Fall 2011
Football program reaps the beneďŹ ts of stadium expansion
Building plans revealed for campus makeover
New college will ensure success during ďŹ rst years
Letter from the chancellor
Fall 2011 FIELD OF DREAMS — 4 The Williams Stadium expansion is reaping huge benefits, including attracting top athletes. As we celebrate Liberty’s 40th anniversary, it is remarkable to me that at the same time we are remembering our past achievements, we continue to experience major milestones in the present. In May, Liberty honored its largest-ever graduating class - 11,171. In June, Liberty runner Sam Chelanga competed in his final collegiate race, winning the men’s 5K title at the 2011 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. In 2009 and 2010, he won the NCAA Division 1 Cross Country Championships. He is a true champion. I am proud of Sam and his accomplishments here, as I am of all our Champions for Christ who earned their degrees in May. We will no doubt produce more champions this academic year – champions on the field, in the classroom and in our community. This edition celebrates Liberty’s commitment to provide the best in academics and student life opportunities, so all our students have a winning season here. There is much to look forward to this year. On Sept. 3, our championship football team will travel to Raleigh, N.C. to take on N.C. State before returning home on Sept. 10 to play Robert Morris University in a packed Williams Stadium. Last year was the first season in the renovated stadium and the facility is paying huge dividends for Liberty, including attracting football recruits (see Page 4). Our Club Sports program has taken on the Flames moniker and now provides numerous opportunities for more of our students to compete against teams from top universities from around the country (Page 20). In academics, our new College of General Studies will provide the support our freshman and sophomores need to do their best in the classroom (Page 17). Construction will soon begin on a major long-term renovation project (Page 8) that will completely transform our campus. I received so much favorable feedback from our last edition, where we outlined The Liberty Miracle, how with God’s blessings we have become the world’s largest Christian university. And the blessings continue every day. I have spent many hours in meeting with architects, discussing Liberty’s needs as we prepare for our residential student body to grow to 20,000. Even as we discuss all the new academic buildings, lawns and dorms, I am reminded that God’s blessings often exceed the realm of logical human comprehension. Becki and I desire those blessings for all of you as well. Sincerely,
Jerry Falwell, Jr. Chancellor and President
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A NEW VISION — 8 Main campus will never look the same after a $120 million makeover gets under way this year. COLLEGE OF GENERAL STUDIES — 17 A new support system will help freshmen and sophomores succeed in the classroom. THE NEXT LEVEL — 20 Competitions intensify as 400 student-athletes reach high levels in Liberty’s club sports programs. HORSES ARE WELCOME, TOO — 24 Equestrian program launches this fall with new facility on Liberty Mountain. WELL DONE ... — 26 Liberty highlights student, faculty and staff achievements. COMMENCEMENT 2011 ... — 30 May 14 was a historic day. ON THE COVER More than 18,000 fans cheered the Flames to a 44-20 victory over Charleston Southern at Homecoming, Oct. 9, 2010. Photo by Les Schofer Pu blisher Jerry Falwell, Jr. EXEC UTIVE Editor Ron Brown Managin g editor Mitzi Bible CO NTRIBUTING EditorS Becki Falwell Amanda Stanley CO NTRIBU TORS Allison Cundiff Joel Coleman Barney Davis Ron Kennedy Josh Rice Les Schofer For more information about the Liberty Journal, call (434) 5926397, email news@liberty.edu or write to: Liberty University News Office 1971 University Blvd. Lynchburg, VA 24502 Copyright 2011 by Liberty University.
rty University.
Recent Liberty graduate Sam Chelanga celebrates as he captures the men’s 5K title in his final collegiate race at the 2011 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa in June. With the victory, Chelanga ended his Liberty career as a 14-time All-American. Photo by Brian Mason
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Left to right, football recruits Josh Woodrum, from Roanoke, Va., Kirby Anderson, from Amherst, Va., and Grant Jones, from Lynchburg, Va., walk behind the Williams Stadium tower.
Playing on their
Field of Dreams By todd w etm ore
B
ased on a 1980s iconic movie line, the phrase “If you build it, they will come” has taken on a life of its own. The whispered line was directed at Kevin Costner’s character in the movie, Field of Dreams, encouraging him to tear down the cornfields at his rural Iowa farm to build a baseball field. The whim of the fictional movie character was designed to create a place where baseball greats, like Shoeless Joe Jackson, could rekindle the yesteryear of America’s pastime. In the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Liberty University is making this call to action from Hollywood’s silver screen a reality, as the school celebrates its 40th year anniversary. A New Era of World Class Facilities is drawing the attention of some of the best and brightest high school student-athletes
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from around the country and worldwide. Nothing speaks more to this than the recently completed expansion project at Williams Stadium, the home of the Flames football program. Just days following the conclusion of the 2009 football season, Liberty University tore down an outdated press box, one that was intended to be a short-term working area when Williams Stadium opened in 1989. As the years passed, Liberty quickly outgrew the facility as the football program continued to progress up the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) ranks. The former edifice would now fit snugly inside the concourse area of the new structure; one that many around the country say is one of the most impressive new facilities in all of FCS football. A 10-month expansion project was completed just in time for the Flames’ football game against Savannah State on Oct. 2, 2010. The grand re-opening of Williams Stadium drew a
JOEL COLEMAN
facility-record 19,314 fans, each of whom saw Liberty welcome the Tigers to their new home with a resounding 52-14 victory. The project included the addition of more than 7,000 seats, bringing the stadium seating capacity to 19,200, plus a 55,000-square foot football tower. The structure, which extends more than 100 feet into the sky, includes an 11,000-square foot Club Pavilion, 21 luxury suites and an extensive working press area on the top floor. Liberty finished its first four games in the facility 4-0 during 2010, winning by an average of more than four touchdowns per game. Additionally, Liberty ended the season ranked inside the Top 10 in FCS home attendance for the fourth season in a row by drawing more than 16,000 fans per game. The benefits to Liberty’s football program continue. The towering facility, which has become one of the centerpiece structures on Liberty Mountain, has helped Liberty land even more talented future stars. The members of Liberty’s 2011 football signing class each had a chance to witness one of Liberty’s victories inside of the expanded stadium during their official visits last fall. Additionally, each recruit was given a guided tour through the facility during one of three recruiting weekends in December. “The stadium expansion speaks directly to Liberty University’s commitment to becoming a big-time player in collegiate athletics, especially football,” said Charlie Skalaski, Liberty’s football recruiting coordinator. “Student-athletes can now see visible confirmation of the vision and dream of what Liberty football is becoming. … There is an air of credibility because of what is in place now at Liberty.” Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr., announced the stadium’s expansion plans Page 6 on Aug. 29, 2009, with the
Liberty linebacker Mike Connolly, left, welcomes freshman quarterback Josh Woodrum to the Flames’ team practice in mid-August. Woodrum is among a highly talented freshman class.
