2011 Issue I
The Liberty Miracle
Baseball team sets sights on the national scene and spreading the Gospel
New welcome center coming to campus
Convocation: An experience unique to Liberty
Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. kicks off Liberty University’s 40th anniversary celebrations at convocation on March 2. Photo by Joel Coleman
40th anniversary banners can now be seen throughout campus as Liberty enters A New Era. Photo by Joel Coleman
Letter from the ch ancellor
2011 Issue I LIBERTY MIRACLE — 8 Jerry Falwell, Jr. describes his role with Liberty from the 1980s to today. In 1971, my father followed the vision God gave to him to build a world-class university committed to Biblical truth and the principles upon which this nation was founded, academic excellence, and athletic achievement — and now that vision is quickly becoming a reality! After 40 years of educating young champions to impact the world for Christ, our mission remains the same. Liberty University, however, is now poised to carry out that mission in unparalleled ways! Join me as we renew the vision and enter an exciting new era. After 40 years of struggling to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Liberty University now finds itself with the resources to quickly achieve a level of academic excellence, athletic accomplishment and technological innovation that might have otherwise required another generation. We will continue to expand our superb facilities and enrich our student life opportunities, while maintaining an unfaltering commitment to inspiring Christian commitment, faith in action and community service among our students, faculty and staff. This issue of the Liberty Journal touches on many of these elements — we set the stage with a look at some of our history (Page 8); a new welcome center will greet
BE OUR GUEST — 16 Hancock building comes down to make room for new welcome center. NEW ERA OF CHRISTIAN COMMITMENT — 20 Changes are planned for spiritual life programs, student support offices. ON THE RISE — 22 Liberty’s baseball team sets its sights on the national scene and spreading the Gospel. CONVOCATION: A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE — 26 A closer look at the largest weekly gathering of Christian young people. ON THE COVER Jerry Falwell, Sr. and Jerry Falwell, Jr. share a moment together in the mid-1970s.
potential students, alumni and other visitors (Page 16); changes are coming to our spiritual life programs (Page 20); and we look at our baseball team that is setting its sights on becoming nationally known (Page 22). This is just the first of several Journal editions planned to celebrate our 40th anniversary and a new era at Liberty. As we move into Liberty’s fifth decade, Becki and I want to thank you for playing a significant roll in fulfilling Liberty’s vision for world-class Christian education. Your
Liberty Journal is an official publication of Liberty University.
P ublisher Jerry Falwell, Jr. EX ECU TIVE Editor Ron Brown
continued partnership is crucial to the success of our graduates.
Managing editor David Hylton
Sincerely,
associat e editor Mitzi Bible CON T RIBU TING Editor Becki Falwell For more information about the Liberty Journal, call (434) 592-6397, email news@liberty.edu or write to: Liberty University News Office 1971 University Blvd. Lynchburg, VA 24502
Jerry Falwell, Jr. Chancellor and President
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Chancellor Falwell and his wife, Becki, announced plans for Liberty’s new era at a faculty and staff reception in January. w w w . lib e r ty. e d u
Copyright 2011 by Liberty University. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Liberty University. All pictorial material reproduced in this book, whether in a produced ad or by itself, has been accepted on the condition that it is with the knowledge and prior consent of the photographer or the artist concerned. As such, Liberty University is not responsible for any infringement of copyright or otherwise arising out of publication thereof. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, Liberty University makes no warrant to the accuracy or reliability of this information. Opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ownership or management.
Students walk across Liberty’s campus following the unveiling of the 40th anniversary banners on March 2. Photo by Joel Coleman
JOEL COLEMAN
Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. addresses the media in December 2010 about the bond sale that sets the stage for Liberty University’s future growth.
THE LIBERTY
MIRACLE BY RON BROWN
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n 1988, Jerry Falwell, Jr., a recent graduate of the University of Virginia law school, was entrusted by his father, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, to help orchestrate the financial turnaround of Liberty University, a budding four-year liberal arts college founded in 1971 by Falwell, Sr. and Dr. Elmer Towns. “The first few years were all about survival,” Falwell, Jr. said. “My job was to identify all of the university’s real estate holdings, establish their value and negotiate short-term loans with lenders using real estate as collateral.” It was a rocky financial time for Liberty,
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which had been dependent on revenue generated by the Old Time Gospel Hour, Falwell, Sr.’s television ministry that was spiraling downward because of a series of public scandals in other non-Falwell related television ministries. “The finances were in turmoil because the ministry was completely dependent on contribution from the viewing public, and scandals in other television ministries had caused donors to stop giving,” Falwell, Jr. said. “After a few stressful years of fighting to survive, we concluded that Liberty University needed a business PA G E 10 model that did not depend on
“Even in the darkest days, there was always a last-minute miracle that resulted in just enough money coming in from unexpected sources just in time to avoid catastrophe.” — Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr.
