Liberty Champion March 8 2016

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Volume 33 | Issue 6 Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Falwell speaks

primary focus

Interview addresses Trump endorsement Sarah Rodriguez srodriguez70@liberty.edu

Editor’s Note: In an interview with the Liberty Champion, Jerry Falwell answered questions about some of the controversial issues regarding his personal support of Donald Trump for president. Liberty University does not support or oppose any political candidates.

Beginning as a multiple year friendship with Donald Trump, Falwell’s personal connection with Trump has transformed into a political backing for the upcoming FALWELL presidential election.

Falwell said his friendship with Trump began when Trump first spoke at Liberty in September 2012. Falwell said he kept in contact with some members of the top management of Trump’s company and has recently had the opportunity to get to know Trump’s family.

Falwell said he has been focused on running the university, but he did spend time on the campaign trail with Trump during the weekend of the Iowa caucus.

“I got a call at 11 o’clock one Saturday morning,” Falwell said. “(Trump) said, ‘Can you be here at 5 o’clock this afternoon?’ and I said, ‘Well, you’ll have to pay to get me there.’ I put the family in a plane, and he paid for it.”

Falwell said he was not expecting what Trump would later ask him to do.

“I showed up (at) an auditorium packed with thousands of people,” Falwell said.

See FALWELL, A3

Leah Seavers| Liberty Champion

ELECTION DAY — Students voted in the presidential primary elections on March 1. See related story on A5.

New café opens in town Father-son duo runs shop focused on tea and giving back to the community Will Young weyoung@liberty.edu

A Florida-based café celebrated the grand opening for its new Lynchburg storefront location Saturday morning, Mar. 5, after owner and Liberty student Spenser Foley opened its doors for tea and coffee lovers alike.

Spenser Foley, a senior pre-law student at Liberty, works alongside his father Terry Foley in the operation of the Lynchburg location for the Open Porch Café, which has two other locations in

West Palm Beach, Florida.

The Open Porch in Lynchburg is the company’s first storefront location to be built in Virginia and can be found near The Muse Coffee Company on Enterprise Drive.

With its recent debut, the café hopes to raise the standard for tea in the U.S. through offering what the company calls the first American commercial craft tea. The main focus of the Open Porch is its tea, not its coffee, like many other American cafés.

“When Starbucks opened

up, they introduced coffee at a whole other level,” Terry Foley said. “Well, through our craft tea, we’re taking tea to a whole other level that no other tea company has gone before.”

The craft tea the Open Porch offers is shipped from a farm in Sri Lanka, an island off the coast of India, that Terry Foley found after six years of searching for what he calls the boldest, strongest and most developed tea he has ever tasted.

See TEA TIME, A8

Isaac Apon | Liberty Champion

REFRESH — The Open Porch Café offers several types of iced tea.

A different type of disaster

LU Send Now team goes to work in Flint, Michigan during water calamity Jordan Jarrett jjarrett4@liberty.edu

A team deployed by LU Send Now was sent to Flint, Michigan from Feb. 27 to March 5 to volunteer during the ongoing water crisis.

Consisting of six members and headed by volunteers from the Liberty University Campus Pastors Office, the team partnered with the South-

ern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia and with the North American Mission Board (NAMB).

The project had been in the works by LU Send for two weeks before the team’s departure.

Morgan Monasterio, administrative assistant at LU Send, said the Flint team’s mission has had no set parameters except to assist the NAMB in whatever ways needed. Assistance took

the form of installing water filters in whatever homes needed them, ultimately purifying the water in as many people’s homes as possible.

“We’re very big on assisting our partners, so we typically just head out to the sites and do whatever’s needed,” Monasterio said.

“We don’t really come up with the plans ourselves.

We help the people who are on the ground.”

The water crisis in Flint

was mainly attributed to toxic levels of lead in the drinking water. Lead is a neurotoxin, which, according to the World Health Organization, can damage the nervous and reproductive systems and cause blood problems.

JARRETT is a news reporter.

Melissa Skinner| Liberty University News Service

AID — Students passed out bottles of water to residents.

INSIDE THE CHAMPION

News

Liberty and UVA ROTC program earn 2015 MacArthur Award.

A8

Opinion

A student gives a recap of this year’s Super Tuesday results.

A5

Sports Men’s lacrosse wins big against West Virginia Mountaineers.

B2

Feature

Preview of an upcoming Christian political conference.

B5

News Opinion Sports Feature

A1 A4 B1 B6

news

A2 | March 8, 2016 | Liberty Champion

Promoting digital detox Dr. Sylvia Frejd says it is time to take a break from technology overload

Leah Seavers | Liberty Champion

UNPLUG — Students were challenged to take a break from their constant use of technology and focus on human interaction instead.

Taylor Frost tfrost2@liberty.edu

In today’s world, people are constantly surrounded by screens. Whether that be their iPhones, laptops, tablets or televisions, escaping technology is difficult.

Liberty University has taken note of students, faculty and staff being overstimulated by technology. The Center for Digital Wellness was established in September 2014 to help the members of campus be more engaged in their own lives.

“As I ride the bus around on campus and walk the hallways, I see many students looking down at their phones,” Dr. Sylvia Frejd, executive director of the Center for Digital Wellness, said. “I also observe people at lunch with friends yet constantly looking down at their phones so as not to miss out on anything. … In our digital world, it is so easy to be where we are and be somewhere else as well.”

According to Frejd, students struggle with being able to put their cell phones down and engage with life around them.

The Center for Digital Wellness encourages

students to put down their technology and interact with others.

“The goal is that we all would practice digital wellness by managing our time spent looking down at screens and be intentional to look up and thrive in our real lives and relationships,” Frejd said.

Frejd said the Center for Digital Wellness offers many programs for students to digitally detox. Some of the programs include giving guest lectures in classes, offering workshops on digital wellness, Digital Detox Retreats and mentoring/coaching.

According to Frejd, the Center for Digi-

tal Wellness is also trying to raise awareness through the #LOOKUP campaign.

The campaign’s ultimate goal is to help students move away from technology so they may be able to hear God’s voice and live out their calling.

The Center for Digital Wellness also promoted participation in the National Day of Unplugging, which was March 4-5. “(We) encouraged all faculty, staff and students to take the pledge and participate in the National Day of Unplugging from their technology and to use the time to plug into their real life and relationships,” Frejd said.

The National Day of Unplugging is a project by Reboot. Dina Mann, national marketing and outreach manager for Reboot, said the purpose of this yearly event is to motivate people to reconnect with reality instead of being inside a screen.

“What we hope is that by taking the time to pause and reflect on their use of digital devices such as phones and computers, people will be more aware of the impact,” Mann said. “We hope that from that newfound awareness, people will try to put their digital devices aside more regularly, for however long it takes to recharge themselves and to reconnect with those around them.”

This event was established in 2010. Mann said Reboot noticed society was tired and needed a rest from technology.

While the National Day of Unplugging has already taken place for this year, Mann shared that unplugging from technology should be a done on a regular basis.

“I unplug weekly,” Mann said. “It is a way for me to set balance in my life and recharge, reflect and connect with people and things I love.”

Frejd said students can put their phones face down during conversations, keep their phones in the backseat while driving, and put their phones in the middle of the table while eating. It is ultimately about setting boundaries.

“They can start by taking a day to unplug and assess how their technology use is impacting their life and relationships, then establish some healthy digital boundaries for themselves,” Frejd said.

