After completing a six-month national search, Regent University’s Board of Trustees has named Dr. Carlos Campo as president of the university effective August 1, 2010. Regent Founder and Chancellor, Dr. M.G. “Pat” Robertson was also named executive chairman of the board.

Dr. Campo, an American Literature scholar and Arthur Miller expert (who has a tidbit or two about Marilyn Monroe to share) is currently serving as Regent’s Vice President of Academic Affairs, a position he has held since 2008, will become the university’s eighth president. He was unanimously appointed by the board on October 31, 2009.

Dr. Campo’s full ‘official story’ is contained in a link to a press release at the end of this article, but in a phone interview on Tuesday, November 10, he shared some of his ideas for the future of Regent with The Aquila Report.

At the top of his list during the transition period through next August is to fill some key leadership roles in the Administration, including finding a replacement for himself as VP for Academic Affairs and a Dean for the School of Undergraduate Studies, among others. When asked how Regent will be able to do this in the middle of an economic storm, he shared the fact that the school is in sound financial condition, with no debt on infrastructure and a solid endowment. Hopefully, this stability might attract both leaders and additional gifted faculty who might not see that stability in their current situation.

When asked how tough it will be for the relatively new undergraduate program to compete with the ‘old line’ and certainly better known Christian colleges, he quickly changed the language from ‘competition’ to ‘partners.’ “It’s not a focus on being better as much as it is being different. Regent offers an experience like no other institution, and we think students who belong here will choose Regent first.” Regent wants to build on its foundations of a multi-denominational setting while maintaining a faculty committed to their faith. Campo sees the importance of allowing students the safety to learn and make decisions concerning more than their major study area, but rather how to integrate learning and faith into life.

As a Latino, Dr. Campo sees the need to be a leader in the movement to reach as many prospective Latino college students as possible, especially since as many as 70 percent of them have been raised in homes that take religion seriously. He will serve on a panel to discuss “Current Needs & Future Opportunities in the Recruitment and Retention of Latino Students” during the 2010 International Forum on Christian Higher Education sponsored by the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCC&U) next February.

When asked about possible changes for any of the free-standing graduate schools in Communications and the Arts, Divinity, Education, Global Leadership, Government, Law, Psychology/Counseling, he noted that they all were well respected and indeed ‘gems’ in their fields, and the responsibility now would be to enable them to do even better. While he will indeed oversee the continued development of these schools, one gets the sense that his passion at the moment is with the growth of the newer and fast growing undergraduate school.

Although he ducked the first question concerning Arthur Miller, he finally doled out a couple of tidbits. One was to remind everyone that even when faced with the House Un-American Activities Committee investigation, who promised him complete exoneration if he would provide an opportunity for committee members to meet Marilyn Monroe, Miller refused.

And then, on a more personal note, Dr. Campo told the story of his father, who was (back in the day) a well-known Cuban band leader named Pupi Campo. Once when his band was performing in New York City and dad was on the floor with a famous Latina dancer, Walter Winchell asked to cut in to dance with Campo’s partner. As they changed partners, Campo found himself dancing with the then rising star, Marilyn Monroe. Son Carlos would not confirm that it was the telling of that story while he was growing up that sent him on his trek to so thoroughly study the work of Arthur Miller.

Read more here.
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Don K. Clements