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Campus North has provided numerous benefits to Liberty University since 2004, including space for classrooms, offices, a new theater, a student center, an indoor track and much more. contributions to cover operating expenses.” Thus, Falwell, Jr., his father and the school’s Board of Trustees set out a long-range plan to make Liberty financially independent. “The Old Time Gospel Hour television ministry had built Liberty’s campus with funds raised from viewers, and OTGH owned the campus,” Falwell, Jr. said. “So when OTGH contributions began to falter, the university was in danger of losing its campus.” Falwell, Jr. became a pivotal figure in restructuring debt, negotiating loans and helping the university avoid devastating legal actions that could have been fatal to Liberty. “The challenge was to convince lenders that this young college (not even 20 years old) could repay the loans,” he said. In 1989, the university tried to get tax-free financing, but it was stopped “dead in its tracks” by an adverse Virginia Supreme Court ruling stating that “religious” schools were not eligible for
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Jerry Falwell, Jr. addresses a School of Law symposium in 2004. tax-exempt bonds. If the university was going to survive, Falwell, Jr. and his Dad would have to negotiate a restructuring of Liberty’s debt. In 1990, Liberty decided to buy its campus from the Old Time Gospel Hour en route to a decade-long process of dig-
ging its facilities out of a financial hole while keeping the university operationally solvent. “Liberty was in a position to pay for the campus over time, but not all at once,” Falwell, Jr. said. “The danger was that, if even one of the many Old Time Gospel lenders was unable or unwilling
to work with us, the whole plan would fail.” For the next decade, Falwell, Jr., a young husband and father, would spend many nights fretting over the details of the financial survival plan. “Those were very stressful days and there was no guarantee that we would be successful in the end,” he said. “We had faith that it would all work out in the end, but most of us had doubts from time to time. Dad was the only one who never doubted that God would see Liberty through.” Negotiations, bolstered by significant donations from contributors like Art Williams, Dan Reber and Jimmy Thomas, helped turn Falwell, Sr.’s dream into reality. Those gifts helped reduce Liberty’s debt from $83 million in 1992 to $20 million in 1997, a figure that Liberty officials believed they could comfortably manage. Soon, the school was able to add a second, third and fourth floor to the Arthur S. DeMoss Learning Center, which Falwell, Sr. often referred to as the “academic nerve center” of the Liberty campus. The school was also able to finish construction on the Reber-Thomas Dining Hall, which sat uncompleted for several years because of a shortage of funds. The physical campus was not the only thing that needed rebuilding. In 1996, the Southern Association of College and Schools (SACS), Liberty’s primary accrediting agency, had placed the school on probation because of its financial woes. Falwell, Jr. and John Borek, a business officer from Georgia State, developed a plan to regain SACS’s blessing. Falwell, Sr. had to be convinced to slow Liberty’s growth while the college was shored up on several fronts. While Falwell, Jr. worked with Borek, he was convinced that Borek would make a good president for Liberty. Borek insisted that the university work as a stand-alone entity and bill other Jerry Falwell Ministries for services rendered by Liberty.
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Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. and his father watch the construction of a pedestrian tunnel in May 2004. The tunnel connected Campus East and Main Campus under U.S. 460.
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Vice President of Student Affairs Mark Hine and Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. look over plans for the LaHaye Student Union basketball courts as construction continues on the facility in July 2007. With its academic house in order and its business model defined, Falwell, Sr. began pushing for renewed growth in Liberty’s student body. His goal was to have 25,000 students on campus and 25,000 students in the school’s distance learning program. “He launched an ambitious plan to increase the size of the residential and
online programs in 2001,” Falwell, Jr. said. “Many faculty were resistant. Some felt growth was risky and that Liberty should not be taking additional risks after so many financial struggles in the past.” Some thought online education would be a passing fad. Falwell, Sr. maintained his resolve and pa g e 12 appointed Dr. Ron Godwin to liberty journal
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BECKI FALWELL
Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. and Liberty staff members meet with bond traders from Morgan Stanley, one of the underwriters for the bonds, in New York City in December. Liberty secured $120 million worth of tax-exempt bonds. spearhead the online initiative. Over the past decade, Liberty’s enrollment has grown past the 60,000-student mark; more than 50,000 of those students are enrolled in the online program. In 2004, Liberty became the beneficiary of another gift that would chart the course of Liberty and Thomas Road Baptist Church for years to come. In fall 2003, Falwell, Sr. was flying to Oklahoma City to meet with David Green, the president of Hobby Lobby, a retail company that had offered to give Liberty valuable real estate in Chicago. Falwell, Sr. mentioned to Green that Liberty was in negotiations with Ericsson Inc. to buy its 880,000-square-foot cell phone manufacturing building adjacent to the Liberty campus. Liberty had submitted a $10 million bid for the Ericsson building. By the time Falwell, Sr.’s plane had landed back in Lynchburg, Hobby Lobby’s real estate and legal advisors had been in touch with Falwell, Jr. Hobby Lobby decided to donate the property to a Georgia charity that, in turn, donated the property to Thomas Road Baptist Church and Liberty University. The church decided to build its new sancutary on its portion of the property. The Campus North gift allowed Liberty to focus its financial resources on
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renovating the former factory building and keep unfinished space in DeMoss in reserve for future academic needs. It also allowed the university to pay a fraction of the cost it would have paid for construction of new buildings. The Campus North building had several hidden benefits. The poles on the manufacturing floors were spaced perfectly to allow Liberty to build multiple basketball courts for its student center and an indoor track, making Liberty one of a few Virginia colleges to have indoor track facilities. Liberty can now host indoor track meets for Virginia’s high school athletes. An 85-foot tower in the building provided Liberty with the perfect space for a state-of-the-art performing arts theater, which opened in fall 2010. Behind the scenes, Liberty continued to shore up its finances to protect its long-term viability. As part of that plan, Falwell, Sr. decided to take out a $29 million life insurance policy on himself and named Liberty as a benefactor. He later began to experience heart problems, which landed him in Cleveland Clinic, where he had stents implanted in his heart. He was revived after being driven by his wife, Macel, to Lynchburg General Hospital.
