Like James Dobson before him, it looks like Pat Robertson has decided to lighten his load and is announcing that, effective July 1, 2010, he'll step down from his position as president of Regent University:
Dr. M. G. "Pat" Robertson, founder, chancellor and president of Regent University, announced to the Board of Trustees his plans to retire as president of the university effective July 1, 2010. Dr. Robertson founded Regent in 1978 and became its sixth president in 2000, guiding the university through its most rapid period of growth, including the expansion into online undergraduate and graduate education. He will continue to serve as the university's chancellor and member of the Board of Trustees.
The Board of Trustees has appointed a search committee that will name a new president, who is expected to join the university no later than fall 2010.
"Serving as Regent University's president has been an honor and a joy," Robertson says. "The accomplishments of our faculty, staff, students and alumni are truly remarkable and I am so delighted by the achievements of our rapidly growing school. As chancellor and a trustee, I will now focus on helping guide the university toward the next level of strategic growth and the implementation of our master plan."
We can only hope that this news does not set off another round of prognostications about how the Religious Right is dead, like Dobson's announcement did. But given that the news is already running under headlines misleadingly blaring "Pat Robertson announces his retirement," we won't be holding our breath.