To get more information about unplugging, visit the Center for Digital Wellness in Green Hall 1845 or email digitalwellness@liberty.edu.

FROST is a news reporter.

Liberty SGA readies for election Candidates to compete for position of student body president for upcoming year Nate Haywood nahaywood@liberty.edu

The year 2016 has been, and will continue to be, full of elections. There will continue to be primaries and caucuses, with no election more important than the presidential election taking place in November. By the end of this year, U.S. citizens will have practically voted for everything, even the local dogcatcher.

All elections, whether nationwide or local, have great impact.

However, there is one other upcoming election that could potentially provide an instant impact on Liberty students.

Liberty University’s Student Government Association (SGA) will be hosting its 2016 student body presidential election in April. According to current SGA Student Body President Quincy Thompson, this election could affect Liberty as a whole.

“This election has the po-

tential to change the direction of SGA and the student body our organization represents,” Thompson said.

According to Thompson, the SGA is driven by its mission to serve students. Every decision, vote and verdict is designated to make Liberty a better school for the student body.

“Student concerns and issues drive SGA,” Thompson said. “If it were not for student issues, SGA would not have any reason to exist. This year, SGA has … capitalized on learning more about what students are concerned about.”

Thompson also added that SGA hosts a meeting called Campus Chat in the Jerry Falwell Library for students and student representatives. On the first Monday of every month, Campus Chat stands as an opportunity for students to tell their representatives what they like, dislike, want changed and want kept.

“We have created surveys about issues like parking, din-

SGA ELECTIONS With all the talk of national politics, let’s not forget about our own SGA election. Here are some important dates to remember.

Sierra Franklin| Liberty Champion

ing and campus security and are working on proposals to address these issues that students care about,” Thompson said.

SGA serves as the representative voice for students. However, according to Thompson, the SGA’s president deals directly with administration, presenting the desires and concerns of the student body.

“SGA’s student body president works on behalf of the student body and SGA as an organization with university administrators to help better the student experience at Liberty,” Thompson said.

“The student body president can discuss pressing matters regarding anything related to needs and concerns of students and work with the leadership of the university to address these needs.”

Thompson has been SGA student body president for two years.

As his tenure comes to a close, he looks forward to seeing his replacement come into the role.

Despite soon graduating from

Liberty, he encouraged students to vote because of how valuable the right is.

“As in any election, the right to vote is a unique and valued freedom of our society,” Thompson said.

Since the election is not until April 1, students will receive ample opportunities to get to know each candidate. Candidate orientation takes place March 9.

Social media campaigning begins the very next day and will continue until Thursday, March 31, which is also the day of the SGA presidential debate.

The SGA is partnering with The Liberty Champion in hosting the debate in DeMoss Hall 4040 at 7:00 p.m. Liberty Champion staff members have also been set to assist in moderating, with a plan to replicate the format of the Republican and Democratic national debates. According to Thompson, the intent of the debate is to position candidates against each other and show stu-

dents the potential strengths and weaknesses of each candidate.

This will all lead to April 1: Election Day. Students can vote through the voting portal available through the splash page from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“Students have the opportunity to choose what type of voice they want to represent them in the coming year,” Thompson said. “It is important for students to vote for SGA’s student body president because that individual can help determine and shape the type of experience they have here at Liberty as a student.”

HAYWOOD is the editor-in-chief.

SGA ELECTION DAY You can vote through the splash page from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

SOCIAL PHYSICAL CANDIDATE MEDIA CAMPAIGNING ORIENTATION CAMPAIGNING BEGINS BEGINS

3/9

3/10

3/28

SGA DEBATE with The Liberty Champion

3/31

4/1

news

Liberty Champion | March 8, 2016 | A3

Leah Seavers | Liberty Champion

POLITICS — Donald Trump visited Liberty University Jan. 18 to speak at Convocation.

FALWELL continued from A1 “I said, ‘What am I here to do?’ They said, ‘You’re the moderator.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ So they handed me a microphone, and they said, ‘Welcome Jerry Falwell Jr.,’ and I’m walking out on stage in front of thousands and that was it. I introduced him, and then I sat down, and he and I just sat there in chairs for about an hour and discussed the issues.”

A university president and lawyer by trade, Falwell said he asked for some help before moderating.

“Luckily I had texted Sean Hannity earlier that day and said, ‘You do this all the time. Give me some ideas of some issues I should discuss with him,’” Falwell said. “So Sean texted me from his son’s tennis match some ideas of what to ask him. I used some of those ideas.”

Trump then asked Falwell to stay

“

all the right things to all the right crowds to get their votes. He’s just himself.”

Falwell said he believes recent remarks in opposition of Trump are conditioned politicians scared of change.

“I really believe that what you are seeing happening this week is the establishment is having a seizure,” Falwell said.

“They’re going ballistic because they are scared to death that they’re going to lose power. … They’re scared to death of Trump because he’s the kind of guy that will walk into Washington, kick over the tables, kick over the chairs, throw the bums out, start over, and do things that a career politician would never do.”

Falwell emphasized the importance of the fact that Trump has not held elected office before.

“I think he is what our Founding Fathers envisioned — citizen legislators — not career politicians to run this country,”

He doesn’t need the money. He’s paying for his own campaign. He’s not beholden to anybody like the rest of them are. He’s made a payroll with tens of thousands of employees, and nobody else on that debate stage has ever made a payroll and never will.

They don’t know what it’s like to be a businessman who is trying to survive or a businesswoman who is trying to make it. ... Trump does.

— JERRY FALWELL JR.

the night and follow him on his campaign stops for the next day.

“We went to the airport, and there was Trump’s 757 all lit up on the runway,” Falwell said. “So we walked on the plane, and we thought we certainly would be sitting in the back with Secret Service. But he said, ‘No, come on up.’ He brought us up front. He’s got this big living room with this big screen TV. He’s got a master bedroom he showed us. Then he let my son and his wife actually sit in the cockpit to take off because my son’s a pilot. Then we sat there with him the whole time, just across the table.”

Falwell said he was impressed by Trump’s hospitality on the flight.

“He offered us food, … so he brought out Wendy’s cheeseburgers,” Falwell said. “He ate cheeseburgers, and we ate cheeseburgers. Then he put on a concert. He found out that when I grew up in the 70s, I was an Elton John fan. So, he put the concert on the big screen. He was doing it all himself.

He was the one serving the food. He was the one waiting on us. I thought it would be like caviar and something fancy, but it was cheeseburgers — Wendy’s cheeseburgers.”

Falwell said he and his family followed Trump to Council Bluffs, Iowa and Sioux City, Iowa where he moderated for Trump before coming back to Lynchburg.

“It was an experience of a lifetime, but it was a lot of fun,” Falwell said.

“I learned a lot from it.”

According to a statement released

by Trump’s campaign in January, Falwell acknowledged why he chose to support Trump. “(Trump) is a successful executive and entrepreneur, a wonderful father and a man who I believe can lead our country to greatness again,” Falwell said in the statement.

Falwell has continued his support of Trump because he believes Trump is the businessman and not the politician the U.S. needs to be restored to a healthy condition.

“He is not part of the establishment,” Falwell said. “He’s been a businessman all his life, an entrepreneur. He’s not a career politician. He hasn’t been groomed to say

Falwell said. “(They were) people who had their own businesses, their own jobs and who would take a break from that for a while to serve their country and then go back to their profession, not make a career out of being a politician on the tax payer payroll. I think Donald Trump fits that definition better than anybody else because he has been extremely successful in the private sector.”