Just days before graduation in May 2007, while working in his Liberty office alone, he collapsed and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Falwell, Jr. became the university’s chancellor and presided over many emotion-filled weeks to follow. Jerry Falwell, Sr.’s final gift to Liberty made the school debt free for the first time in its history. It has continued to strengthen its financial picture with God’s blessing and an ever-growing student population. As Liberty celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, the university is poised for a new era of growth and development. Liberty issued $120 million worth of tax-exempt education facilities bonds in December 2010. The bonds were rated AA by Standard & Poor’s. The bond rating places Liberty among the nation’s top 78 S&P-rated universities and colleges for financial strength. Falwell, Jr. said the sale of the bonds “will finance the construction of a multitude of new facilities on campus that will greatly enhance the educational experience for students.” Liberty is now the nation’s largest non-profit, private four-year university, Virginia’s largest four-year university and, perhaps more importantly, the world’s largest Christian university.
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A Q&A WITH JERRY FALWELL, JR.
Chancellor details the path for Liberty to stay on track Before Jerry Falwell, Jr. became chancellor in 2007 following the death of his father and Liberty founder the Rev. Jerry Falwell, Sr., he was working behind the scenes. WHY DID YOU BECOME A LAWYER INSTEAD OF A PREACHER? I felt that practicing law for a period of time would be a good foundation for a wide variety of pursuits. This was important to me because I was sure early on that I did not want to practice law my entire career. I always wanted to do something more. I didn’t know if that “something more” would mean land development, politics, or leading a university but a law degree seemed like the right place to start. I never felt called to preach. WHAT WAS THE FINANCIAL CONDITION OF LIBERTY WHEN YOU STARTED? Liberty was stable financially because enrollment was strong and growing. It was able to cover its operational expenses from tuition and fees, but the school had never generated enough income to pay for its buildings and other facilities. WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST INITIAL CHALLENGE YOU FACED? The biggest challenge was to find a way for Liberty University to purchase its campus from the Old Time Gospel Hour television ministry. The most obvious way to do that was to borrow the money needed to purchase the campus. We tried tax-exempt financing in 1989 but were stopped dead in our tracks by a Virginia Supreme Court ruling. In 1990, we pursued taxable financing and went to market in November of that year.
many nights and weekends working with donors to make short-term bridge loans to keep the lights on and the employees paid. Those were very stressful days, but Dad kept his faith the whole time. He had been through similar struggles just after the school was founded in 1971 and had seen firsthand what God could do against seemingly impossible odds. It was during this time that he began to preach his famous “Don’t quit!” sermons.
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Jerry Falwell, Sr. and Jerry Falwell, Jr. watch Liberty take on Washington & Lee in a football game in 1974. To our great disappointment, there were no willing buyers in the market for the bonds. This meant Liberty’s only alternative was to work directly with the OTGH lenders who had liens against the campus in hopes that they would be willing to restructure their debts to be paid in monthly payments over a long period of time instead of requiring payment in full immediately. WERE YOU HERE WHEN THE SCHOOL WAS HAVING TROUBLE MEETING PAYROLL? DID THAT CAUSE YOU TO WORRY OR HAVE ANY SLEEPLESS NIGHTS? It took seven years to restructure those OTGH debts after Liberty bought the campus in 1990. During those seven years, certain debts had to be paid to avoid precipitous legal action against the school, leaving the school short on operating funds. This forced Dad and me to spend
WERE THERE LARGE MULTIMILLIONDOLLAR DEBTS THAT YOU HAD TO NEGOTIATE AWAY? HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO RESOLVE THEM? Between 1990 and 1997, a series of donors stepped in at just the right times to provide the funding necessary to reduce debt and pay off debts. Dan Reber, Jimmy Thomas and Art Williams made the most significant contributions during that time. Those gifts, along with the sale of several properties, allowed Liberty to reduce its debt from $83 million to $20 million between 1990 and 1997. Everyone agreed that Liberty could comfortably carry $20 million of bank debt. WHAT WAS THE CONDITION OF LIBERTY’S FACILITIES IN THE EARLY 1990S? Except for the addition of the football stadium and the Vines Center, the campus looked pretty much like it did in 1980. The Reber-Thomas Dining Hall sat unfinished for several years because of a shortage of funds. DeMoss Hall was only one story with a flat roof. DID YOU HAVE AN OFFICE WHEN YOU STARTED AT LIBERTY? DESCRIBE IT. pa g e 14 Beginning in 1985, distance
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Jerry Falwell, Jr. says his Dad called him one day in 2003 and said, “Jerry, I need a lot of dorms and I need them fast.” That phone call led to the explosion of Campus East with modern-day residence halls. education was emphasized at Liberty. The former Craddock-Terry Shoe Corporation headquarters served as home to Liberty’s distance education program and the building was called North Campus. My office was located at North Campus those first few years. That property was sold in 1991 and Dad and I moved to the Carter Glass Mansion on campus where our offices remained until his death in 2007. Our offices were side by side from 1988 until 1991 at the off-campus sites and our offices were again side by side in the Mansion. There was no getting away from the office in those days. Dad would call the house every night to discuss strategies for dealing with the next day’s challenges. He would call again first thing in the morning to strategize. Even on vacation, I would receive three or four calls a day from Dad. IN THE MID-1990S, WHAT WERE THE BIGGEST OBSTACLES TO GETTING LIBERTY ON THE RIGHT FINANCIAL TRACK? One of the biggest obstacles was finding ways to operate the university so frugally that it not only covered its operational expenses from tuition and fees, but it also covered the payments on the debt that
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was used to build the campus. There is probably no other non-profit university that actually covers all of its operating expenses and capital expenses solely from tuition and fees without some sort of subsidy from its endowment, from its donors or from the state. So, it was no small feat to operate a college under these constraints. DID YOU EVER HAVE CONVERSATIONS WITH YOUR DAD ABOUT TURNING THE CORNER? When we reached that stage, we convinced Dad that it was a good time to stop pushing for rapid growth at Liberty. A president was hired who was a business officer at Georgia State. I had met John Borek as we worked through the reaccreditation process the year before, and I was convinced he was the right person to run the university at that point in time. His business background was a plus and his close affiliation with SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) gave him the ability to communicate to SACS all the positive changes that had occurred at Liberty in a language that they understood. Dr. Borek was hired to be Liberty’s fourth president in 1997.
