Planting Seeds of Advocacy, Change, and Gospel Hope
Los Angeles native Faith Rodriguez was only 14 the first time she spoke out publicly about something she believed in. Throughout high school and a global pandemic, she continued to champion unpopular values despite resistance, alienation, and even threats.
Today, the Honors College senior at Regent University remains a brave activist determined to effect change. She’s building a student-led advocacy movement to prevent sexual violence and support survivors, developing educational curriculum for a related nonprofit, and pursuing a public service career in anti-human trafficking. She credits Regent with giving her the resources to do it.
A Bold Voice Blossoms
Growing up, Faith learned how to hold her ground by looking up to her parents, both deputies for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. She inherited her mother’s outgoing ability to rally others for a cause, and her father’s strengths in rhetoric, writing, and unwavering resolve.
“Having that combined influence from my parents showing me how to remain firm in conviction despite the consequences, advocate for the truth, and not be afraid — that was really what helped me,” Faith says.
Faith first put that example into practice when her Culver City Unified School District decided to dissolve honors programs as part of a diversity, equity, and inclusion effort. “They claimed it was unfair to children of color,” Faith says. In light of her own Hispanic heritage, she disagreed. So, she shared her perspective at school board meetings week after week, with her mom beside her.
By age 16, she was still addressing the board, this time on COVID-19 policy. And when the district mandated vaccination to return to in-person school, Faith stood in protest outside her high school daily, with her mom and a handful of others.
A Calling Realized
At this time, after Faith’s family saw the film Unplanned and her eyes were opened to the shocking realities of abortion, she was moved to respond. She started a pro-life club, a chapter of Students for Life of America, a courageous move in a school community hostile to this position. Her action prompted classmates to establish a pro-choice club that specifically called for the abolition of Faith’s organization.
“People would get so mad at me,” she says. “They were saying things to me in the hallway all the time, and I had my stuff thrown into the street. I used to get death threats on Instagram.” Even the student government board responsible for approving clubs opposed Faith’s efforts, calling the word “baby” in her mission statement inflammatory. Eventually, she had to dissolve the club.
Not everyone disagreed, however. “People came up to me behind the scenes saying, ‘Thank you for what you’re doing,’ or ‘I want to support you, but I’m just so scared.’ They’d seen how I was being treated,” she says. “That was my turning point. These people were too afraid to say something, so I was like, ‘This is going to be my avenue.’”
Though she had planned to become a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit nurse, Faith now realized she loved being a voice for the voiceless. “I like to say that the Lord gave me a big mouth so I can use it for other people,” she says.
It was also a turning point in her walk with God. Raised in a Christian home, she describes herself as lukewarm and untested until COVID removed her from secular influences at school. The word of God replaced those influences when she picked up her Bible and had a real encounter with the Lord. Her new efforts to share the gospel cost her many friendships, but the experience taught her that God was enough.
Faith transferred to a private Christian high school, where she discovered a new talent and became the second-ranked female trap shooter in California. She also fell in love with her AP Government and Economics courses and, by the time she started looking at colleges, she knew she wanted a strong government program.
A Stranger Points to the East Coast
Faith planned to follow in her sister’s footsteps by attending Wheaton College on a full softball scholarship. Then, at a school board meeting where Faith had just spoken, a recent Regent Law graduate from Arizona approached her and her mom. He asked about her college plans, and when she mentioned government and constitutional law, he suggested she look at Regent. “If it weren’t for him, I never would have heard of Regent,” she says. “It feels like divine intervention.” She never learned his name.
Faith was skeptical, but her family planned an East Coast tour, and Regent made the list. Out of more than 10 schools, it was the only one where she could envision herself, even though the campus was nearly empty in July. “Once I toured here, I couldn’t get this school off my mind.”
When she returned in October for College Preview Weekend, she says she felt a peace she took as confirmation. Choosing Regent meant giving up softball, which Regent didn’t offer at the time, but she doesn’t regret it. “This is where I’m meant to be,” she remembers thinking. “God’s going to show me what path I need to take from here.” Sure enough, the student who hosted her that weekend later became the intern director who hired her to work on a political campaign.
Finding Mentors and Growing in Community
As a college student so far from her family, Faith deeply appreciates the community she has found at Regent. “Home is also the people that you’re with, not just the location,” she says. She’s found no shortage of ways to plug in on campus, whether playing weekly pickup soccer, performing in musicals, learning ballroom dancing, or serving in leadership roles with the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, the 2A Defenders Club, College Republicans, and Young Americans for Liberty.
A core community for Faith has been the Regent University Honors College. “The Honors College appealed to me because I wanted a college experience that would challenge me beyond the classroom and surround me with people who were genuinely motivated to learn, grow, and make an impact,” she says. “I was drawn to the opportunity to engage more deeply with my education, have meaningful conversations with other students and professors, and be pushed to think critically about the world around me.”