Falwell, who was working for Liberty during its early financial struggle, said he admires Trump’s business skills. He thinks Trump’s skills will translate into an ability to help the U.S. recover from its almost $20 trillion debt.

“He doesn’t need the money,” Falwell said. “He’s paying for his own campaign.

He’s not beholden to anybody like the rest of them are. He’s made a payroll with tens of thousands of employees, and nobody else on that debate stage has ever made a payroll and never will. They don’t understand it. They don’t know what it’s like to be a businessman who is trying to survive or a businesswoman who is trying to make it. ....

Trump does. ... I come at it from a unique perspective because I’ve been through experiences that most people haven’t. Keeping a school afloat for 20 years was my job as a young lawyer. I know what it takes, and I want somebody who’s done that.”

Trump has taken some opposition from religious leaders who remain in disagreement with his policies. According to CNN, Pope Francis said Trump “is not Christian” if he wants to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and deport undocumented immigrants.

However, Falwell said he thinks evangelicals should think about elections differently this time around.

“In the past (evangelicals) would vote for somebody who claimed to share their views on social issues, but promises were almost never kept,” Falwell said. “Evangelicals and conservatives were betrayed repeatedly by politicians who had claimed to be conservative socially and fiscally as candidates but went a different direction once they took office. Now I think

conservatives have reached a point where they want somebody who has succeeded in the private sector, not just someone who makes the right promises in speeches.

Many of them see Donald Trump as the tough guy who will protect and defend us in perilous times.”

“He’s perfectly suited to serve as the political leader, and I think that gives evangelicals comfort,” Falwell said. “That’s why a large majority of them are supporting him, and I think maybe after the country is saved and restored, perhaps evangelicals will start voting in traditional patterns again.”

He said saving the country from terrorist attacks, runaway debt and open borders has to be the first priority.

“All the other issues will be moot if we don’t save the country,” Falwell said.

“When we step into our role as citizens, we need to elect the most experienced and capable leaders,” Falwell said on Facebook Jan. 27. “As I said, Jimmy Carter is a great Sunday school teacher, but the divorced and re-married Hollywood actor Ronald Reagan saved this nation when it was in nearly the same condition that it is today.

Jesus said judge not, lest ye be judged. Let’s stop trying to choose the political leaders who we believe are the most godly because, in reality, only God knows people’s hearts.

You and I don't, and we are all sinners.”

Despite disapproval by some Liberty alumni and others in the community, Falwell believes Trump gives America the best chance to be great again.

“It is sad to see Christians attacking other Christians because they don’t support the same candidate or the candidate who they believe is the most righteous,” Falwell said.

“God called King David a man after God’s own heart even though he was an adulterer and a murderer,” Falwell said. “You have to choose the leader that would make the best king or president and not necessarily someone who would be a good pastor. We’re not voting for pastor-in-chief. It means sometimes we have to choose a person who has the qualities to lead and who can protect our country and bring us back to economic vitality, and it might not be the person we call when we need somebody to give us spiritual counsel.”

Because of Falwell’s position at Liberty,

he had the university release a statement Jan. 26 stating the university does not endorse or oppose political candidates. It also said Falwell’s choice to endorse Trump is a personal choice and not a decision as the role of university president. Liberty cannot legally endorse a candidate for presidency and keep its nonprofit, tax-exempt status as a university.

Falwell also addressed the rumors that contributions were made so Falwell would support Trump for president.

“Trump has never made any contributions to Liberty or to me or to my family,” Falwell said. “Neither has (he) promised any donations. It has never even been discussed.”

Liberty students came out in full force March 1, the presidential primary in Virginia. Students cast 1,215 votes at the Vines Center with 90 of them for Trump. Though Trump did not win the Liberty precinct, Falwell said on Twitter that he was “proud of @LibertyU students for voting their conscience today and thinking for themselves unlike those at many univ who blindly follow admin.”

He said students need to vote in the November presidential election.

“If the wrong person is elected this fall, then the Second Amendment will be in jeopardy almost immediately because (with) one more liberal justice on the Supreme Court, you can say goodbye to the Second Amendment,” Falwell said. “ A 5-4, 6-3 liberal Court will transform this country into something that all the young people at Liberty won’t even recognize when they get my age. That’s the bottom line if they don’t vote.”

Falwell continued to emphasize the necessity of students to fulfill their responsibilities as Americans.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s Trump or Cruz or Rubio or whoever they support,” Falwell said. “I have my own personal opinion about who would be the best president, but students need to vote, and they need to vote whether they like the nominee of their particular party or not because there’s too much at stake for them to stay home.”

RODRIGUEZ is the news editor.

Donald Trump speaks at Liberty University Convocation.

Jan. 18

Jerry Falwell Jr. supports Donald Trump for president.

Jan. 26

Liberty University states Falwell's endorsement is personal, and the university will not support a candidate.

Jan. 26

Falwell clarifies on Facebook why he endorses Donald Trump for president.

Jan. 27

Falwell and family travel to Iowa to campaign with Donald Trump.

Jan. 30-31

FALWELL'S POLITICAL JOURNEY Mar. 1

Donald Trump wins seven states on Super Tuesday, including Virginia. Marco Rubio wins the Liberty precinct.

Mar. 4

Falwell gives The Liberty Champion an interview about his support of Donald Trump.

Sierra Franklin | Liberty Champion

OPINION

A4

March 8, 2016

Candidates on the attack

Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz embrace new strategy to stop Donald Trump Austin Eagen aeagen@liberty.edu

As everyone knows, 2016 is an election year. Along with that fact comes the knowledge that we, the American public, are about to endure a barrage of political advertisements berating the various candidates on both sides of the aisle. It is a well-known truth that campaign season means open season in the realm of politics.

Up until last week however, the most incendiary and boorish candidate that has ever run for presidential office had not faced any form of strong opposition. Donald Trump was somehow able to dominate the GOP polls for months before anyone imposed themselves on his campaign. As a result, Trump has been able to coast to landslide victories across the country.

One of the greatest buffers to Trump’s downfall was the vast field of GOP candidates.

The multitude of establishment

Google Images

DEBATE — Candidates turned up the heat on Donald Trump. campaigns caused many of the candidates, specifically Sens.

Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, to attempt clearing out the field before going to war with Trump.

In theory, the strategy was solid.

However, the plan took far too long to succeed and resulted in

Trump garnering more and more support for his campaign.

Leading up to Super Tuesday, Rubio and Cruz finally turned up the heat on Trump and began attacking him vigorously. In the debate, they relentlessly challenged and criticized Trump on a myriad

of important issues. The news outlets were flooded with sound bites of Rubio assailing Trump’s character and competency.

The attacks were strong. They were intelligent. They were witty.

They were direct. Rubio and Cruz were able to confront Trump’s positions in a way that not only dismantled Trump’s positions but also reinforced and bolstered their own campaigns. It was exactly what their campaigns needed.

Alas, it was too little too late.

When the dust settled after Super Tuesday, Trump was left standing victorious, winning seven states. The next closest candidates were Cruz and Rubio, winning three states and one state, respectively.

The success of the strategy of attacking Trump in the end may very well prove successful, but that depends on a few things happening. The GOP field needs to continue to slim down, and the party needs to unite together in opposition to Trump.