DID YOU EVER SENSE GOD’S HAND ON THE UNIVERSITY AT ANY PARTICULAR POINT? Yes, at every point. Even in the darkest days, there was always a last-minute miracle that resulted in just enough money coming in from unexpected sources just in time to avoid catastrophe. The stories are too numerous to repeat, but everyone in top management from those days remembers well how many times there was simply no money left in the checkbook with payroll coming up the next day and how, on each and every occasion, money showed up from somewhere, either in the form of a loan that Dad or I had been working on or in the form of an unexpected gift. We were truly on the edge of not being able to fund operations repeatedly and, while those of us who knew about it were under incredible stress because of the shortage of funds, faculty and students never knew how close to the edge we continuously were. Dad never shared these close calls with Mom or my brother and sister. He always talked like everything was fine when he got away from my office or his.
DID YOU LIKE LIFE IN THE BACKGROUND? DID THAT HELP YOU WITH YOUR WORK AT LIBERTY? Through all the tough years at Liberty, I had continued to operate a real estate investment company that I had founded with a couple of partners in 1987 while still in law school. One of our early successes included assembling the parcels necessary for a South Carolina firm to develop the Candlers Station Shopping Center. Later, we were responsible for all the developments north of Chick-fil-A on Wards Road except for Wal-Mart. Liberty once owned the land where Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club are now located and I had negotiated the sale of those properties in 1988. Working with my own properties and the extensive real estate holdings of the university gave me valuable experience in land development and construction that has been very helpful in my new role as President at Liberty. WHEN DID CAMPUS EAST EXPLODE? After Dad’s efforts to recruit students were so successful beginning in 2001, Liberty quickly ran out of space. He called me one day in spring 2003 and said, “Jerry, I need a lot of dorms and I need them fast.” I said, “I know just who to call.” I had been working with one of the largest student housing firms in the country at the time. They were planning to buy some land from Liberty to build off-campus housing for students. I called the man in charge and, before I could get the first sentence out of my mouth, he said, “You need some dorms, don’t you?” I said yes, and he explained how they were building on-campus, apartment-style dorms at universities all over the country. We negotiated the terms over the next month or so and construction on Campus East began soon thereafter. The involvement of this firm was key because they were providing, not only the construction, but also the financing for the apartments through a sale/leaseback, meaning Liberty would sell them the land, they would build the apartments and lease the apartments and the land back to Liberty for a term of years.
Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. and his family attend a church service at the new Thomas Road Baptist Chuch in 2006. The church and Liberty’s Campus North is located in the former Ericsson building in Lynchburg. Even though Liberty had done well after 1997, banks were still not willing to take a chance on us. Without this firm, it would have been impossible for Liberty to grow as it has over the last 10 years. No other firm that we knew of at the time was willing to take this type of risk on a young school so this was another one of those miracles that brought Liberty to where it is today. The first time I ever addressed Liberty students in convocation was when Dad asked me to come down and announce what was planned for Campus East. HOW DID LIBERTY ACQUIRE CAMPUS NORTH? Acquiring Campus North was another key event that made Liberty’s growth attainable. Ericsson Inc. manufactured cell phones in the building that we now call Campus North from 1989 until 2003. Before 1989, General Electric had operated a major manufacturing facility on the site, since 1959. Around 2002, I learned that Ericsson planned to sell its property adjacent to Liberty. Dad and I debated whether to offer $8.8 million. That was my suggested offer amount. He insisted that we offer more than $10 million because he felt somebody would pay $10 million for the 113 acres with 880,000 square feet of build-
ing space. We submitted Dad’s offer and soon learned that we had the winning bid. We were ready to close on the property. That was in February 2003 and Dad was flying to Oklahoma City to thank the owners of the Hobby Lobby retail chain for offering a significant donation to Liberty. He casually mentioned to David Green, the owner of Hobby Lobby, that we were about to purchase the Ericsson property. He left Oklahoma City. Before his plane landed, Hobby Lobby’s real estate and legal advisors called me to learn more about the Ericsson property. Within a day or two, Hobby Lobby had decided to buy the property. I spent the next two weeks talking Ericsson into releasing Liberty from its contract to purchase the building so that Hobby Lobby could buy it. After many long-hour days, all the necessary work was completed. Hobby Lobby bought the property and leased it to Liberty for $1 per year. In 2004, Hobby Lobby donated the property to a charity in Georgia that, in turn, donated it to Thomas Road Baptist Church. Liberty and the church later split the property up between the two entities and the church built its new sanctuary on the north end of the property in 2006, finally moving from its original site in an older part of the city after 50 years. This was another one of those miraculous events that made it possible for Liberty to grow as it has. liberty journal
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Be our guest ...
