenge you to not only thank God for the salvation of the souls of the people it depicts, but to ask Him for grace and justice for those who haven’t the strength to ask for themselves.


By Molly Eccles

Spring has Sprung

With finals looming on the horizon, deadlines for summer internships fast approaching, and graduation regalia not far from the closets of Regent Law 3Ls, it is easy to understand why the stress and tension around Robertson Hall is at an almost tangible level.

Meanwhile, as many across the country are waiting for their April showers to bring May flowers, Virginia Beach is in full bloom – and it is only mid-March. The beautiful pink blossoms illuminating an early spring shower remind our students and faculty that this season of stress and uncertainty is only that - a season.

I think the lesson learned from such settings is depicted by Victorian poet Gerard Manley Hopkins better than any attempt of mine:

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

  It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
  It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generation have trod, have trod, have trod;
  And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
  And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
  There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
  Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs -
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
 World broods with warm breast and with ah! Bright wings.

By Molly Eccles

Storms

Storms are interesting monsters. They are not always predictable, and even when they are the degree of their intensity can rarely be known until they are in full swing.

Meteorologists predicted that yesterday a major winter blizzard would blow through Virginia Beach. Now, take the words “major” and “blizzard” with a grain of salt, this is after all, Virginia Beach. Regardless, I could not wait to wake up and open my window to a winter wonderland; but I didn’t. Nothing had changed in the weather since I had fallen asleep the night before.

Then, an hour later, the snow began to fall. And in the course of just three hours the entire landscape at Regent was covered with a cold cotton blanket a few inches thick. By 12:30 the University announced it would be closing early, and at 3:00 students, staff, and faculty trudged through the then rain and slush to their cars and homes.

So in only five hours the storm started and departed with little to show for it but a few patches of nearly melted snow.

It was out of just such a patch that the snapdragons accessorizing the entrance of Robertson Hall emerged. Although I have walked by them most every day since they were planted near two months ago they have never stood out quite like they did this morning; as though the bright white snow was sent for no other reason than to highlight their petals.

Doesn’t God use the storms of life to serve the same purpose?


By Molly Eccles

In and out of season

Life at Regent Law certainly keeps you on your toes. And while students expect this of their professors, most do not anticipate the weather will do the like. Tomorrow’s forecast is predicting highs in the low 50’s. But today, just two days away from Thanksgiving, it is 74 degrees outside. As this is a beach town most consider this unexpected warm front a good excuse to break out the shorts and flip-flops for yet another day before the chill of winter sets in for good.

While this corner of campus conveys the beauty of a Virginia Beach fall, it fails to convey its unpredictability, which is one of my favorite things about living here.

I am from the Southern California desert, and while I am accustomed to such warm days so late in the year, I am typically surrounded by palm trees and tumble weeds. However, there is something invigorating and almost magical about being able to bask in the red and gold leaves that swirl around me, without the fear of a cold gust of wind stealing me back indoors. My friends who spend Thanksgiving in the snow could not agree more.

At the same time, I love that I get to don a scarf and coat once more tomorrow. This is yet another way God is using my life at Regent to teach me to “be ready in season and out of season” (2 Tim 4:2).


By Molly Eccles

The Inauguration

Regent University has a new President. And while the inauguration ceremony was complete with a parade of Dr. Carlos Campo's scholastic and professional accomplishments which have qualified him for the position, it, in true Regent fashion, did not fail to present a personal side to the man we have all already grown to love and respect.

Of all of the facts shared about Dr. Campo, one that stood out was his turning down an acceptance to Carnegie Mellon so that he could care for his family after his mother passed away when he was 17. This reminded us that Dr. Campo is human, not unlike any of the hundreds of other listeners. And the demands of his new position will certainly put his humanity to a test that anyone less dedicated to God would find too great a challenge to bear, making his ability to fulfill the duties of his position all the more commendable.

In spite of his numerous accolades Dr. Campo has made it perfectly clear that his identity is first as a bondservant of Christ, and second as a family man. Had he not unwaveringly dedicated himself to the two he would never have become the man that was chosen to be the President of Regent University. These are the foremost of many reasons he has earned the love and respect of all with whom he comes in contact.

So although the President beside the podium may seem out of reach, the man beside the podium is closer than he seems.


By Molly Eccles

Robertson Hall looks a little different

Over the past eight weeks Robertson Hall has come alive with the sound of "rollie bags" clacking across its marble floor, the smell of coffee wafting through the foyer as COGS' (Council of Graduate Students) Law senators provided our students with a mid-morning snack, and the sight of students ascending and descending the staircase (some more frantically than others) in pursuit of their next class.

But last week was Fall Break here at Regent, leaving Robertson Hall - some may say eerily, others peacefully - quiet. Such times of quiet give those of us who stay behind the chance to consider the success of all of the activity that passes through this beautiful foyer to the classrooms and offices beyond its columns, rails, and walls.

Well, it was during this week of relative inactivity and quiet that we received a piece of much anticipated news when we learned of our record high Virginia State Bar passage rate for the July 2010 exam. 85.7% of our first-time takers passed, placing us among the top three schools in the state. Truly God has honored our dedication to His school.

All of a sudden Robertson Hall just looks a little different, and not simply because Fall Break is now over.