There is a lot of time left in the election process. Trump has by no means won the Republican nomination. However, the field needs to be cleared in order for a successful challenge to happen. Dr. Ben Carson has already suspended his campaign, and Gov. John Kasich should consider making the same decision. If Trump is going to lose, Kasich needs to leave.

After that, Rubio and Cruz would need to settle their own feud and unite against Trump.

Otherwise, Trump would continue to play them like marionettes. Unity is what is needed to defeat Trump.

Trump has most, if not all, of the momentum, but there is a plethora of delegates still up for grabs. If the rest of the GOP field can get their act together, there is a strong possibility that Rubio or Cruz will win the Republican nomination.

EAGEN is an opinion writer.

PRIMARIES FOR DUMMIES A CONTINUING SERIES

by

PART 3

Reform to the nomination schedule will equalize the influence of every state.

When the Republican Party held its first debate back in September, there were 15 candidates for the voters to choose from.

However, the unequal influence wielded by early state primaries has caused that field to be narrowed to just four candidates based on the decisions made by voters in just three states.

The current schedule for primary elections puts a disproportionate amount of influence into the hands of early voting states. While this may seem like a trivial issue, consider this: If Iowa and the other early voting states are able to determine who gets to run for president, then does it really matter for them who wins? They have been given the ability to ensure that anyone who ends up running in the final election is favorable to them. In the words of Boss Tweed, the corrupt politician and head of the New York political machine in the 1860s and 1870s, “I don’t care who does the electing, so long as I get to do the nominating.”

In the early months of campaigns, candidates often focus the vast majority of their time and resources on these early states. A good showing in Iowa and New Hampshire is vital for a campaign’s longevity as the candidates with a good showing will receive more attention, credibility and votes in later elections. Along with the increased attention on early states comes an increased focus on the issues that matter to the people in those states as poli-

cies and campaign promises are made addressing issues deemed most important to those people. Meanwhile the interests and issues that are important to people voting toward the end of the political season are deemed less important.

Typically, a party’s nominee is determined by the end of March, as there will be a large enough margin between the candidates that the victory has either been secured or an upset has been rendered unlikely. As such, the votes of more than 500,000 caucus goers in Iowa have more influence in the presidential race than the more than five million Republican voters in California who do not get to vote in the primaries until June.

With every election, the issue of campaign reform is brought up and discussed, but nothing ever comes from it, partly because it is unclear who has the authority to legislate it. Each individual state and the parties within that state are in charge of determining whether they want a caucus or secret ballot, the distribution methods of delegates, and when the primary will be held. However, political parties have prevented states from having full control over when their elections are held.

In 2008 Florida moved its primary date to Jan. 29, ahead of Super Tuesday.

Both the Republican and Democratic National Committees tried to block the move by threatening to take away Florida’s delegates. Ultimately Florida got its way and kept the Jan. 29 date. However, the altercation showed the favoritism of Iowa and New Hampshire, as they have been permitted to write into their state laws that they must hold their primary elections before anyone else.

ELIZABETH LAPP elapp@liberty.edu

Google Images

VOTING — Early states in the primary process have an uneven amount of influence.

It is clear that the primary voting system needs serious reform in order for the influence of voters across the country to be equalized. However, finding a solution is not as simple.

One proposed method would be a national primary voting day giving all states the same amount of influence over who enters the final election. The problem with this system is that it makes name recognition and money a key factor in the influence of a campaign. A single day of voting would make it more difficult for the unknown candidates to present their ideas and attract attention from voters, as they would not have the resources for a simultaneous campaign in 50 states.

The other proposed method is a rotating regional primary election schedule where the region of the country that votes

first would change with each presidential election. While this method would share some of the flaws of the current system, including the increased influence of early voting states, the grouping would at least distribute that influence so that it is not solely in the hands of a single state.

While the need for change has been recognized, it is unlikely anything will be done to change the current voting system any time soon. More than 300 bills have been introduced to change the primary voting system, but not one of them has made it to the House or Senate floors for debate or a vote. After all, the people who have the ability to change the system are the same ones who benefit from it.

LAPP is a news reporter.

NANCY REAGAN: The U.S. Secret Service called her “Rainbow.” We as a nation called her first lady. And for 52 beautiful years, until his death in 2004, President Ronald Reagan called her his wife.

But on March 6, 2016, former first lady Nancy Reagan died of congestive heart failure at the age of 94. The news evoked responses from most well-known political figures, including President Barack Obama and each of the current Republican nominees.

Nancy Reagan was described as a graceful woman, who embodied “charm, grace and passion,” according to usatoday.com. Obama even credited her with “redefining” the role of first lady. Former aide Michael Deaver went as far to say, “Without Nancy, there would have been no Governor Reagan, no President Reagan.”

The former actress stuck with her husband through their marriage. Per cnn.com, she never left Ronald Reagan’s side while he was in the hospital from an assassination attempt in 1981. Even when he contracted Alzheimer’s, she was there with our former president every step of the way. She cared for him. Watched over him. Protected him, just as he had done for our nation as president.

In 2004, when Ronald Reagan lost his battle with Alzheimer’s, she became a spokeswoman for helping families cope with watching their family members battle the disease. Esquire.com writes that without her tireless advocacy, “Alzheimer’s research would not have progressed as far as it has.”

a tribute

by Nate

Haywood

Admittedly, I did not know too much about Nancy Reagan. I knew who she was, who she was married to. And I only knew about the Secret Service calling her Rainbow because of a trivia game. But upon further reading and research, I became overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude. I was saddened by the fact it was now impossible for me to meet this woman and thank her in person.

My grandmother is currently battling Alzheimer’s and dementia.

For a long period of time, we had her move in with us so my mother could better take care of her. As the years progressed, my grandmother’s mental state did the exact opposite. She began to forget things and people. At times, she would not recognize me, her husband or my mother.

My grandmother is currently in a nursing home, and my mother checks on her daily. She can do so with a greater wherewithal than she could when she first learned of my grandmother’s disease. She did a lot of research, and that research is there because of Nancy Reagan. Because of her dedication to caring for her husband and those fighting similar battles, my mother is far better equipped to assist her mother.

The love and compassion she displayed as a wife is something in and of itself worth admiring and remembering, but her refusal to leave other Alzheimer’s patients behind will remain engraved in my memory of our late first lady, Nancy Davis Reagan.

opinion

Liberty Champion | March 8, 2016 | A5

Super Tuesday Recap

The March 15 primaries might make the GOP’s field of candidates even smaller Lee Sutherland lsutherland6@liberty.edu

If the craziness of the first day of the NCAA tournament had any comparison, it would be Super Tuesday. Eleven states voted Tuesday, March 1, including Virginia, and a total 1,460 delegates were up for grabs. This is every political junkie’s favorite night.

Virginia was one of the many hotly contested primaries of the night. Businessman Donald Trump won the state with 34 percent of the vote, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio with 31 percent and Sen. Ted Cruz in a distant third with 16 percent, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.

Rubio won the D.C. suburbs in Northern Virginia and was also the leading candidate at the Vines Center precinct at Liberty University. Students showed up in droves to vote for their preferred candidate, and the turnout for this year’s primary was double that of the turnout for the 2012 primary, according to Larry Provost of the Division of the Student Affairs.

Rubio received 43 percent of the vote among students, followed by Cruz with 32 percent, Dr. Ben Carson with 13 percent and Trump with 7 percent.