New welcome center will bring improved service, convenience
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BY M ITZ I BIBLE
onstruction began this spring on a new welcome center that will better serve the more than 30,000 guests who visit campus each year. The three-story, 32,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to be completed this fall and will house the visitors center, including a large meeting room and smaller counseling rooms, two museums, a theater and a gift shop. There will also be an area devoted to information on the greater Lynchburg area. Currently, the visitors center is located in Arthur S. DeMoss Learning Center, Liberty’s main academic building. In February, the 25-year-old Hancock Athletic Center was demolished to make way for the new center, conveniently located across from the bookstore and Williams Stadium and near the CarterGlass mansion and the gravesite of Liberty founder Jerry Falwell, Sr. “Everybody who visits a campus always says, ‘I want to see your book-
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“This will allow us to take the commitment we have to providing a first-class experience into a one-stop-shopping area.” Chris Johnson, Vice President for Enrollment Management store.’ It will be within easy walking distance,” said Charles Spence, director of Planning and New Construction. The site is also ideal because it’s at the highest elevation on Liberty’s main campus and visible from U.S. 460, the main highway near campus. On the basement level will be a walk-out terrace. “The way it’s situated to have the back of the building look out at the Blue Ridge Mountains … it will be gorgeous,” said Chris Johnson, vice president for Enrollment Management. The building itself will be impressive, with large glass windows and a center atrium that opens all the way to the top of a rotunda, in much the same way many state capitols are built. The
building will complement the style of the bookstore. But even more attractive than the building and the view will be the quality of services the larger facility will be able to provide, Johnson said. “This will allow us to take the commitment we have to providing a first-class experience into a one-stop-shopping area,” he said. “It’s a focal point where you can get any question answered, from any division that would need to be present to serve guests.” That includes representatives from Enrollment, Recruitment and Alumni Relations. Johnson said the center will be more accessible to guests during big events, PAGE 18 including College for a
This architect’s photo illustration shows where the new welcome center will be (middle), across from the Liberty University Bookstore (left) and near the newly expanded Williams Stadium (right).
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The ďŹ rst step toward construction of the new welcome center was demolition of the Hancock Athletic Center in mid-February.
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Weekend, Winterfest, Commencement, Homecoming, Parents Weekend and Orientations. Hours will also be extended as needed for non-Liberty-sponsored events that draw crowds to campus, such as high school championship games and summer camp programs, as well as conferences at the nearby Thomas Road Baptist Church. The center’s large meeting room will accommodate 200 guests, but Johnson said having Williams Stadium so close will enable them to use the Club Pavilion level when needed, which can seat 700. Terry Falwell, who serves as a community liaison at the visitors center, said one large benefit will be better, closer parking reserved for visitors center guests only. He said he expects the number of visitors to grow. “We’ll have a lot to keep them busy,” he said. Another popular attraction will be
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two museums — one to tell the story of Liberty and one to tell the story of its founder, Jerry Falwell, Sr. The current Jerry Falwell Museum in DeMoss Hall will be moved to the terrace level of the new building and expanded, with more details on each ministry Falwell founded and more on the Moral Majority years. “We’ll be zooming in on his ‘confronting the culture’ aspect of his life,” said Paula Johnson, museum caretaker. The History of Liberty Museum will celebrate Liberty’s 40-year history, divided by the decades and with a glimpse into the future. “We’ll not only document the past, but we’ll show how things are happening now,” Paula Johnson said. Planners are also leaving room for expansion for the next 10 years. The museums will be free and open to the public. There will be tours available as before, with guides also leading walking tours to the nearby Carter Glass
mansion and Falwell, Sr.’s gravesite. “I think people will enjoy their trip [to the welcome center],” Paula Johnson said. It will be informative, interesting, beautiful, nostalgic … it’s got a lot going for it.” Chris Johnson said the new welcome center will be a welcome change for Liberty. “It will become the first impression to all of our guests, students and alumni. … It will be the face to Liberty University.”
Anyone wishing to contribute old photographs or memorabilia to be placed in the museums or any alumni who would be willing to comment on their experience at Liberty can contact Paula Johnson at (434) 582-7578.
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Farewell to Hancock Hancock Athletic Center was completed in early 1986 and has housed offices for Liberty’s athletics department, as well as a training room, weight room and locker rooms. The 21,000-square-foot building was provided and furnished by longtime Liberty supporters Mr. and Mrs. Art Williams in honor of Mrs. Williams’ parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Hancock. Athletics staff have been temporarily relocated to Williams Stadium. The Football Operations Center and the new Luurtsema Center at the soccer and track and field complex are accommodating the training needs of athletes, and so will new buildings planned by the tennis courts and intramural fields. “Our hope was to renovate Hancock but the building was designed for a single purpose,” said Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. “The cost to renovate exceeded the cost to demolish and rebuild. I spoke with the original donors last year and they fully supported the decision.”
