What is the real face of Regent's law school?

Byline: Steven G. Vegh

Jun. 18--VIRGINIA BEACH -- For some, Monica Goodling has become the face of Regent University's law school.

And therein lies the challenge for its administrators and students.

Though bar pass rates have doubled since 2000 and the school has beefed up its academic standards, Regent Law is reaping wider, but less glorious, fame from Goodling, a 1999 graduate being questioned by Congress for her role in a Justice Department scandal.

Goodling told Congress at a hearing last month that she "crossed the line" in using political criteria to hire government attorneys.

At that hearing, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., asked Goodling: "Are you aware of the fact that in your graduating class, 50 to 60 percent of the students failed the bar the first time?"

"I know it wasn't good," said Goodling, who originally claimed Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination in refusing to testify.

Goodling's influential role in the Justice Department has brought attention to Regent's claim that 150 of its alumni have served at various times in the Bush administration.

What Regent has called an achievement has been used by liberal commentators and comedians as an opportunity to criticize or mock the law school and its founder, Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson.

Paul Krugman, a New York Times columnist, called the Regent grads part of "the Christian right's strategy of infiltration" of government. Comedian Jon Stewart joked that the school was no more rigorous than a "Jiffy Law" drive-through.

The ridicule and suspicion have irked some Regent students, including Dawn Young. This year, she and classmate Stephen L. Pfeiffer won the American Bar Association's national negotiation competition, beating teams from the country's top law schools.

"It's not just some weird religious school," Young said of Regent. "We are a good -- great -- law school."

Dean Jeffrey Brauch said of the critics: "My reaction has been, I wish they could see the real law school."…