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A record crowd saw Liberty roll to a 52-14 victory over Savannah State at the grand re-opening of Williams Stadium on Oct. 2, 2010.
current structure being the first of three phases. Future expansion rounds will take Williams Stadium to more than 30,000 seats. “If we get a prospect on campus for a visit, we have a good shot of signing him,” Skalaski said. “We are clearly recruiting a different level of student-athlete than we were even just a couple of years ago.” The first Wednesday of February, a hallowed date in the collegiate football ranks, Liberty Head Football Coach Danny Rocco announced his 2011 signing class during a press conference held inside the Williams Football Operations Center. The commitments announced by the highly touted 10 incoming studentathletes, including three from Virginia,
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were certainly affected by the expanded Williams Stadium. Kirby Anderson, one of the top 100 high school players in Virginia, had never been to a Liberty football game before his recruiting visit. The running back is from Amherst County High School, near Lynchburg. “When I finally came here after going to Richmond, William & Mary and others, I saw a different level of desire. It made me feel like I was at home,” Anderson said. “I could tell that the football team is not just here to compete for a conference championship, but wants to play at the highest level possible when I saw all that was being built on campus.“ Fellow offensive newcomers Grant Jones and Josh Woodrum each saw im-
pressive Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) facilities during the recruiting process, but chose Liberty over all the others. “I saw the commitment the university was making toward athletics and that was what I was looking for,” said Jones, an offensive lineman from Liberty Christian Academy in Lynchburg, Va. “This stadium is incredible, as it compares to any other university I visited, both FCS and FBS,” added the player, who had scholarship offers from Stanford and Duke. “It is probably one of the best in the nation. It shows how committed Liberty University is to being the best.” Woodrum, a Cave Spring graduate from Roanoke, Va., chose Liberty over the Southeastern Conference’s Vanderbilt and the Atlantic Coast Conference’s
2011 Flames Football Sept. 3
vs. N.C. State Raleigh, N.C.
Sept. 10 Robert Morris Lynchburg, Va. Sept. 17 James Madison Hall of Fame Weekend Lynchburg, Va.
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Sept. 24 vs. Lehigh Bethlehem, Pa.
Flames Club members gather in the club pavilion level of Williams Stadium tower during the grand re-opening on Oct. 2, 2010. Wake Forest. “I could see during my visit to Liberty University that this school was striving not only to be the best in their conference, but the best in the nation,” he said. “A lot of teams are set on being good, but Liberty is looking for so much more.” The towering facility is not just helping land some of the nation’s best rising football stars, but is paying dividends for all 20 of Liberty’s NCAA Division I programs. Regularly, while Liberty’s football team battles down in the trenches of Williams Stadium’s turf, recruits are watching. The electrifying game day experience is quickly becoming a selling point for high school seniors who want to be part of an emerging Division
I program. “The football tower makes a statement to prospective student-athletes that we are serious and this University is committed to collegiate athletics,” said Shane Pinder, Liberty’s head volleyball coach. “The talk and vision of becoming a Top 25 athletics program is becoming a reality.” Liberty appears to be transforming into a “Field of Dreams” for the brightest high school standout athletes, a destination where they can fulfill their aspirations of competing at the highest level of collegiate athletics.
Wetmore is Assistant AD for Communications for Liberty University Athletics.
Oct. 1
Kentucky Wesleyan Lynchburg, Va.
Oct. 8
vs. Gardner-Webb* Boiling Springs, N.C.
Oct. 15
Coastal Carolina* Homecoming Weekend Lynchburg, Va.
Oct. 22
vs. Charleston Southern* Charleston, S.C.
Oct. 29
vs. Presbyterian College* Family Weekend Lynchburg, Va.
Nov. 5
VMI*
Nov. 19
Military Appreciation Day/ Senior Day
Lynchburg, Va.
vs. Stony Brook* Stony Brook, N.Y.
Nov. 26 - Jan. 6, 2012 NCAA FCS Playoffs
* - Denotes Big South Conference game
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A New Vision for A New Era
Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. shows the plans for a large-scale campus renovation project to Del. Kathy Byron, 22nd District.
Major makeover planned for main campus
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By M ITZI BIBLE
he Rev. Jerry Falwell, Sr. cast a vision more than 40 years ago to turn farmland at the edge of the city into an institution of higher learning where students would be trained to become Champions for Christ in their chosen fields. That farmland slowly took the shape of a small college campus, with a few residence halls, a dining hall and a main academic building. Forty years later, more than 58,000 people can call themselves Liberty graduates and the campus is a far cry from “a small Bible college,” as 12,275 students will make Liberty University their home-away-from-home this fall. Under the leadership of Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr., another vision has been cast, built on the same foun-
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dation laid by his father decades before. That vision includes a massive transformation of the campus landscape that will impact all areas of the education experience for many more champions for Christ. The $120 million project is planned to be completed in the next five years, with the renovation and additions of several academic buildings and a freestanding library, creating 500,000 square feet of new academic space. Liberty’s oldest dorms will be replaced by multi-story buildings, allowing the campus to expand to 20,000 students, said Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. “Many of liberty’s oldest academic and residential structures make poor use of space. They are mainly single-story structures that eat up huge chunks of campus,” he said. Most of those buildings were constructed in the late 1970s when Liberty was forced to vacate Page 12
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About 140,000 square feet of new academic space was completed this summer in Arthur S. DeMoss Learning Center. New buildings planned in the next five years will add another 500,000 square feet of academic space.
FUTURE PLANS The Liberty University campus will begin to take on a more unified look, with many new buildings with Jeffersonian-style architecture and more open, green space for students to enjoy. Here are some of the highlights: • The third and fourth floors of Arthur S. DeMoss Learning Center, Liberty’s main academic building, are now being completed. This space has never before been used and will create about 140,000 square feet of new academic space that can be occupied this fall. The single-story academic buildings located behind DeMoss will be demolished, with the departments relocating (some temporarily) to the upper floors of DeMoss. A rooftop patio will be added to DeMoss Hall, giving students an outdoor study area with an unobstructed view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. • Two new, separate academic buildings will be built directly behind DeMoss Hall. The old buildings housing the School of Government, the Science Hall, Teacher’s Education and Fine Arts, will be demolished to make way for the three-story structures that will be attached by a covered walkway, which can be used as a stage area for outdoor events on the adjacent academic lawn. These buildings will house individual schools of the university in the future. • Two new academic buildings near the existing Reber-Thomas Dining Hall will likely house the university’s new School of Health Sciences and
another school within the university. New buildings directly beside the Dining Hall could be used for a Food Service expansion. • A new freestanding library will be the academic hub of Liberty’s campus. It will overlook a new lake behind the Vines Center. • A below-ground basketball practice facility will house two to three practice basketball courts for the men’s and women’s basketball teams, as well as offices. It will feature a rooftop lawn for students to walk from the DeMoss area to the new residential quad. Crews are scheduled to break ground on the facility in November. (A new gym to replace the Schilling Center will also be constructed near the LaHaye Student Union). • The new academic buildings will empty out into an amphitheater and lawn area to be used for Student Activities. At the bottom will be the new residence halls, which will replace the “circle dorms,” the oldest dorms on Liberty’s campus. The reconstructed residence hall quad will feature four-story or taller residence halls built around a residential lawn that can also serve as intramural fields. • The DeMoss Hall courtyard will receive an entire makeover, with two lawns running perpendicular to each other providing plenty of open space for recreation, outdoor study and events. Each lawn will be equal in size to the lawn behind the Rotunda at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
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DEMOSS ROOFTOP PATIO ACADEMIC BUILDINGS
FOOD SERVICE EXPANSION
LIBRARY
PEDESTRIAN TUNNEL
This schematic design shows the new plan for main campus, changing the face of Liberty University for the future. It includes new buildngs, as well as improvements to present structures. There will be at least six new academic buildings, including a freestanding library, renovations to Arthur S. DeMoss Learning Center, and more open space on main campus, including a lake behind the Vines Center, a DeMoss commons and a new residential quad to replace Liberty’s oldest residence halls. For the details, see Page 9.