By Molly Eccles

for My glory

I like to think of this photo as one of those happy accidents of art. I just started using a new camera (new to me, anyway). For whatever reason I've been having the most difficult time getting the thing to focus properly. I took this picture, reviewed it on my LCD, and was elated to find that it was perfectly focused on the two people walking down the path with the background ever so slightly blurred. So when I uploaded it I should have been dismayed to find the whole thing out of focus; but I wasn't. I found that it made the sun the focal point of the image. Then the Spirit reminded me that the Son should be the focal point of my every image; that just as I am the apple of His eye, so does He long to be the apple of mine. As Helen Lemmel's beautiful refrain exhorts "Turn your eyes upon Jesus/ Look full in His wonderful face/ And the things of Earth will grow strangely dim/ In the light of His glory and grace."

And then, while examining the different layers of the image, the people on the brick path, the football game and its onlookers, Robertson Hall and Dr. Robertson's house, all encased by the billowing clouds of the passing storm and illuminated by the setting sun, He reminded me that this is why He told Dr. Robertson to build Regent in the first place: "for My glory."

So maybe this was not a happy accident of art afterall; maybe it was a divinely orchestrated one.


By Molly Eccles

Last Day of Class

"But the law of God came from heaven indeed. God wrote it with his finger, it is the fountain of all wisdom, and therefore shall it continue for ever, and never have an end."

~ John Jewel

South(east)ern Hospitality

Regent Law has been host to a slew of national, regional, and local competitions this semester.

In January, the ADR Board held its annual Intramural Negotiation Competition. In February, the ADR Board welcomed schools from region to the American Bar Association's Client Counseling Competition.

At the end of January, the Moot Court Board hosted 12 schools from across the country at the National Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition.

And the Trial Advocacy Board recently wrapped up hospitality for the Texas Young Lawyers Association's National Trial Competition; just weeks prior to it, the Board hosted its annual Intramural Trial Competition.

These competitions offer a chance to showcase Regent's talent and service-hearted nature to judges and attorneys from the region as well as to serve fellow law students.

Pictured here is closing arguments of the Trial Ad Board's Intramural.

On your mark, get set...

...go! Runners and walkers start the Walk Me Home 5K on Saturday. This event was the culmination of a week of events planned to raise awareness of the huge need for adoptive families for the 500,000 children in foster care throughout the nation.

Walk Me Home and other events during the week raised nearly $4,000 for the Up Center, a local agency that trains foster parents, cares for foster children, and excites people about adoption.

Thanks to Tracy Hasse, a 1L and Walk volunteer, for this great picture.

Law Library

The Law Library collection was donated to Regent by Oral Roberts University at the conception of our law school. The contents were carried from Oklahoma to Virginia Beach in 10 tractor trailers.

The collection has grown to 395,000 volumes and is varied and broad, bringing 10-20 local attorneys to the shelves for research each day.

Summer

In June, as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day. No man can heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them.

~Aldo Leopold

Welcome Back!

Students returned to a balmy Virginia Beach to start the Spring semester on Monday, January 5th. A ghost town over the holidays, campus has been given life again.

Dr. Kim Shaftner, photographer and 3L, snapped this serene photo.

Narnia?

This picture was taken by a friend and fellow law student, Dr. Kim Shaftner. It captures perfectly what I see on so many mornings while I walk to school -- always without my camera!

Thanks for sharing, Dr. Kim!

Regent campus is a magical place at anytime of day. But early in the mornings, or late at night when coming home from the library, I feel this depth of beauty that is hard to articulate.

I think it's hard to put into words because it's not meant to be spoken. If you've stood on the grounds when this mystical shroud of quiet and stillness has covered campus, you may know the feeling: almost as though you're standing in the shadow of the Spirit whispering blessings in a language all His own.

Green is the new black!

You know, it's not brain surgery.

This sign, made out of 100% recyclable material annouces that Regent Has Gone Green!

Recycling receptacles for plastic bottles, aluminum cans, paper, magazines, glass, even batteries and ink cartridges are available all over campus.

And you know, being earth-friendly is not even just a nice, p.c. thing to do. It's a mandate from the Bible. Being stewards and caring for our creation is something that should be high on our priorities.

Lucky for all of us, Regent has made it easy to do just that!

Change

When I was young, I would often lie in the cool grass beneath a giant maple tree in my front yard and stare up at the leaves as the red poison of autumn crept through their veins.

Without resisting, trees surrender their pride each year and drop their leaves. Certainly if they didn't, they'd damage themselves.

But what about us? When change comes do we grit our teeth and plant our feet? Do we tremble with the uncertainty?

In Daniel 2:21, we are reminded, "It is He who changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding."

We are all on our backs under the ancient canopy of reds, yellows, and greens. We are helpless under the -sometimes abrasive - pull of change. But if we are wise, we will see the metaphor of the tree. In autumn, and then through winter, and again in summer.

Somehow, it's all okay.

Autumn

On a balmy autumn evening, students spread their blanket near the campus pond and study.

Mossy Brick

Regent’s brick buildings are designed to look older than they are. Most buildings aren’t more than 20 years old, but the bricks, trucked in from Maryland, are treated and set to look aged.

Colonial architecture and master artists play their part in giving the campus a historic feel. Nature helps out with the rest.