JOEL COLEMAN
JOEL COLEMAN
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b a r n e y dav i s
J OE L C O L EMAN
‘Church in the church’ Changes planned for spiritual life programs, support offices
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By M ITZI BIBLE
s Liberty moves into a new era of Christian Commitment, changes are taking place in the area of spiritual life to help students grow in their faith and experience all that God has to offer them. Starting in the fall, the Sunday morning Campus Church service, now being held at the Vines Center at 11 a.m., will move and become an additional service at the neighboring Thomas Road Baptist Church at 12:30 p.m. The contemporary service will be an outreach to the community, with hopes of drawing more college-aged people from Central Virginia. “Our students can go to their youngperson-centric Campus Church service that is stylistically the same … it’s casual, I’ll preach in jeans like I do on Sunday mornings, the music will be our Campus Praise Band, but people from the community will be coming — locals and people even from outside the area,” said campus pastor Johnnie Moore. “It will have all of the good things Campus Church brings to the table and all the good things TRBC brings, all in one package. It will be like it used to be — having church in the church.” The change is part of a larger movement to tie the university back with the local church, which has always had a mission to minister to students. Moore said students love the unique experience they have at Campus Church, but in the fall they’ll have more opportunities to be a part of the local church as well. “We’re super excited about this, because one of the problems we’ve had is students really get used to it and really enjoy it … but they don’t meet with
“Our students can go to their young-personcentric Campus Church service that is stylistically the same ... it’s casual ... but people from the community will be coming.” Johnnie Moore, Campus Pastor children and elderly people and they don’t have Sunday School classes. They don’t have the opportunities to participate in ministries that come out of the local church, so now all that is going to be married back together.” SPIRITUAL SUPPORT A large part of Liberty’s Christian Commitment to students has been the support it offers them as they mature and grow in all areas of their life. The offices of Student Care, Campus Pastors, Student Conduct, along with Student Leadership teams in the residence halls, meet the spiritual counseling needs of students. With a new Campus Resource Center being planned for the fall, students will be able to find the care they need in one place. These offices are currently in different buildings, often making it hard for students to know where to go for their personal needs. The new location for the center has not been determined. Liberty has a unique support system for students, said Mark Hine, Vice President for Student Affairs. “The strength of our organization is the number of student leaders to the number of students that live in the residence halls — prayer leaders, spiritual life directors and resident assistants — there is a lot of support for students whether their issues are intense or more casual, growing-up [issues],” Hine said. The Student Leadership teams are often the eyes and ears in the residence
halls, he said, and work together to funnel students to either the Student Conduct Office, which deals with violations of the Liberty Way, Liberty’s code of conduct, or the Student Care Office and Campus Pastors’ Office where they can receive one-on-one guidance. The Student Care Office is more of a “lay-counseling setup,” Hine said. Last semester a licensed professional counselor was added to the staff for the first time. The Campus Pastors Office tends to the needs of students who are admitted to the hospital or have personal spiritual issues. Hine said the new Campus Resource Center will also put an emphasis on caring for the more than 5,000 students living off campus. “We’re working very hard to try and come up with a plan to develop care for commuter students; they seem to fall through the cracks because they don’t have the same [support] system set up,” he said. The Commuter Affairs Office currently has about 50 prayer groups for commuters, and Hine said he hopes to add more. Campus Church will continue to be held on Wednesday nights at 7:30 p.m. at Thomas Road Baptist Church. Listen to podcasts and view streaming video from Campus Church at www.liberty.edu/faithservice
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On the Rise
Liberty baseball focuses on the future and spreading the Gospel B y DAV ID H YLTO N Photo g r a p h y b y L e s S C ho f e r
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oming off a school-record 42-win season in 2010, the Liberty University baseball team is setting its sights higher: earning an NCAA regional bid and, eventually, the College World Series. On-field goals, however, are not the only focus. Coaches and players want more people to know about Liberty and spread the Gospel. “The more we win nationally, the more exposure we get around the country and
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the easier it is to get the mission of Liberty out to more people,” said head coach Jim Toman. “Our players are very aware of the mission we have at Liberty University.” With recent success and with Liberty players taken in every Major League Baseball draft since 2000, the team is well on its way to hitting the national scene. Under Toman’s leadership since 2008, the Flames have broken 10 school records and this year Rivals Baseball – a branch of Yahoo.com – named Liberty as one of the top 10 rising collegiate programs in the country. Toman’s 110 wins from 2008-2010
are the most in the first three seasons of any coach in Liberty’s history. “It is very rewarding to see our hard work recognized nationally,” Toman said. “The players understand that the more we win, the more exposure we get nationally.” One of those players is junior Tyler Bream, son of Sid Bream, a former Flames standout who played for 12 years in the Major League. “Once we get things rolling and start clicking, I think we’ll have the best team yet since I’ve been here,” said Bream, who plays third base. Bream, named a team captain pa g e 24
The Liberty Flames took two of three games against the Binghamton Bearcats in early March. Liberty’s 2011 season schedule includes games against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents Virginia Tech and Maryland. For past results and the remaining spring schedule, visit www. libertyflames.com and search for “Baseball.”
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From 2008-2010, Head Coach Jim Toman notched 110 wins, the most of any Liberty coach in the first three years. Last season the team won a schoolrecord 42 games.
for 2011, is coming off a hot 2010 season. He led the Big South with 96 hits, a Liberty single-season record, and hit .357. He also notched nine home runs. In addition to his strong numbers, Bream has a strong faith and isn’t afraid to make that known. He said he’s always wanted to attend a Christian university. “When I knew I had the opportunity to play Division I baseball I focused right away on Liberty.” Bream, who also has had two uncles play baseball for Liberty, was brought up in a Christian home and attended a Christian school until he was in 10th grade. Bream and his family focus on making sports an outreach. “Athletics open a huge door for ministry,” Bream said. “If you succeed in athletics, you get people’s attention and that gives you an opportunity to present the Gospel to them.”
Bream said his father instilled that message in him at an early age. “My dad always said to go out and compete your hardest, and go out there and kick their butt and help them up after the game,” he said.
WHAT’S AHEAD While Bream has dreams of playing professional baseball, he wants to see the Liberty baseball program continue to grow after he’s gone. “We don’t want to be second place in the Big South,” Bream said. “Each year is a stepping stone to get to where we want to be.” Athletic Director Jeff Barber envisions a new stadium in the next few years. “Our goal would be to have a new baseball stadium, which would do for baseball what our new football stadium has done for football,” he said, referring
to the recent renovation and expansion of Williams Stadium. Worthington Stadium was built in 1979 and has had many improvements in recent years, including lights, a sound system and, this year, a new scoreboard and video board. “Facilities play a major role in our quest for Liberty Athletics to be Champions for Christ,” Barber said. Barber’s goal is for Liberty to host the Big South tournament and NCAA regional games. He also believes that under Coach Toman’s leadership, the Flames will advance to the next level. “Once we have a new stadium, and with the leadership of Coach Toman, we will be participating in the College World Series,” he said. “We must get there to be national champions and that is our dream … our best days are ahead of us.”