BASKETBALL PRACTICE FACILITY RESIDENCE HALLS ACADEMIC BUILDINGS
WORD TO THE GRADUATES Liberty’s 40-year anniversary celebration continued at Commencement 2011. Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. said God led Liberty “through 40 years of struggles in the wilderness before leading the university into its promised land,” then cast his own vision for the next 40 years. Below are excerpts from his Word to the Graduates: Last year’s graduating class was the last class to have attended Liberty while my father presided as chancellor. For that reason, we spent time at Commencement looking back at the fond memories so many graduates had of Dad – how he loved Liberty Athletics, how he knew so many students by name, how he constantly admonished students to never quit in the face of adversity, and even how he enjoyed scaring students with his train horn and by pretending to run them over with his Suburban. But this year, we are doing as I believe my father would have wanted us to do – we are looking forward to a new era at Liberty University. We launch our plans today from a foundation built on unyielding Christian principles, good stewardship of God’s resources and the realization that great things often happen when challenges are toughest. We will honor our past while embracing our future. Today, we stand committed to upgrading and beautifying our campus, turning out well-trained and job worthy graduates and competing in academics and athletics at a level indicative of the world’s largest Christian university.
the old Brookville High School (where Jerry Falwell, Sr. attended high school), which it was renting from Campbell County for classroom space. The city of Lynchburg annexed the school and demolished it, building Heritage High School in its space. “The buildings were not meant to be permanent structures on campus but they have served Liberty well for 34 years,” Falwell said. Liberty hired VMDO, the same architectural firm that designed the John Paul Jones arena in Charlottesville, to create a unified architectural look and feel for campus. “The hope and plan from the beginning was for Liberty University’s campus to showcase the Jeffersonian architecture that was born in this part of the country. Liberty was named for the principles espoused by our founding fathers,” Falwell said. He added that Thomas Jefferson may have lived in Charlottesville but preferred the Lynchburg region because of the beautiful mountain views and the successful commercial enterprises in the city of Lynchburg, so he built his summer home here. Jeffersonian architecture was a favorite of Falwell, Sr., too. The main sanctuary of the old Thomas Road Baptist Church was
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Liberty University, like today’s graduates, is ready to move forward to the next chapter of its life. The year 2011 marks Liberty’s 40th anniversary as a “miracle of God” and a worldclass institution of higher learning. ... In just this year – our 40th anniversary year – God has provided this university with the resources to carry out in unprecedented ways the vision of my father for this to become a world-class Christian university. And God will do the same for you if you remain faithful. You will experience your own wildnerness years but, when that happens, don’t give up. I pray that Liberty’s story will always be an inspiration to you and a reminder that, with God, all things are possible. For us, looking back on the miracles that brought liberty this far gives us the strength to lead liberty into a new era of training champions for Christ. This new era will include a renewed focus on academic excellence, spiritual life development, Christian service, athletic achievement, student life opportunities, world-class facilities, and giving back to the community.
This rendering shows the new pedestrian bridge that will make it safer for students visiting businesses on Wards Road. Students will be able to use a new pedestrian tunnel near the Vines Center on campus to reach the bridge, which includes an elevator. built from architectural plans drawn by Thomas Jefferson for a church that was never built in Jefferson’s day. With Liberty on strong financial footing and with interest rates and construction costs at historical lows, Falwell said now is the time to take on the massive project. The construction is being financed by the sale of $120 million
Even with a large-scale project planned for main campus, other smaller projects took place this summer, including the new Cook Tennis Center (above). Liberty University Baptist Theological Seminary (top right) moved into Elmer L. Towns Religion Hall on main campus. Crews restructured Evans Boulevard (right) for an improved gateway to campus and to create more parking spaces near the LaHaye Ice Center and Green Hall (formerly called Campus North). Photos by Joel Coleman
in tax-exempt education facilities bonds in December 2010. Liberty’s credit was rated AA by Standard & Poor’s, which places Liberty among the nation’s top 78 S&P-rated universities and colleges for financial strength. The project began this summer with the renovation of the fourth floor of DeMoss Hall, space that has never been occupied. It will be the temporary home for all the departments now housed in the older buildings that will be demolished. With more classroom space in DeMoss Hall and more academic buildings planned for the future, Liberty’s main campus will essentially become a pedestrian campus, with students being able to walk to most of their classes. Some classes were being held in Liberty’s Green Hall (formerly called Campus North) and students had to use on-campus bus transportation, provided by Greater Lynchburg Transit Company (GLTC). With the new locations of classes, the school has been able to decrease the number of routes, saving on costs and at the same time making a positive impact on the environment. Green Hall will now primarily serve as an administrative facility and as a hub for non-classroom activities. Several support of-
fices were relocated there this summer, including The Division of Student Affairs. Liberty University Baptist Theological Seminary also moved to a new location in Elmer L. Towns Religion Hall. Other projects will continue to take place across campus, including the new Hancock Welcome Center, scheduled to be completed by Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 14-15. Work will begin in October on a new baseball stadium between David’s Place and Green Hall. Original plans called for renovating Worthington Stadium, but that will now be the new home of the Lady Flames softball team. The campus transformation will mean a lot to students, faculty and staff, as well as the greater Lynchburg community. “The changes will make room for the residential program to continue to grow. As Liberty enrolls more residential students, more faculty and staff are hired to serve those students, pumping more dollars into the local economy,” Falwell said. “The economic impact of Liberty’s growth has always been positive for the local community. I believe that a Liberty campus built in Jeffersonian style will also be a source of pride for the local community.”
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CHANCELLOR’S VIEWPOINT
Liberty and Central Virginia have prospered together By RON BROW N
Liberty University Chancellor and President Jerry Falwell, Jr. says the 40-year-old school’s unprecedented growth over the past decade has provided “a perpetual economic stimulus” for Central Virginia communities. Since 2000, Liberty alone has created more than 4,000 new jobs. “That does not include hundreds of new jobs that have been created by other private-sector companies providing goods and services for Liberty’s expanding student body and the school itself,” Falwell said. Falwell has outlined plans for Liberty’s residential student body to grow from the 12,275 currently enrolled to 20,000 in the next 10 years. With the planned growth of its online program, Liberty hopes to one day have more than 100,000 students enrolled. The revenue gleaned from Liberty’s online programs is helping the University race toward the $1 billion mark in endowment, which will further assure the university’s sound financial foundation in the future. Primarily because of Liberty, hundreds of new housing units and new businesses have cropped up around Liberty’s massive 6,000-acre campus, which has more land mass than the nearby city of Bedford, Va. “It is no coincidence that Liberty resides in the sector of Lynchburg that provides the lion’s share of the city’s critical sales tax revenue,” he said. Falwell, who grew up in Lynchburg, said he thanks God every day for the success of Liberty and its positive impact on Central Virginia. Liberty began operations in 1971 as a small Bible college initiated as an act of faith by his father, the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. It is now a fully accredited university with more than 75,000 students enrolled in its residential and online undergraduate and graduate programs, including a law school. Liberty, with its student body growing at an annual rate of 27 percent over the past five years, is now the largest nonprofit private university in the United States and the largest Christian university in the world. “During our first 40 years, we encountered some rocky financial times before we righted the ship in the past 15 years,” Falwell said. Liberty recently qualified for a AA bond rating from Standard and Poor’s, placing it among the nation’s elite universities for financial stability and credibility.