Liberty President Jerry Falwell tweeted after the results from the Virginia primary came in.

“Proud of @LibertyU students for voting their conscience today and thinking for themselves unlike those at many univ who blindly follow admin,” Falwell wrote.

It is hard to say who the winner of the night was. While Trump won the most states, he did not meet the expectations many had for him. Cruz may have been the true victor of the night, winning his home state of Texas handily and surprising everyone with a win in Oklahoma. Yet when you look at the big picture of the nomination process, Cruz needed to do much better in the SEC primaries than he did.

Google Images

VOTING — Eleven states across the country voted on Super Tuesday, March 1, and 1,460 delegates were handed out to candidates.

Despite the support he received from Liberty students, Rubio had a very poor night. He did win his first state in Minnesota; however, his failure to reach the threshold of 20 percent in Texas cost him valuable delegates. He was nearly 100 delegates behind Trump and Cruz coming out of Super Tuesday.

Maybe the most important takeaway from the night is the continued debate among Republicans about what the best way to take out Trump is. Some argue that clearing the field and allowing one candidate to go head to head with Trump is the best option. There have been many calls that Cruz should be that candidate after

strong showings in the four primaries Saturday, March 5. Cruz won the Maine and Kansas primaries while Trump won the Kentucky and Louisiana primaries.

Others believe the best route is to have everyone stay in the race and force a contested convention. This puts the focus heavily on the March 15 primaries. If Rubio were to win his home state of Florida and Kasich were to win his home state of Ohio, the chances of one candidate cumulating the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination would be very slim.

“In that case (Rubio winning Florida and Kasich winning Ohio), Trump still holds the delegate lead,” writes Mark Murray of

NBC News. “But he needs to win 66 percent of remaining delegates to get to 1,237 — and that could be hard to climb.”

The March 15 primaries continue to grow in significance and may be the last stand against Trump becoming the Republican nominee, or it may be when he seals the deal for his nomination.

SUTHERLAND is the opinion editor.

Apple rejects FBI’s request Agencies and tech companies must work together to provide digital security Samantha Rozenblum serozenblum@liberty.edu

Edward Snowden is calling the San Bernadino Apple vs. FBI case “the most important tech case in a decade,” and after both sides spent nearly six hours testifying before Congress Monday, Feb. 29, the public should note that the outcome of this case could potentially set a precedent for all future digital privacy cases.

The FBI had basically asked Apple to build what Apple CEO Tim Cook called a backdoor to the iPhone — more specifically to make a new version of the iPhone operating system that could reroute several important security features and could be installed on an iPhone recovered during the investigation of San Bernadino shooters Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik — and Apple said no.

Tim Cook released a statement to all Apple customers, Feb. 16, stating that the FBI’s request has implications “far beyond the legal case at hand” and also that once this technology was created, there would be no way to ensure that it would not get into the wrong hands.

Although FBI Director James Comey agreed that the outcome of this case could set a precedent for encryption cases in the future,

the FBI is currently only asking Apple to utilize its resources to investigate a single device in a single case.

“This is not the end of privacy,” the Justice Department said, directly referencing the claims made by Apple to its customers.

“Rather than assist the effort to fully investigate a deadly terrorist attack by obeying the court’s order, Apple has responded by publicly repudiating that order.”

The prosecutors also accused Apple of exaggerating the difficulty of breaking into the specific phone and even accused the company of doing so out of concern for its business model and as a public brand marketing strategy.

It did not take long for the presidential candidates to weigh in on such a significant issue, and as in many other controversies, Donald Trump was the first to speak up in favor of national security.

“I agree 100 percent with the courts,” Trump said on “Fox and Friends.” “This is a case that certainly we should be able to get into the phone, and we should find out what happened and why it happened. …We have to do that.”

Though Sen. Ted Cruz agreed that Apple had a point in refusing to put a backdoor in every cell phone, he did ultimately concede that the FBI’s request overrides

Google Images

TECHNOLOGY— Apple fights against a backdoor to an iPhone.

Apple’s concern for precedents and digital privacy.

“This concerns the phone of one of the San Bernardino (terrorists), and for law enforcement to get a judicial search order, that is consistent with the Fourth Amendment,” Cruz said.

Sen. Marco Rubio agreed that a backdoor, if ever created, could be extremely devastating if hacked by a criminal group.

“We’re going to have to work with the tech industry to figure out a way forward on encryption that allows us some capability to access information — especially in an emergency circumstance,” Rubio said.

The Democratic candidates refrained from taking any positions on the issue.

There is no clear solution because the values of security and privacy are so sacred to American rights. Also, the definition of privacy has changed dramatically due to the explosion of media and digital sharing. Thus, defending digital security is a relatively new battle.

“Historically, privacy was almost implicit, because it was hard to find and gather information,” Bill Gates said in 2014. “But in the digital world, whether it’s digital cameras or satellites or just what you click on, we need to

have more explicit rules — not just for governments but also for private companies.”

Gates and Rubio accurately state that the government must strictly regulate the flow of digital information in order to maintain privacy for citizens as well as security and safety for America.

Apple stated in the letter to its customers that it “do(es) not have sympathy for terrorists,” which is a wonderful thing to be reassured of, but it still does not help the FBI protect civilians or acquire any more information on the San Bernadino terrorists.

If the government does not maintain national security, there will be no digital privacy to protect; thus, the American people should be patient with the courts and with Apple as they hopefully work toward a compromise that would set a precedent for placing appropriate value on security and privacy and would prioritize safety, peace and justice.

ROZENBLUM is an opinion writer.

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A6 | March 8, 2016 | Liberty Champion

Education on wheels C-SPAN bus makes stop at Liberty’s campus to talk about political happenings Jacob Clarke jlclarke3@liberty.edu

The latest stop on the C-SPAN bus’ Road to the White House Tour was the same place many of this year’s presidential candidates stopped on their own road to the White House: Liberty University.

The $1.2 million bus, which is 45 feet long and 13 feet high, rolled into the Speakman parking lot next to the bookstore Wednesday, March 2 to promote CSPAN’s coverage of public policy and the 2016 presidential election. Filled with close to a dozen flat screen televisions, laptops and computers, visitors could watch videos, scroll through C-SPAN’s online content and take trivia quizzes. Sara Zou, a marketing representative for C-SPAN, said the bus is on the road 11 months out of the year.

“We’re traveling all over,” Zou said.

“We’re focusing on the campaign season right now because the campaigns are going on, and we’re going to primary and caucus states. During (non-election years), we’re going to schools and universities.

We’re also doing book festivals and other community events, so we do a variety of events around the country.”

The bus features a recording studio where C-SPAN films interviews with senators, representatives, mayors, gov-

Leah Seavers | Liberty Champion

INFORM — Students visited the C-SPAN bus and discussed political coverage. ernors and even presidential candidates.

Zou said when Sen. Rand Paul was still in the race, he did a call-in on the network from the bus.

“Wherever we are in the country, there are different elected officials that come on the bus,” Zou said. “When we do productions on the bus, they’re always live.”

Students also had the opportunity to voice their own views on the election.

Part of the reason for the bus tour is for C-SPAN to hear about the views of young voters, especially those who are voting for the first time. The network just finished its StudentCam 2016 competition, where students from around the country sent in a video about which topic they believe the candidates should focus on the most. In addition to trailing the primary and caucus schedule, the bus will also be traveling to

the cities of the winners of the contest.