“If you succeed in athletics, you get people’s attention and that gives you an opportunity to present the Gospel to them.” — Tyler Bream, junior third baseman 24
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through the years 1973
Al Worthington (left) was Liberty University’s first baseball coach. Sid Bream (below) was the first player from Liberty to play in the Major Leagues. He played for 12 seasons, including two World Series appearances.
Then called Lynchburg Baptist College, the school fields its first club baseball team.
1974
Al Worthington coaches the school’s first intercollegiate varsity team.
1976
Clay Elliott and Jeff Mincey are the first Flames to be drafted. The team also posts its first-ever 30-win season, finishing 31-10.
1981
Liberty joins the NCAA at the Division II level.
1983
Sid Bream becomes the first former Liberty player to play in the Major League, making his debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
1984
Liberty moves to the NCAA Division I level, the first Liberty sport to make the move.
1986
Liberty names its field after Al Worthington as Bobby Richardson becomes the second head coach.
1991
Liberty University becomes an official member of the Big South Conference.
1993
2007
Liberty wins the Big South tournament, becoming the school’s first NCAA Division I team to see action in the post-season.
Jim Toman is named the Flames’ sixth baseball head coach. In his first three seasons, posts 110 wins.
1998
2010
The Flames reach the NCAA Atlantic II Regional Tournament.
2000
Liberty wins a regional tournament game, the first for any sports team in NCAA Division I tournament action.
Liberty’s 42 wins are the most in school history; 19 of those wins were conference victories, also a school record. From 2000-2010, the Flames have had at least one player selected in the Major League draft. LIBERTY JOURNAL
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CONVOCATION an experience unique to Liberty BY ALLISON CU N D IFF
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ong before it became North America’s largest weekly gathering of Christian young people, Liberty University’s convocation was known as chapel service. For most Liberty students today, it may be hard to imagine what the service was like before the days of the Vines Center and the Campus Praise Band. Liberty alumnus Jerry Butcher (’80) remembers the excitement of listening to the late Dr. Jerry Falwell, Sr. speak at chapel in the old Thomas Road Baptist Church. “Chapel was always a great time, always something exciting to look forward to, always challenging you in your spiritual life,” he said.
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Butcher, pastor of Crossroads Community Church in Doylestown, Ohio, said he usually attends convocation when he is visiting his daughters (two are current Liberty students and one graduated last year). The biggest difference between chapel in the 1970s and 1980s and now, he said, is how much the venue has grown. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning, nearly 10,000 students attend convocation in the Vines Center. (Convocation is also broadcast live for faculty and staff on Wednesdays at the TownsAlumni Lecture Hall and Thomas Road Baptist Church.) Thousands more tune in through television, radio and online. Alumna Taunee Adams (’10) watches convocation on the Liberty Channel about twice a week from her home in Lynchburg.
“While nothing can compare to actually experiencing convocation firsthand, seeing it on television is still impactful,” she said. “With all the distractions of everyday life, seeing the student body you were once a part of brings your focus back to the mission that was instilled in you while you were at Liberty.” Moore said he frequently receives emails from people all over the world, from pastors of mega churches to missionaries overseas who say they are “spiritually fed” and encouraged by the program. THE SPEAKERS Convocation exposes students to some of the world’s most notable and influential leaders in different fields, from ministry to business, politics, sci-
Clockwise from top: Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., April 2009; Mike Huckabee, March 2009; Newt Gingrich, October 2010; John MacArthur, February 2011.
ence and the arts. The event features about 80 different guest speakers each year. Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr., and Johnnie Moore, vice president of executive projects and a campus pastor, meet regularly to determine which speakers to invite. Moore said he is always receiving recommendations from students and staff, typically a couple dozen per week. “We try to bring people to convocation whose lives are worth emulating,” said Moore. “Our ambition is to show the student body that deep faith and professional excellence aren’t mutually exclusive — they can coexist, and in fact that’s God’s call for you.” Speakers at convocation and commencement ceremonies have ranged from political figures — such as former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former Sen. Ted Kennedy, Supreme Court justices, presidential nominees and even former presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, Sr. — to successful evange-
lists and authors like Pat Robertson, Billy Graham, W.A. Criswell, Josh McDowell and Joni Eareckson Tada, to business executives like Horst Schulze, former president of The Ritz-Carlton Group. “I like having the opportunity while I’m in college to hear from so many diverse Christians and leaders around the world,” said junior Sarah Butcher. Moore said he believes convocation is a forum for ideas, and so every speaker is not necessarily someone whose ideas Liberty agrees with. “A successful convocation results in the cafeteria and the dorm rooms being abuzz all day long as students take whatever they were exposed to and determine what they believe about it. We don’t want to feed them their thinking, we want to catalyze their thinking, to teach them to think for themselves,” said Moore. “Sometimes we bring in awfully provocative people and we know exactly what we’re doing, and we’re doPAGE 30 ing it on purpose.”
VIEW CONVOCATION •
ONLINE: View streaming video and podcasts on www.liberty.edu/faithservice. View live broadcasts from the Liberty Channel on www.libertychannel.com.
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TV: Live on Monday, Wednesday and Friday on The Liberty Channel; past convocations are televised several times throughout the week. JCTV, an affiliate of Trinity Broadcasting Network, also airs Liberty’s convocation on weekends.
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RADIO: Liberty’s radio station WRVL “Victory FM” (at 88.3 in Lynchburg) broadcasts convocation live on Wednesday only.