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With the proceeds of a $120 million bond sale, the university is embarking on a total makeover of its academic campus, which will greatly enhance its educational programs and dramatically improve the quality of student life for years to come. “With God’s help, we are fulfilling my father’s vision of becoming a world-class Christian university that will compete academically and athletically with Notre Dame and Brigham Young University on the national stage,” Falwell said. Liberty remains among the most affordable private universities in the nation. In 2010, Liberty chipped in about $107 million in institutional discounts that helped make education affordable for more students. “We see providing higher education opportunities as part of our Christian mission,” Falwell said. In Lynchburg, the university has upgraded its athletic facilities, which brings thousand of visitors into the area for NCAA Division I athletic events and for state championship football games. Liberty has one of the few indoor track and field facilities in Virginia and serves as a regional hub for thousands of Virginia high school athletes participating in wintertime track and field events.
JOEL COLEMAN
LES SCHOFER BARNEY DAVIS
&Improved
Liberty received The Sports Racket (above), a longtime tennis facility in Lynchburg, as a donation from Board of Trustees member Sherwin Cook in February. It is located about 15 minutes from campus. Liberty has remodeled the 35-year-old facility, which includes five tennis courts, five racquetball courts and a gym. The LaHaye Ice Center (top right) received some upgrades this summer, including having the ice rebuilt and repainted with a new Liberty Flames logo and two 40-year anniversary banners. The center also added two new ice resurfacing machines and new walls around the rink. A new indoor skate park (right) located in the Candlers Station Shopping Center can be used for skateboards, BMX bicycles and rollerblades. The facility features a foam pit for learning aerials, a half pipe, rails, boxes and an observation deck. The year-round facility opened in April to Liberty and Liberty Christian Academy students, and after seeing so much interest, Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. decided to make it available to the community.
Liberty has also built a year-round ski slope -- the only one of its kind in North America -- that is used by Liberty students as well as ski enthusiasts in Central Virginia and around the country. Liberty also has an indoor skating rink and an indoor soccer center that have become recreational venues for many Central Virginia families and tourism attractions for the region. A study commissioned by the university showed that Liberty alone is responsible for about 60,000 hotel occupancies in and around Lynchburg in one year. In a recent profile of Lynchburg, Moody Investor Services said Liberty has become a key stabilizing factor in Lynchburg’s once withering economy. With Liberty poised as a primary
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customer, Lynchburg is now considering construction of a new regional civic center. Mangum Economic Consulting, LLC , a Richmond, Va. firm, found that Liberty’s contribution to Central Virginia goes beyond dollars and cents. Liberty students, faculty and staff contributed 674,879 hours of service hours in Lynchburg in 2009 with the average student volunteering 4.3 hours each month. The report says that the monetary value of these volunteer hours – just at minimum wage – would equal $4.9 million. “We are proud of our record of Christian service, good stewardship and good citizenship,” Falwell said. libert y journal
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Arthur L. Williams Stadium Osborne Stadium and Matthes-Hopkins Track Complex Site of the new baseball stadium
Green Hall (formerly Campus North)
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Hershey-Esbenshade Tennis Courts
New baseball stadium approved By RON BROW N
Liberty University earlier this month continued its march toward becoming a prominent collegiate athletics program by announcing the planned construction of a new baseball stadium next to its recently expanded Arthur L. Williams football complex. The construction of the new baseball stadium, which will cost in excess of $5 million, is the latest dramatic improvement to athletics facilities at Liberty in recent years. The new baseball stadium, which will seat about 3,000 spectators, should be completed well before baseball season in Spring 2013, Liberty Chancellor and President Jerry Falwell Jr. said. Until then, Liberty’s baseball Flames will be playing at their current home, Worthington Stadium, which will be converted into a softball stadium once the new baseball stadium is completed. Facilities for football, outdoor track, soccer and tennis have undergone significant expansions or facelifts since 2007.
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The addition of the new baseball stadium will enhance a developing athletics corridor at Liberty. Those athletics venues will serve as a buffer between Liberty’s primary academic-residential campus and its administrative-business operations center, which will be housed in Green Hall (formerly called Campus North) on the north end of Liberty’s main property inside the City of Lynchburg. Many of the functions of the Vines Center, which houses men’s and women’s basketball games, could one day be transferred to a regional civic center, which is currently being considered with Liberty as a primary customer. Recently, the university has placed more emphasis on its club sports programs, which allows a greater number of students to participate in athletics competitions with students from other major U.S. universities and colleges. With more than 6,000 contiguous acres at its disposal, Liberty hosts some of the most unique recreational sport facilities of any college in the country, including an indoor skating rink, an indoor track, an indoor soccer center and a year-round ski slope on nearby Liberty Mountain.
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Dr. Emily Heady is Dean of the new College of General Studies, launching this fall.
Foundation for success New College of General Studies opens doors of opportunity By allison cu n d iff
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reshman year of college is an exciting time that means new experiences, new friends and new responsibilities, but for many students, so many changes at once can seem overwhelming. One reason is that more and more students are starting their college careers on the wrong foot academically, with serious academic deficiencies brought over from their high school educations and the combination of newfound independence and poor time management skills. Sophomore Lara Lee Allen, 19, had some anxiety about moving away from her family in Chesapeake, Va. to begin her first year at Liberty. She had originally planned on getting her college education close to home -- until a visit to see her older sister at Liberty changed her mind.
After seeing the campus and Christian environment, Allen decided she needed to have the experience of going away to college. To make the transition more comfortable she took advantage of special courses that teach time management skills and organization, which helped her adjust to her more challenging classes and taught her to maintain her responsibilities both inside and outside of the classroom. “It was worth it because college is much more serious than high school,” she said. “Even if you think you’re ready for college, it’s just the fact that you’re on your own -- there’s a lot more factors in college than just schoolwork. It’s easy to get distracted by other things and not focus.” With the help of Liberty’s free tutoring services and Page 18 the new study techniques she learned,
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Allen managed to avoid the academic problems and poor study habits that plague so many new students. Since she arrived on campus last August, Allen has accomplished more than she had imagined. For someone who had a hard time spending even one night away from home, the end of her freshman year was a victory. “I wasn’t expecting to be able to handle it as well as I did. Overall, it was an amazing experience,” she said. She maintained good grades while living on campus, formed valuable friendships, and joined Liberty’s orchestra on tour in the spring, playing upright bass. Liberty’s new College of General Studies, launching this fall, will lead to many more student success stories. The new college will include all freshman and sophomores, making it the largest college of the university. It is not to be confused with the degree program of the same name, but rather it is a support structure for the general education curriculum required of all students (math, history, English, etc.) Offices will
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be located in newly renovated space on the third floor of Arthur S. DeMoss Learning Center. “This is an immersion experience with a group of elite teachers that every entering student … takes their general education classes from – English, math, all of those courses that have been spread across the university. These students take these courses from teachers who are dedicated to the success of freshmen and sophomores,” said Dr. Ron Hawkins, Vice Provost. Under the direction of Dean Emily Heady, the college will also offer a new first-year experience course for freshmen and enhanced guidance on planning their course schedules. The new college fits in well with Liberty’s inclusive admissions policy and its Christian mission — maintaining high standards for students, but at the same time giving the majority of applicants the opportunity for a college education when other schools would not. “College students, at any given level, need to be able to demonstrate a certain
quality of knowledge,” Heady said. “We, as a Christian university, have determined we are going to have to work harder and smarter in some instances to shore up the academic weaknesses that today’s students, regardless of how they performed in high school, bring to our university. Our goal in the College of General Studies is to give everybody Liberty accepts their best chance to graduate. I don’t think Jesus came only to serve the already rich and well-prepared. And neither should we.” Many other large universities offer colleges of general studies, however Liberty’s will be unique because it is designed primarily to help new college students succeed before they encounter their higher level courses and to help equip them with the skills they will need when they graduate. “We want them to go from this program and be able to enter their junior and senior years in academically healthy shape,” said Dr. Ron Godwin, Liberty’s Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost.