Junior commercial aviation student J.J. McCracken was interviewed in the studio with questions such as which candidate he was supporting, which issues were most critical in this election cycle, and why the right to vote is important.

He said that during his tour on the bus he took the time to learn about presidential elections in years past. “(The electoral college map) was interesting because I didn’t know that independent candidates have had as much of an impact as the map indicated,” McCracken said.

Zou encouraged college students to make use of C-SPAN’s resources, as they have more than 200,000 hours of footage online from the Senate floor and other forums for policy.

“Our purpose is to tell people about C-SPAN and our resources,” Zou said.

“When we’re at universities, our goal is to let students know that C-SPAN is available if they need it for a resource for a class, or if they are new voters, C-SPAN is available for them to learn more about the candidates.”

CLARKE is a copy editor.

‘We haven’t always had this’ In recent years, Liberty students fought to gain access to on-campus polling location Sarah Rodriguez srodriguez70@liberty.edu

During the daytime Tuesday, March 1, 2016, orange cones could be seen encircling the Vines Center on Liberty University’s campus. Cookies and donuts aplenty were also sitting on a table outside the massive landmark on campus.

Both sights were unusual to the typical student walking through campus.

It is because it was the presidential primary election for the state of Virginia, and the Vines Center is the official polling precinct for all residential on-campus Liberty students registered to vote in the state of Virginia.

However, voting has not always been such a convenient stop for a Liberty student wishing to exercise their right as an American.

“Everybody here now wasn’t around back then, and to current students we’ve always had a precinct,” Lee Beaumont, senior vice president for Auxiliary Services, said. “We’ve haven’t always had this, and it hasn’t always been that way. The only way you get to keep it is exercising your right to vote, or you can lose it if there are not enough votes to justify an oncampus precinct.”

Though almost every student who was around the Liberty campus in 2012 has moved on, many faculty and staff remember 2012 as the year Liberty had polling on campus for the first time.

According to Beaumont, all

the way up until the 2012 presidential primary election, students living on campus had to travel to a different precinct.

“In 2008, we didn’t have a polling center on campus,” Beaumont said. “Students had to go across to (Heritage) Elementary School across town.”

Beaumont said because the parking lot could not accommodate all the cars, Liberty had to bus students to the polling center.

Due to the growing number of Liberty students voting, the Heritage Elementary precinct was flooded with voters to the point of over capacity. Students and local residents had to stand in line for an hour or more.

“Of course we completely overwhelmed their precinct because of all the students that were voting,” Beaumont said.

According to a previous article for the Liberty Champion, John Cobb, a member of the Lynchburg Electoral Board, said a precinct has 4,000 registered votes. The registrar has to alert the state board, then they will find a solution.

According to WSET, the number of voters at Heritage Elementary was close to 6,200, so a change needed to be made.

“We kicked around a number of ideas and pointed out that a number of major colleges have polling places on campus,” Beaumont said. “It’s not an uncommon thing to have a polling place on campus.”

With a goal in mind, it

was still not an easy process to find a solution.

“Through all of this, it was a long process,” Beaumont said.

“In 2008 we first started saying we want our own polling place. It just takes a while to get there. Finally, we decided upon the Vines Center, and the election officials agreed that the Vines Center would be a good polling location because it worked well.”

According to the Associated Press in December 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice approved the Vines Center polling location plan adopted by the city council in October 2011.

Beaumont said it is common for college students to vote in the area where they attend school.

However, there were some opponents to precinct change.

“There were some people unhappy about it in the community that didn’t want our students voting here because they didn’t agree,” Beaumont said. “Most (Liberty) students vote conservatively, and they had different ideas.”

In the time between 2008 and 2011, when the idea to create a voting precinct on Liberty’s campus came about, students did all they could to show they wanted easier access to a polling location.

“All these students that came before you fought the hard battle,” Beaumont said. “They were the ones riding the buses over to the other precinct to vote and going through all the rigmarole of fighting people who didn’t want

Leah Seavers | Liberty Champion

READY — Students registered to be able to vote in the upcoming elections in Virginia.

Liberty students to vote and didn’t want a precinct on campus.”

Beaumont said students packed inside city hall to speak at city council meetings and spoke about how much they valued voting and wanted accessibility to on-campus Liberty students.

Now that the polling location for Liberty students has been moved to the Vines Center for multiple years now, Beaumont stressed the importance of students exercising their right to vote.

“Ever since the students have been able to vote here, local election officials know whenever they make decisions that they need to keep this constituency in mind,” Beaumont said. “A large population of the city is college students,

Leah Seavers | Liberty Champion

ACCESSIBILITY — Voting for Liberty students was not always so easy. The Vines Center was first used during the 2012 primary election.

so the things that interest (college students) all need to be taken into account. That only happens if you exercise your right to vote.”

In the first election at the Vines Center, in the March 6, 2012 presidential primary, the Liberty Champion reported a total of 590 votes, 13 percent of the registered voters for the Vines Center precinct. In the March 1, 2016 election, 1,215 votes were cast at the Vines Center. The Virginia Department of Elections reports 3,508 active voters at this precinct.

Beaumont said that in the future, students need to take the extra couple minutes it takes to stop by the Vines Center and vote.

“The precinct is here,” Beaumont said. “We are offering a convenient opportunity to vote. We want you guys to take advantage of it. That’s what it means to live in a representative republic, which is really what we are. (Students should) exercise that vote because there are lot of people around the world who don’t get to do that.”

However, current and future Liberty students would never have had the opportunity to walk five minutes from their residence hall and have a say in the election of government officials if it was not for the students before them.

“It really comes down to your predecessors in the student body who got involved,” Beaumont said. “They wanted to make a difference. They wanted to get involved, and that’s what resulted in what you all have today. … You have your own voting precinct.

You have a voice, and the people who are elected know it.”

RODRIGUEZ is the news editor.

news

Liberty Champion | March 8, 2016 | A7

Chicks dig the campus farm Liberty teaches students to be good stewards of new livestock additions

Ellie Fraser| Liberty Champion

ADDITIONS — The Morris Campus Garden became the Morris Campus Farm this past summer.

Ellie Fraser efraser2@liberty.edu

Entering into their third growing season, the Liberty University Morris Campus Farm is continually expanding on the farm and on campus.

This past summer, the addition of chickens turned the former campus garden into a campus farm, and its spring stewardship series is bringing events to campus so students can easily get involved.

Kyle Herrington, the Morris Campus Farm education and events coordinator, said in the past, students were able to come to the farm and get involved. Now, opportunities are available on campus through different events.

“We are structuring a lot more student involvement this semester,” Herrington said. “The spring

stewardship series is one step in that process.”

According to Herrington, the Morris Campus Farm’s main goal is to teach students, faculty, staff and the community stewardship practices. Specifically, it focuses on being good stewards of God’s creation through practical ways at the farm.

“We believe we are called to be good stewards of God’s creation,” Herrington said. “I think stewardship is an important principle within Christianity, so we’re here to help students make that practical. We can talk about stewardship, and it’s good to have the concepts, but what does it physically look like to be a steward in the area of taking care of the earth?”

The remaining spring events include “To Bee or Not to Bee,” “Raising Backyard Chickens From Scratch,” “Inhabit: A Permac-

ulture Perspective,” and “Come and Grow with Us: Earth Day Planting Party.”