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JOEL COLEMAN
mentoring some of the students who are going to go into the world and become our new leaders, I’m pretty excited about that,” he said. Douglas Gresham, stepson of C.S. Lewis and co-producer of The Chronicles of Narnia films, spoke on Feb. 28. “The more I walk around this university, the more people I meet here, the more impressed I’ve become by it. It’s probably becoming my favorite of all the universities I’ve worked at and taught in and preached in here in America, and there have been a lot of them,” said Gresham. “I’m thrilled to be here, honored to be here.”
Ronald Reagan visits Liberty University in the 1980s. Many speakers who are invited to convocation see it as a privilege to speak at the world’s largest Christian university. Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of the Rev. Billy Graham, spoke at convocation in December 2009. She said she does not usually talk to large audiences of college students, but jumped at Liberty’s invitation. “I was intrigued. To have 10,000 students in a chapel service, you’d have to have rocks in your head not to accept something like that,” she said. John MacArthur, pastor, author, and biblical scholar, spoke at convocation in February. He had visited Liberty once before in the 1980s, and said he welcomed the chance to return. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to speak to that many young people,” he said, “not because of the number of them, but because of the potential influence they have, the impact they have. … For me to be able to help them better understand what it means to be a Christian, to get a grip on that core understanding is really a privilege.” Author and speaker Gary Smalley has visited Liberty’s campus several times and most recently spoke at convocation March 4. “I love this place … the thought of being a part of
IT’S NOT CHURCH Chapel was renamed convocation in 1989 as Liberty transformed to the fully accredited liberal arts university it is today. Although preparing students for ministry is still an integral part of Liberty’s mission, it is no longer the main focus of academic offerings — only a fraction of students now plan to pursue a career in full-time ministry. However, as Christians, Liberty’s faculty and staff believe that every student will be a minister in some capacity, no matter their chosen career paths. Convocation is used to help prepare students to enter the secular workforce, and to equip them to live a Christian life while also pursuing excellence in their careers. Although convocation includes worship and prayer, that does not necessarily make it a church service, Moore said. He said it would be more beneficial to view it as a class. “It’s more like a big educational experience that is married to our mission,” he said. “Convocation is like the greatest free piece of education you could get, it’s a class you don’t pay for.” EVERY CONVOCATION MATTERS As Liberty has grown, convocation has evolved to a professional production three days a week. Moore has been involved in the planning of convocation in some capacity since he started as a student in 2001. His office has been responsible for convocation since
Above, chapel is held in the old Thomas Road Baptist Church in 1972. Left, chapel service is held in the multi-purpose center (called the Schilling Center now) in the early 1980s. 30
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2006. At first, he said, the stage was barren and turned sideways because only half of the space in the Vines Center was needed. “Now every single convocation is a production,” said Moore. “It’s lights, it’s a professional backdrop, it’s a podium that we repaint once a year. We do three times a week here what a lots of organizations do maybe once a year. Every single convocation matters, every speaker matters.” Moore said yearly surveys show that students’ satisfaction level with convocation has drastically increased over the past five years. Based on feedback, recent changes include the addition of more worship time, more geographically diverse speakers, and more interaction with speakers following convocation, such as book signings and meet-and-greet sessions. Instead of thinking of convocation in terms of a service, organizers now think of it as an experience. For example, when Capt. Scotty Smiley, the Army’s first active-duty, blind officer, visited convocation in October 2010 for Military Appreciation Day, Moore did not simply introduce him as a surprise speaker that day. Instead, a CBS Sunday Morning news video clip was shown on the Vines Center’s four large screens. After students had learned Smiley’s story from the video (he was blinded in an attack by a suicide car bomber while serving in Iraq in 2005), Moore surprised students by inviting Smiley to the stage. Smiley received a standing ovation, and a memorable experience was created for everyone who was there. MAKING THE CONNECTION Experiencing convocation together helps students, faculty and staff stay informed, and hearing the speakers, announcements, and prayer requests at the same time creates a sense of community that is unique to Liberty. “I feel connected to the student body because
Liberty University co-founder Dr. Elmer Towns spoke at the first chapel service in 1971 and continues to address the student body in a convocation each semester. JOEL COLEMAN
we’re all sitting together, that’s such a unique experience,” said Sarah Butcher. “I think it truly sets our university apart and it really keeps the student body and our school’s leadership connected. It keeps me informed about urgent prayer requests for students and faculty and the decisions that affect our school’s future.” And, she adds, “It’s really cool to have a chancellor that comes to convo and gets involved with the students.” Chancellor Falwell regularly adCOMING THIS SPRING dresses convocation on important decisions that affect the university John Hagee March 30 as a whole. Miles McPherson April 1 Faculty and staff are given the Ed Hindson April 6 chance on Wednesdays to attend or Lila Rose April 8 watch convocation — on the clock. Angela Thomas April 11 Any material losses this might cost Priscilla Shirer April 15 the university are seen as an investTom Mullins April 18 ment by Dr. Elmer Towns, Liberty’s Rick Rigsby April 20 co-founder and Dean of the B.R. Jim Cymbala April 22 Lakin School of Religion, because Afshin Ziafat April 27 employees will be encouraged to Jentezen Franklin April 29 do their best work as Christians as a result of hearing the inspiring messages. “It brings the whole family together, from the janitor to the electrician to the associate professor to deans, everybody can either watch it or go to it. It’s a time of bringing together a large group of people into one family,” said Towns. Towns spoke at Liberty’s first chapel service and still speaks at convocation several times a year. He said even though the event has grown over the years, the purpose has remained the same. “From the very beginning, chapel was intended to build a concept of greatness into our students, and that has made a difference in Liberty grads,” Towns said. “If you expose your students to greatness, they will want to go out and become great. That’s the whole concept.”
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