Studies have shown that Liberty students who have taken advantage of support programs graduate at the same rate as their fellow classmates. High school graduates who are less prepared for college are a product of educational environments that do not require academic responsibility – many students’ first year of college is also their first experience with academic discipline, Heady said. “If a student comes with very poor skills, yet they really do want to learn…we can get them up to speed fast,” Heady said. “What’s hard to fight is this testing mentality -- that’s not what education is about. Education is about building a person. It’s about giving you the skills and the knowledge you need to go out and do whatever it is you need to do. It’s not an economic exchange where information is exchanged for some grade.” According to Heady, the average incoming Liberty student actually scores just above the national average on the SAT and ACT. But, if there’s any correlation between those test scores and how well students perform in college, it is very weak, she said – scores only show how well students take tests and are not good indicators of intelligence. The country’s current “testing culture” has resulted in less developed reading comprehension, vocabulary and spelling skills, Heady said. To combat that, a new English 102 course in composition and literature will be offered for the first time this fall through the new college. The purpose of the course will be to help students read and interpret literature while at the same time learning to write research papers. Other curriculum changes include the use of the Master Teacher Model, designed to increase the amount of time students have with professors by decreasing class sizes. Classes meet once a week in a large lecture classroom and then break into smaller discussion sections twice a week. One teacher lectures in the large classroom and the smaller discussion sections are taught by other teachers. All learning material is
standardized, Heady said, so students in each section will learn the same things at the same time. “This is simply about effective teaching, so what we want to do is make sure there’s enough one-on-one attention built in so the students can get their particular needs met. Some are going to need a whole lot more than others,” Heady said. She said the Master Teacher Model “puts a really, really good teacher in front of the room for those big lectures, someone who loves that kind of thing,” Heady said. “Sometimes people who are the best scholars in a field are not always the best at explaining on a general education level.” And to help bolster this approach, the university has created a Center for Teaching Excellence, also located in newly renovated space in DeMoss Hall. Through workshops and technology training, LIberty professors across all disciplines and all course levels will have the opportunity to learn more engaging
teaching methods to reach students. “The Center will benefit the university by approaching education from the students’ point of view, by accepting greater responsibility to provide the latest techniques and innovations in education,” Godwin said. The College of General Studies will also work closely with Liberty’s Center for Academic Support and Advising Services (CASAS), referring the most challenged students to them for more specific and intensive help. CASAS has provided professional advising and career counseling to the entire student body since 2005. It also offers disability academic support and a tutoring and testing center. “We believe, 100 percent, if you want to be successful, if you’re willing to put in the work, we can get you where you want to be if you work with us,” said Dr. Brian Yates, dean of CASAS and an associate professor of education. “Students that persist, that do what they’re supposed to do, they are successful.” li b e r t y j o u r n al
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THE NEXT LEVEL Club Sports teams rise in number and popularity By DAVID HYLTON & M itzi Bible
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hat do ice hockey, tae kwon do, ultimate Frisbee and gymnastics have to do with each other? At Liberty University, they’re just a handful of sports that make up the Club Sports program, which has exploded since launching in 2007. Club Sports director Kirk Handy, who is also the head coach of the men’s hockey team, said six teams with about 90 student-athletes were part of Liberty’s inaugural teams in 2007; with the addition of three new sports next fall, the Club
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Sports program is expected to have 400 student-athletes, making it comparable in size to Liberty’s NCAA program. “It is exciting to see how rapidly our department has been able to grow,” said Handy, who has worked at Liberty for nearly 12 years. “Our goal, quite simply, is to be the best we can be in the given sport.” With this simple goal, Liberty’s Club Sports has produced a national champion in gymnastics, one second team All-American athlete, two first team All-Americans and nine Academic All-Americans. Club Sports takes talented athletes
in some of the non-traditional sports and gives them an opportunity to play at many levels. Unlike intramurals, which is open to everyone, students must try out for Club Sports teams. Handy said the program is modeled more after a NCAA athletic program, with the hiring of coaches, who also do recruitment, and rigorous travel schedules to play some of the top teams in the country. (The difference is no scholarships are awarded). This year, Club Sports teams will be using the Liberty Flames logo used by Liberty Athletics. Club Sports seasons are practically
Liberty University Club Sports Men & women Archery Crew Disc golf * Figure skating Gymnastics Ice hockey Skiing & snowboarding Tae kwon do Triathlon Ultimate Frisbee
Men Lacrosse Paintball Racquetball* Volleyball Wrestling*
* new in Fall 2011
year-round, so there’s always a sporting event for students to attend. It fills in gaps between the NCAA sports seasons, Handy said. With 17 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams, Liberty’s Club Sports program can be compared with what is offered at some of the largest universities in the country. Now more prospective students are taking notice. Out of 85 freshmen last fall who played on Club Sports teams, a majority had decided to attend Liberty because of the opportunity to continue to compete in their chosen sport. “As the teams mature and continue to be successful, more and more students are going to come here to play sports,” said Lee Beaumont, Liberty’s director of Auxiliary Services. Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr., who regu-
larly attends Club Sports events, said Club Sports are “another reason we call Liberty ‘The World’s Most Exciting University.’ It is wonderful to see how well our teams are doing and how much fun they are having in the process.” He said Club Sports allow for more students to be involved in competitive sports since the opportunities in NCAA sports don’t change much year to year. In the 2010-11 seasons, Liberty hosted nearly 100 Club Sports-related events. “We’re not only adding sports, we’re adding large home events to move things forward,” Handy said. That includes the Eastern Sectional United States Figure Skating Association Intercollegiate Competitions in December 2010 that drew more than 130 athletes from schools such as Boston University, Cornell University and New York University.