“To Bee or Not to Bee” is March 30 and will feature guest speaker Paul Tabor, who is the president of the Piedmont Bee Association. “(Paul) is going to talk about all things bee related,” Herrington said. “A lot of people think bees are just for honey, but they do so much more.”

“Raising Backyard Chickens from Scratch” is April 9 and will be held at the Morris Campus Farm so participants get hands-on experience. Taylor Young, the Campus Farm livestock coordinator, will teach participants about raising chickens.

“You’re physically going to be able to feed the chickens, help us move the chickens, and (talk about) what it looks like to raise a flock of your own chickens,”

Herrington said.

“Inhabit: A Permaculture Perspective” is April 20 and will feature a documentary about permaculture as well as a Q&A session with a local farmer.

“There is such a broad range (of permaculture),” Herrington said. “It’s essentially using the space you have as efficiently and as naturally as possible. It’s really cool.”

Lastly, the “Come Grow with Us: Earth Day Planting Party” will be at the Morris Campus Farm April 23. “(It’s) just going to be a time when we’re out here and we’re putting things in the ground getting ready for the summer, because springtime is our biggest time for seeding and planting,” Herrington said.

For greater involvement at the farm, students can earn Christian/Community Service (CSER) hours, volunteer or become a student worker.

The Morris Campus Farm takes around 10 to 20 CSER students per semester. Herrington advises students to send an email the semester before they want to do CSER at the farm because spots tend to fill up quickly.

Herrington said there are currently four student worker positions open for the summer, but applicants must be attending Liberty residentially and taking a minimum of one class.

Volunteers are always welcome, according to Herrington, and helping out at the farm can be a good way to escape the hectic campus atmosphere.

“If you’ve got 30 minutes to an hour, you can just come out here and get your hands dirty for a little bit,” Herrington said.

Although only a short drive from Liberty’s main campus, the Morris Campus Farm provides a different atmosphere for stu-

dents who want to escape the busy campus.

“We love to teach students, but we also like building those relationships that if you just want to come and hang out at the farm, you can just come and hang out,” Herrington said. “We’re building out our space more to be able to do that. We’ve got a pergola that we’re going to be putting a cob oven in, which is a mud oven. So we’re going to have pizza days where you can come out, and we’ll make the dough and harvest some spinach to put on your pizza.”

For faculty and staff members who are short on time, the campus garden also does community supported agriculture, also known as harvest share, which allows faculty and staff to buy into the farm’s harvest and, in return, receive a box of vegetables.

“A lot of folks that are faculty and staff have expressed interest in getting involved out here, but the time doesn’t necessarily work out for them,” Herrington said.

“It’s just one way to know where your food is coming from. If people want to help pick, they’re welcome to.”

Regardless of major or occupation, Herrington encouraged anyone to visit the farm and get involved.

“I would just come out and see us,” Herrington said. “There are a lot of ways to get involved.

We try to make sure everyone has an opportunity to be able to get out here.”

For more information about upcoming events and the farm visit liberty.edu/campusrec/ farm/ or facebook.com/libertyuniversitycampusfarm.

FRASER is a copy editor.

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Visit our homepage frequently for weekly menus, calendar of events and news you can use.

Sodexo Spotlight: Keith Wilson

Position/Years with Sodexo: Retail Manager at Tilley Student Center, 10 and a half years.

Favorite Meal on Campus: Taco Salad from Wholly Habaneros.

Loves: Sports, Fishing, Swimming, Playing XBox. Can be found: In his office, running around the Tilley checking on his employees.

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A8 | March 8, 2016 | Liberty Champion

Rewarding hard work

Liberty and UVA ROTC programs receive General Douglas MacArthur Award Hayden Robertson hbrobertson@liberty.edu

The University of Virginia’s (UVA) Army Reserves Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), which also includes Liberty University’s ROTC program, received the 2015 MacArthur Award for the 2014-2015 school year.

The MacArthur Award is presented to the ROTC programs that exhibit the same qualities General Douglas MacArthur showed while in the Army. The qualifications include leadership, cadets’ performances, cadets’ ranks on National Order of Merit List and cadet retention rate.

Lt. Col. Bret Hamilton is an assistant professor of military science at Liberty and also an overseer of the ROTC program.

“The MacArthur Award is awarded to the top ROTC program in our brigade of 41 different schools,” Hamilton said.

He said Cadet Command looks at the quality of the cadet in regard to their academics, extracurriculars, sports, and how they are developing as leaders.

Hamilton said UVA and Liberty are in the same brigade, which is why they share the award. The Cadet Command takes all of those qualifications they see and chooses whichever brigade that goes beyond those requirements.

According to its website, the ROTC program “prides itself on active recruiting initiatives for prospective cadets.” Hamilton talked about the process many cadets go through just to be a part of the ROTC program at Liberty.

“When an ROTC cadet comes in, there are two different ways to get in,” Hamilton

Kevin Manguiob| Liberty University News Service

BATTLE — Army ROTC members competed at the Ranger challenge Oct. 17, 2015. said. “One is if they’re a National Scholarship winner for the Army, which means they apply to be in the Army when they’re a senior in high school. The other way is if they’re a student currently going to Liberty University. They can come in and apply for either a scholarship or a contract. Contract means that we’ve accepted them into the program, and they are qualified to compete for active duty National Guard or Army Reserve upon graduation.”

Hamilton also laid out the many factors that applying cadets must meet for the university. He said the biggest aspect they look for is academics, but they prefer their cadets to be well-rounded in academics, SAT/ACT scores, high school grades, sports and extracurricular activities.

When it comes to cadets becoming a part of Liberty, Hamilton said cadets are

now applying in college instead of applying while a senior in high school for the National Scholarship. He also said that since Liberty’s ROTC program is not as old as UVA’s, many cadets start applying in college.

The top cadet in the Liberty and UVA ROTC program, Caleb Grow, said how much of an honor it was to receive the MacArthur Award.

“It’s honestly a huge honor,” Grow said.

“I know everyone at Liberty has been working really hard to earn this award.

It is cool to say that your school has the best brigade.”

Grow said he received notice back in November that he would be the top cadet to represent Liberty and UVA. As Hamilton said, Liberty’s ROTC program wants well-rounded cadets in the pro-

gram. Grow has excellent academics, shows great leadership in the ROTC program and was able to balance playing hockey for Liberty and taking classes all at the same time.

“Last year was my last year playing hockey,” Grow said. “It definitely was rough and took a lot of time commitment, but it’s worth it.”

Hamilton spoke well of Grow and added that he went to Fort Leavenworth and represented Liberty and UVA as top cadet in Kansas.

Only one cadet from every brigade is chosen to be top cadet and sent to Fort Leavenworth. There are more than 300 cadets from around the nation that are represented as well. This award is more individualized and not just awarded to the group.

“Being the top cadet is similar to the MacArthur Award (and) the George C. Marshall Award,” Hamilton said. “It is an award that goes with you as you go forward, and (you) will always be noted as winning that award.”

Hamilton said Grow is “an outstanding cadet, and that’s why he is Cadet Battalion Commander.”

Hamilton and Grow are proud of the Liberty ROTC Program and said they cannot wait to see what is in store for them as the years go on.

ROBERTSON is a news reporter.

More than just an apple a day Liberty recognizes National Nutrition Month as a time to learn healthy eating habits Kara Sherrill kesherrill@liberty.edu

March is officially here, which means spring is on the way.