Faith found mentors immediately — first, as the only freshman in a reading group on Alexander Hamilton, where Associate Professor William Reddinger, Ph.D., and the upperclassmen became guides. “It challenged me academically, because I learned different ways to analyze texts and develop my positions.” Later, she worked directly with Professor Dan Koev, Ph.D., on a paper for potential submission to an academic journal. “He was extremely helpful in walking alongside me and developing my thesis.”
In fact, Faith found this to be a repeating pattern across the close-knit Honors College setting. “It’s true of every class,” she says. “My professors make themselves available, and they know who you are. They’re very thought-provoking and passionate about what they do.” Even the Dean, Simon Tarr, MFA, Ph.D., is a constant presence, she says, showing up to events, cheering on the students, and hosting a popular Thanksgiving turkey gathering with his dog. “They really work to make sure the Honors College has a community beyond the classroom,” Faith notes.
Through the Honors College, Faith has gained not only a strong network of mentors and friends, but also a newfound maturity in all areas of her life. “Throughout my college journey, the Honors College has given me opportunities to grow not only as a student, but also as a leader and as a person. It has challenged me to approach difficult questions with curiosity, listen to perspectives different from my own, and become more intentional about how I use my education.”
Faith in Action
Faith isn’t saving that intentionality for a future career. During her time at Regent, she has worked to make an impact on campus and in the region, specifically in the realms of sexual assault and human trafficking. This longtime passion stemmed from her parents’ work in law enforcement, growing up near the California border, and learning about this issue’s tie to abortion during her activism in high school.
She became involved with Regent’s Rescue Initiative, an anti-human trafficking club, which led her to Fear 2 Freedom, a global nonprofit based in Newport News that aims to restore hope and dignity to survivors of sexual assault while empowering students and communities to combat sexual violence. There, she has served as Mental Wellness Support Intern, Programs Intern, and now as Education Coordinator, a part-time staff position.
At Fear 2 Freedom, Faith learned about Where Is The Line, an affiliated student organization that aims to elevate awareness of sexual assault, drive change through vigilance, and foster healing through compassion. She attended an event at Christopher Newport University where survivors anonymously shared their stories behind screens and then received notes of encouragement from attendees. After this powerful experience, Faith decided to bring the same model to Regent by starting a Where Is The Line club.
When asked why, she explains the most effective path to change, whether on campus, in the Church, or in society, is simple: “It’s conversations, a thousand percent,” she says.
“The fact that we aren’t talking about it is what makes this club such a big deal,” she says. “A lot of students have the heart for these things but either don’t know about them or don’t know how to approach them. Ignoring it won’t make it go away, and people do want to make a difference. So we’re giving them an avenue.”
After a semester of planning, the club was approved, a board formed, and Faith made President. This fall, Where Is The Line held its first event of the year with Regent’s Center for Global Justice. Faith is now working with the Regent University Police Department and Military Resource Center, both supportive, to host an event in the spring.
“I wanted to be part of building a culture where future leaders, especially Christian leaders, are equipped not just to respond to harm, but to prevent it,” Faith says. “This isn’t just about reacting when something goes wrong. It’s about shaping communities that are safer, more aware, and more compassionate from the start.”
In addition to this extensive advocacy work, Faith has also worked with the election campaign and the district office of U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans and served as a Grassroots Intern at the Family Foundation in Richmond. In this larger political context, she says Regent taught her how to remain firm in her convictions, even in morally gray areas.
“Regent gave me the opportunity to learn not only about government policy but also how to practically integrate my faith into public service,” she says. “It’s one thing to read about how the government system and campaigns work. It’s another to be in an environment where nobody else is a Christian and decide how to navigate that. Being able to turn to professors and older government students with more experience, and to see it applied in practice, made the difference.”
Growing Up and Showing Up
With a wealth of robust experience and courage, Faith now considers several paths after receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Government in May 2027: federal law enforcement, a role at the Department of Homeland Security, or policy advocacy. Wherever God leads her, she will approach her work and life with the goal of planting seeds rather than winning battles.
“I once thought, ‘Wow, this is really dark. How am I going to make a difference?’” she says. “But it’s just about showing up, showing the love of Christ, and working as hard as you can in whatever opportunity you’re in. It’s not my job to change somebody’s heart. It’s not my job as a Christian in politics to change the entire system. It’s my job to show up and plant the seed. The same goes for any advocacy, whether it’s sexual violence, human trafficking, or the gospel. God will do the rest, but you can’t plant that seed if you don’t have the conversation.”
Faith has always been a world changer. Now, equipped with a Regent education, solidified convictions, and a lot of practice under her belt, she’s headed straight for the difficult conversations that will create lasting, meaningful change in our world.
“As long as I’m able to help at least one person — to share the gospel and its light with one person — then the world truly has been changed, because Jesus Christ is going to change their world. The goal is simply to reach out to others and help them. Regent has practically given me the tools to do that.”