“Liberty University is now a name that will be recognized in the intercollegiate figure skating world,” said Tatiana Gomez, Liberty’s figure skating coach. “We hope to have the opportunity to host this event again next year with an even larger and stronger skating team to compete with.” This competition took place at the LaHaye Ice Center, which opened in 2006. Handy said nine of the Club Sports programs use the facility, which is also open to the public for ice skating, lessons, birthday parties and more. The ice center has 2,000 seats, Handy said, with room for an additional 1,000 people to stand during hockey games or events. LaHaye is often packed to the max for men’s hockey games, Handy said. Page 22 “The large-size crowds liberty journal
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we’re attracting are on the same level of some of the NCAA teams we have at Liberty,” he said. “If you ask students at hockey games if they know if hockey is an NCAA or club sport at Liberty, many of them won’t know,” Handy said. “That’s because they’re run with an athletics department mentality; we have a ticket office and security … things in there to make sure it is a well-run event.” Falwell said the men’s Division I games are attended by more spectators than any of the NCAA sports except for football and men’s basketball.
That, he said, is “in spite of the fact that students have to pay to attend the hockey games.” Falwell said Liberty’s student activity fee covers students’ attendance only at the NCAA games. “The atmosphere is electric at the hockey games,” he said. “I hear often how our competitors love to play here because the crowds far exceed any others they encounter all year. There is no other school in the world where a player can experience the feel of big-time hockey and receive a Christian education at the same time.”
THE FACILITIES In addition to sharing space with NCAA Division I teams, such as the Vines Center and Osborne Stadium, here is a look at the venues used specifically by Club Sports at Liberty. LAHAYE ICE CENTER This facility is the home of the hockey, figure skating and synchronized skating teams. During nonpractice and game hours, students can enjoy ice skating, hockey, broomball, or rollerball. The LaHaye Ice Center also offers figure skating and Learn to Skate sessions to the public. 22
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Other Club Sports teams, like lacrosse, bring in 250 spectators every game. At Ivy Lake, located about 20 minutes from Liberty’s main campus, Liberty hosted its first Crew Regatta this year, drawing parents from as far away as Florida and Washington state, Falwell said. “The William and Mary coach told me afterward that his team members said they had never met another crew team as friendly as Liberty’s athletes,” Falwell said. “Our students are making a wonderful impression on the teams they compete against and, by their example, are a great witness for Christ and
ARCHERY RANGE Liberty’s archery teams have nearly 700 acres of land to use, as well as an indoor shooting range. IVY LAKE A 112-acre lake located 20 minutes from Liberty’s campus is home to the crew and rowing teams. Students, faculty and staff can use the lake for canoeing, fishing, picnicking and more. A 6,000-square-foot beach was added in 2009. THE SPORTS RACKET In February 2011, Liberty received this off-campus donation that will be home to the new racquetball teams. The facility, which also has indoor tennis courts and a fitness center for
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for Liberty.” WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS Liberty’s new Club Sports teams launching this fall include men’s and women’s disc golf, men’s racquetball and wrestling. (Wrestling was reclassified from an NCAA Division I program earlier this year due to the need to meet federal Title IX standards.) Some teams will have new or renovated facilities. The men’s and women’s gymnastics team will now be housed in former retail space in the Plaza in midtown Lynchburg. The 17,000-square-foot
facility can also be used to host competitions and the Tae kwon do team will use that space as well. This fall the men’s lacrosse team will also have a new turfed facility on Campus East comparable with a varsity program. This facility will also include a team room and a locker room. And with the recent donation of the Sports Racket, a tennis facility about 15 minutes from campus, the new men’s racquetball team will have a place to call home. A new trampoline was recently installed at Snowflex for the ski and snowboard team to practice aerials.
student use, was relaunched July 9 with newly remodeled courts, lobby and locker room. The Sports Racket is located about 15 minutes from campus and will remain open to the community. MEN’S LACROSSE FIELD (coming in Fall 2011) In 2011, Liberty saw men’s lacrosse in action for the first time since 2006. This past season, the team has shared space with the soccer teams at Osborne Stadium, but next year the team will have a new turfed field. DISC GOLF COURSE The new disc golf teams will use a new 18-hole disc golf
“We’re trying to take care of all the sports as we build these new facilities,” Beaumont said. There are also hopes of reviving a Club Sports equestrian team with the addition of an equestrian center (see Page 22). Falwell predicts big things for Club Sports. “I predict that we will win a national championship in hockey and other Club Sports in the near future,” he said.
For more information about Club Sports, visit www.liberty.edu/clubsports
course on 30 acres of Liberty-owned land across U.S. 460 from main campus. The course opened in Fall 2010. PAINTBALL Liberty’s paintball field draws the attention of colleges and universities around the country. In 2009, Liberty hosted a National Collegiate Paintball Association tournament on its paintball field, drawing 15 colleges and universities. LIBERTY MOUNTAIN SNOWFLEX CENTRE Being home to the nation’s only Snowflex snowless ski surface allows Liberty’s Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding teams a place to practice year round.
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Mane Attraction
New Equestrian Center to open this fall BY ALLISON CUNDIFF
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aroline Martin, 22, is enthusiastic about every aspect of her job as barn manager of the new Liberty University Equestrian Center -- from managing the more than 30 acres of pasture to organizing the feed program. “It seems kind of silly to be excited about horse feed, but I’m excited about it,” she laughed. Martin grew up on a farm in Maryland with lots of pets, so she has plenty of experience caring for animals. A recent graduate of Towson University in Maryland, she moved to Lynchburg in January, along with her 8-year-old horse, Gauve. She bought him when he was 4 years old and did nearly all of his training herself. “He’s friendly, just like a big dog,” Martin said. She boards Gauve at a farm in Bedford County. Starting this fall, Liberty students will
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be able to board their horses at the center throughout the school year. The barn can accommodate eight horses (all the stalls have already been reserved). However, it could be expanded to 48 stalls as interest in the center increases. Martin said the center welcomes all disciplines, breeds and experience levels. “They have the opportunity to keep their horses 10 minutes from main campus. They’ll know that they’re being well taken care of and it’s right here conveniently,” she said. “That is the goal, to take absolutely exemplary care of the animals here.” The center is located on Lone Jack Road on Liberty Mountain, about three miles southeast of Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre. Planning began last fall and crews started clearing the land in May. “We’re offering different amenities to attract different groups of people, whether it be a ski slope, a skatepark, an ice rink – now we have an equestrian
center,” said Lee Beaumont, Liberty’s director of Auxiliary Services. “There’s a huge bond between horses and their owners. You don’t want to leave your horse behind. They’re like your best friend. … Now with a 10-minute drive, you can go to Liberty’s own facility, where you have hundreds of acres with trails on them where you can ride. And it’s all our land; no one’s going to bother you.” Corinne Giobbie, a junior psychology major from New Jersey, will be coming to Liberty as a transfer student in the fall. She will be boarding her 16-year-old horse, Benny, at the center. Giobbie has been horseback riding since she was 3 and has won various state championships. She had already decided to transfer to Liberty when she found out about the equestrian center. It only made her more confident about her choice. “I’m just really excited because literally it sounds like a dream college. It’s a great environment that will be chal-
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lenging my Christian walk -- and I get to bring my horse with me, which is like a little piece of home,” she said. “It’s just a huge bonus. It’s everything I could honestly ever need or want and it’s all on campus with me.” The new barn will feature eight, 12-by12-foot rubber matted stalls for horses. Each stall will have a turnaround area to give the horses extra space, as well as a grooming area. There will also be an indoor wash rack with hot and cold water, an outdoor wash rack, a heated office and student lounge, a tack room, a feed room and men’s and women’s restrooms. Outside there will be a 160-by-150-foot arena with sand footing, comparable to arenas used for the World Equestrian Games. An additional covered exercise area is planned for the future. Martin expects students will be interested in both Western and English riding styles and will want to do hunter-jumper, barrel racing, trail riding and trick riding. “I’m hoping to foster a really friendly,
welcoming environment so students can have the opportunity to ride and just have a good time – it doesn’t matter if they ride English or Western,” she said. “For students who have a desire to improve and learn things, it will also be an opportunity for them to work with horses and to learn about the different facets that are involved in having a facility like this.” Throughout the year, about four to six student workers will be needed to help with barn tasks, she said. By working at the barn, students could gain valuable hands-on experience, which will be especially helpful for those hoping to pursue a career in equine-related fields. While the center will be used by students who board their horses there, all Liberty students will have the opportunity to use it for trail rides and other recreational activities organized by Liberty’s Student Activities Office. The center will bring in more horses for the activities. “It’s really quiet out here. There’s not a
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Above, the new Liberty University Equestrian Center will open this fall, with stalls for students to board their horses. The facility will feature an outdoor arena for students to practice for competitions. Right, Caroline Martin, the center’s director, stands with her horse, Gauve.
lot of traffic, there’s not a lot of people … it’s a nice, calm facility for students that want to ride; they’ll be able to go out and relax. It will be kind of the best of both worlds,” Martin said. Beaumont said there’s also the possibility that Liberty could revive equestrian as a club sport in the future. He hopes to eventually have a team that would compete in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association. Martin said she believes the program will be a great learning experience for her and for the university. “You can have all kinds of different programs, but having a program that revolves around living, breathing things is a little bit different,” she said. “It will be very interesting to see how students respond to it and how we’re able to expand in the future.” Learn more about Liberty’s equestrian program at www.liberty.edu/campusrec/ studentactivities. liberty journal
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‘Well done ...’
Faculty, staff and student achievements
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Professors recognized for Excellence in Teaching
Aeronautics students participate in airshow Liberty University’s School of Aeronautics played an instrumental role in the Lynchburg Regional Airshow, held May 21 and 22 at Lynchburg Regional Airport. It was Lynchburg’s first airshow in nearly 30 years and drew one of the largest crowds the area has ever seen. Although the airshow was not hosted by Liberty, the university was one of the sponsors of the event. Many School of Aeronautics students volunteered their time in setup and concessions and Dave Young, Dean of the School of Aeronautics, was one of the lead organizers. Liberty provided the majority of public parking on campus, the Liberty University Police Department helped staff the event, and Liberty displayed some of its aircraft. Liberty alumnus Kendal Simpson (’97) flew his Pitts Model 12 biplane in the show. Alumnus Tom Coble (’76), a member of Liberty’s Board of Trustees, provided his L-39 jet to be flown for acrobatics. The show featured the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels, the U.S. Army’s Special Operations team; The Black Daggers from Fort Bragg, N.C.; and The Flying Circus Airshow from Bealeton, Va., along with a vintage car show, educational displays and children’s activities. Chancellor and Mrs. Jerry Falwell, Jr. even rode in a 1943 Waco biplane from The Flying Circus.
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Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. presented the Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching at Commencement on May 14. The awards recognize residential and online teachers who have used exceptional skills, instructional technology and creative approaches to promote learning. The teachers’ impact on the faith, thought and character of their students fully realizes Dr. Jerry Falwell’s vision of training leaders. The winners for the 2010-11 school year were Edward A. Edman (Visual Communication Arts), Jaeshil Kim (Department of English and Modern Languages), David D. Nemitz (School of Education and the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Graduate School), Robert F. Ritchie IV (History), Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw (School of Education), Samuel C. Smith (History), A. Nathan White (Religion), Jennifer S. Geyer (Psychology), D. Andrew Hollingsworth (Religion) and Mark A. Lamport (Education).
Sport Management earns COSMA accreditation Liberty University’s Bachelor of Science in Sport Management received accreditation this summer from the Board of Commissioners of the Commission on Sport Management Accreditation (COSMA), the national governing body for sport management. Liberty is one of five institutions to receive COSMA accreditation. Liberty’s Master of Science in Sport Management, which launched in Spring 2010, is in the initial stages of the COSMA accreditation process. Liberty’s Department of Sport Management is a division of the School of Education. It has more than 300 undergraduate students and about 360 graduate students. The program exposes students to a Chris-
tian worldview pertaining to the concepts and principles of sport management. It prepares students to organize, administer, and facilitate sport programs at the corporate, agency, professional and amateur levels.
Athletics earns national academic certification
Following a comprehensive study of Liberty University’s Academic Affairs for Athletics office, the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics (N4A) recently granted Liberty Athletics national academic certification. Prior to Liberty Athletics earning the N4A program certification designation, there were only 13 NCAA Division I programs in the country who have earned the organization’s recognition. “The foundational goal of any collegiate athletics department is academic success and to become the 14th institution of higher learning to accomplish this level of certification is very special,” said Jeff Barber, Liberty’s Director of Athletics.
Liberty’s CFO honored at awards banquet Don Moon, Chief Financial Officer, was recognized in June as one of the top financial officers for large non-profit organizations in Virginia. He was one of three finalists in the category for the 2011 Virginia Chief Finan-
VCAR director creates sculpture for Oxford college Todd Smith, director of the Visual Communication Arts program, was recently featured in the St. Hugh’s College newsletter for creating a sculpture of St. Hugh for the school, a college of the University of Oxford in England. The school’s chaplain asked Smith to create the sculpture after Smith lectured there for the first time in 2008. The college is named after St. Hugh, who was the Bishop of Lincoln, England, during the 12th century. The sculpture shows Hugh at 50, the age of his consecration as bishop. According to the newsletter, it depicts him “as a visionary who was devoted to the people of his diocese, a person of charitable disposition who was forever a serious and prayerful monk at heart.” The sculpture is displayed in the school’s chapel. It took about two weeks to complete, Smith said.
cial Officer Award sponsored by Virginia Business Magazine. Moon and Chancellor and Mrs. Jerry Falwell, Jr. represented Liberty at the awards banquet held in Richmond. Moon, who was named CFO by Liberty’s founder, Dr. Jerry Falwell, in 2006, has worked at Liberty for 32 years. He also serves on the Pittsylvania County School Board, where he has been elected for three consecutive four-year terms. During Moon’s tenure as CFO, Liberty’s net revenues have grown from $4.8 million to a projected $200 million at the end of this fiscal year. Gross annual revenues have grown from nearly $147 million to a projected half-billion dollars. He was nominated for the award by the firm Dixon Hughes Goodman, which serves as Liberty’s auditor. Moon was one of 41 CFOs nominated for the award.
Smith gave a lecture on “Art as Vocation” at the sculpture’s unveiling in June 2010. He spoke about art as a calling and a God-given activity. He said he believes the church is using art in its mission now more than ever before. Founded in 1886, St. Hugh’s College is one of the largest Oxford schools.
SHRM chapter receives national recognition Liberty University’s student chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently received the society’s Superior Merit Award and the Outstanding Chapter Award. Liberty’s chapter was among the 10 student chapters out of 138 nationwide to receive the Outstanding Chapter Award. The winning chapters were presented with plaques during the SHRM Annual Student Conference on June 25 in Las Vegas, Nev. Members of Liberty’s chapter have provided many hours of volunteer work at the university, Lynchburg College and various businesses in Central Virginia. Liberty’s chapter has pioneered a professional mentoring program and members also mentor high school students. libert y journal
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‘Well done ...’
Faculty, staff and student achievements
Duke wins Liberty’s highest Athletics honor
Liberty University Athletics honored senior wide receiver Zach Duke with the 2011 Rock Royer/Mac Rivera Award at the April 29 convocation. The award is Liberty’s highest athletics honor, recognizing excellence in athletics and academics as well as an exemplary Christian testimony. Established in 1975, the award honors Liberty’s top graduating senior student-athlete who best exemplifies the standards of Rock Royer, Liberty’s first football coach, and Mac Rivera, who played basketball for Liberty from 1972 to 1975. Both died at young ages – Royer in a plane crash and Rivera after a fall. Liberty’s Director of Athletics Jeff Barber presented the award with Manuel Rivera, brother of Mac Rivera. Duke, an intercultural studies major, was named on the Big South Presidential Honor Roll in 2010. He founded the Bible study Gridiron Football Ministries, which was organized by the football team’s members. He was considered a spiritual leader of the team and has been actively involved with many other Christian and community-serviceoriented programs.
Marketing team places second at AMA Conference Liberty University’s 2010-11 American Marketing Association (AMA) Collegiate Case Competition team won second place at
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the AMA’s Annual International Collegiate Conference March 24-26 in New Orleans. Liberty was among the top 10 national finalists, chosen from 64 university teams across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. As part of the competition, the team, which included members of Liberty’s Student Marketing Association (SMA) chapter, made an oral presentation to Nintendo executives. They received $2,000, which will go toward SMA’s budget for student activities. Liberty’s team was established in 2003 and has participated in the competition for the past five years. The team has qualified as national finalists for the past three years.
Area doctoral student wins teaching honors Middle school teacher Dina Linkenhoker of Bedford, Va., a doctoral student in Liberty University’s School of Education, was named Bedford County Schools’ Teacher of the Year in May. She was presented the award in an assembly at Staunton River Middle School in Moneta, Va., where she has taught sixth-grade U.S. history for three years. School board members presented her with gifts as she received a standing ovation from the student body. Before teaching at Staunton River Middle
Debate team No. 1 in the country In May, Liberty earned the top spot in national rankings from debate’s three governing organizations: the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA), National Debate Tournament (NDT) and the American Debate Association (ADA). This marks the third consecutive and fifth time overall that Liberty University has earned top rankings. Liberty remains the only school to win all three championships in a single season in the history of collegiate debate. The team has earned 28 national rankings championships since 1995. The team traveled across the country this past season, from California to New York, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee. They debated immigration issues, specifically U.S. visa policy, including issues with temporary workers in high-tech industries as well as healthcare workers and victims of human trafficking.
School, Linkenhoker taught two years at Montvale Elementary in Montvale, Va. and nine years at an elementary school in California. Linkenhoker eventually plans to work with prospective teachers.
Liberty Athletics claims fourth Sasser Cup For the fourth year in a row, the Liberty University Athletics Department has finished atop the Big South Conference Sasser Cup standing, claiming the league’s top annual honor. The Sasser Cup trophy was presented to Director of Athletics Jeff Barber and Senior Women’s Administrator Meredith Eaker on Thursday evening during the Big South Conference’s annual Spring Meetings and Hall of Fame Banquet Dinner at Westin Resort Hotel in Hilton Head, S.C. Liberty becomes the second athletics department in the Big South’s history to win four Sasser Cup titles in a row.
Church volunteer wins annual CSER award Liberty University junior Bridgette Wells received the 2011 Christian/Community Service Volunteer of the Year Award in April for her outstanding contribution and commitment to serving the Lynchburg community. Lew Weider, director of Christian/Community Service (CSER), presented the annual award at convocation. Wells, a psychology major with a mi-
History professors honored for years of service Liberty University professors Dr. Cline Hall, Dr. Bill Matheny, Dr. Mark Steinhoff and Mrs. Mary Lou Garlock were honored for their years of service at a luncheon held in the Williams Stadium club pavilion on July 19. Each professor is leaving Liberty after more than 30 years of teaching -- Matheny taught for 31 years, Garlock for 32 years, and Hall and Steinhoff for 34 years. Hall, Matheny and Steinhoff were professors in Liberty’s Department of History. Garlock was an assistant professor of education in the Bruckner Learning Center. Family and friends of the professors were invited to attend the meal, catered by Sodexo. Liberty’s Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr., his wife, Becki, and provost Dr. Ron Godwin also attended. Dean Roger Schultz of the College of Arts and Sciences presented each professor with an acrylic plaque, framed certificate and lapel pin. nor in women’s ministry, volunteered at Timberlake United Methodist Church in Lynchburg and was nominated by her supervisor, Liberty professor Alison Pettit. Wells committed herself to service projects through Rebuilding Together, which included roofing and painting projects for a local elderly woman. She also worked with children at the church, coordinated activities for residents with Alzheimer’s at Heritage Green Assisted Living, and participated in the Salvation Army’s bell-ringing campaign. Wells, a psychology major with a minor in women’s ministry, volunteered at Timberlake United Methodist Church in Lynchburg and was nominated by her supervisor, Liberty professor Alison Pettit. Wells committed herself to service
projects through Rebuilding Together, which included roofing and painting projects for a local elderly woman. She also worked with children at the church, coordinated activities for residents with Alzheimer’s at Heritage Green Assisted Living, and participated in the Salvation Army’s bell-ringing campaign.
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Commencement 2011
Despite overcast skies, it wasn’t rain that poured into Williams Stadium on May 14 for Commencement 2011 – it was 30,000 people who witnessed a historic day for the school. This was the first Commencement held in the newly renovated stadium and it honored the largestever graduating class – 11,171. It was one of the largest events to ever be held in Central Virginia, requiring the work of 550 staff and students. The main ceremony was followed by 13 separate diploma ceremonies. More than 20 different events were planned in conjunction with Commencement, including Baccalaureate and a reception for Liberty University Online students. Hotels were booked solid and Liberty opened up 150 rooms on East Campus and at the Residental Annex for families. > To view Commencement 2011, go to www.liberty.edu/streaming
Film director and screenwriter Randall Wallace delivered an inspirational speech to the Class of 2011 about the struggles he overcame to rise to the top of his field. Wallace is widely known for writing the screenplays for Braveheart and Pearl Harbor and directing Disney’s Secretariat. He also wrote, directed and produced the critically acclaimed We Were Soldiers and The Man in the Iron Mask. He spent much of his childhood in Lynchburg; he is a graduate of E.C. Glass High School and his mother still lives here. He teaches film classes at Pepperdine University and plans to assist Liberty with its new Center for the Cinematic Arts. Liberty bestowed a Doctor of Arts to Wallace “in view of his contemporary and legendary contribution to the Fine Arts, and in recognition of the timeless ideals brought to life for the masses because of his work.”