However, March is also National Nutrition Month. Throughout the month of March, Sodexo will be distributing flyers on healthy eating, as well as hosting several events.

According to registered dietician Kristina DiSanto, the nutrition stands in the Tilley Student Center and the campus dining hall will be filled with handouts and flyers with health tips.

“I think people underestimate the importance of nutrition in their lives and how it affects everything they do, from their grades in school to their athletic performance and to their ability to even walk up a flight of stairs,” DiSanto said.

DiSanto said that many times people do not think about what they are putting in their bodies.

“There’s so much hyper focus on diet and exercise, yet we

TEA TIME continued from A1 “I love iced tea, and I got so tired of having bad iced tea all the time,” Terry Foley said. “After tasting for years, I finally found what is now our craft tea.

It doesn’t go bad, and it has a ton of flavor. I said this is what southern iced tea should be like.”

Along with its craft tea, the Open Porch offers an unsweetened tea and a Florida-sweet tea at its locations.

Customers can also choose from a variety of tea blends that range from a light roast amber tea that is subtle in flavor to a dark forged blend that has twice as much caffeine and is the café’s boldest in taste.

The Open Porch also sells a variety of breakfast food, hot or cold sliders and soup.

The profits that the Open Porch location in Lynchburg receives are not

are still a really obese country,” DiSanto said. “So clearly there is some miscommunication going on.”

DiSanto said the aim of spreading awareness of National Nutrition Month is to bring the focus back to nutrition and health rather than quick fixes and health fads.

DiSanto also offered several small changes students can make in regard to their diet that can help them stay healthy in the long run.

“I generally tell people to focus on one or two habit changes a week and see how that goes,” DiSanto said.

“Set some small goals.”

DiSanto suggested that students, for example, add one serving of vegetables into their daily diet. She said adding vegetables to a diet is one of the easier changes to make, especially for students with a meal plan on campus.

only being directed toward growing the business location. Spenser Foley noted the café’s intentions in giving back to the community in its outreach program called ChariTea. On average, the Open Porch donates approximately 3,500 doughnuts a week to churches in the community to enhance their services as a part of their ChariTea program.

The Open Porch will begin with Gospel Community Church in Lynchburg.

The café’s merchandise sales are also spent to help operate Imagine No Malaria, an organization that seeks to eradicate malaria in Africa.

“Yes, we want to make money, that’s pretty much why anyone runs a business, but we’re doing it very intentionally and honoring God every step of the way,” Terry Foley said. “Our whole mission in running this business is to serve something greater.”

Another tip is to make sure to eat breakfast.

DiSanto said if a student is generally eating only carbohydrates for breakfast, he or she should mix it up and have a carbohydrate paired with a protein.

“Do not try to do a total overhaul of your diet so that you go from completely unhealthy to the healthiest person in a world in a week because it’s not going to work,” DiSanto said.

DiSanto said it is important to cut down unhealthy eating choices in little ways to make it manageable. For instance, substitute a sugary granola bar for a piece of fruit.

DiSanto also suggested students cut soda or sugary beverages from their diets because they do not have any health benefits to them at all.

“Americans guzzle 31 gallons of soda per person per year, which is 3 times the global figure,” DiSanto said.

DiSanto said that when people do not get enough sleep, they tend

Although the tea sales at the locations in Florida currently comprise 6575 percent of total sales, the coffee at the Open Porch Café has a distinct story in and of itself.

The coffee the Open Porch sells comes from Café Kreyol, a company

Cassandra Steptoe | Liberty Champion

VARIETY — The Reber-Thomas Dining Hall provides a salad bar for students to make healthy choices. to crave sugary, processed and highly sweetened carbohydrates.

“Sleep and nutrition go hand in hand,” DiSanto said.

Keep updated with the splash page and announcements around campus for National Nutrition Month events during the month of March.

DiSanto is available for nutri-

based in Fairfax, Virginia that grows and produces its coffee in Haiti in an effort to stimulate the economy in the impoverished country.

According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development, 59 percent of Haitians live below the national poverty line.

tion counseling if any students are interested. Email her at kristina. disanto@sodexo.com.

SHERRILL is a news reporter.

Terry Foley said he is confident the relationship between the Open Porch and Café Kreyol will help in the coffee company’s effort to create jobs in impoverished Haitian communities.

It is one of the many ways the Foleys plan to continue to support outside minis-

tries through their business.

“If you come into our shop and buy a tea or coffee, you’re making a difference,” Terry Foley said.

“That’s what our goal has always really been.”

YOUNG is a feature reporter.

Isaac Apon| Liberty Champion

LOCAL — Employees at the Open Porch Café in Lynchburg served customers during opening weekend.

SPORTS

March 8, 2016

Softball

M. Basketball

LSU

Liberty

UNCA

Liberty

6

5

80

49

W. Lacrosse

W. Basketball Presby.

Liberty

57

49

B1

ODU

Liberty

12

8

Baseball

(series) UConn Liberty

1

2

Huskies halted

farewell

Flames take the series 2-1 at home Bobby Keating rfkeating@liberty.edu

Despite the loss, Green spoke about how proud he was of his graduating class of Lady Flames.

“Thank you, (seniors),” Green said.

“They have had an amazing four to five years, those five have totaled 4,050 points.

I would’ve liked to have about nine of those points tonight.”

Coach Green encouraged his team to have focus and put a high level of energy

Liberty baseball (6-4) defeated the University of Connecticut (4-3) 8-5 Friday, March 4, in the Liberty Baseball Stadium.

Parker Bean started the game on the mound for the Flames. He struggled with his control as he was forced to throw 33 pitches in the first inning alone, 18 of them being balls.

After giving up a hit and walking two in a row, UConn had one out and the bases loaded. Liberty shortstop Andrew Kowalo dropped the ball on what would have been a double play to end the inning. Instead, a run scored and the bases remained loaded with a single out.

Bean struck out the next batter to save a potentially detrimental opening inning and then threw out Bobby Melley trying to steal home after a passed ball.

Head Coach Jim Toman said the team recently worked on retrieving wild pitches to throw them to the plate in practice.

“We were fortunate to get out of that first inning with only one run, it didn’t look good,” Toman said. “It isn’t the ideal way to get out of an inning (on a passed ball), but at that point we’ll take it because we couldn’t afford to get behind that much.”

Pre-season All-American Anthony Kay took his 0.75 ERA to the mound to start for the Huskies. He walked the first batter he faced, but then sat down eight in a row.

Liberty’s bats came alive in the third inning during a two-out rally. Freshman D.J. Artis started things off with a single, then was brought home by an Eric Grabowski double. Will Shepherd followed that up with an RBI single to right field.

Andrew Yacyk extended the inning with a base hit to center field, advancing Shepherd to third base. Two more runs scored off of a Kowalo double to center field, putting the Flames up 4-1.

“Our guys did a nice job with (Kay) and they were fired up,” Toman said. “They rose to the occasion because that might be the best pitcher we’ve faced all year.”

Shepherd said the four runs in the third inning opened the door for a Flames win.

“Putting runs on the board with two outs was a huge momentum swing,” Shepherd said. “I think after that we kind of knew that the game was in our hands from there.”

Carson Herndon came in to pitch for Liberty in the fourth inning after Bean walked three in a row. Herndon successfully escaped the bases loaded situation he was put into by striking out Troy Stefanski.

Herndon would finish the game with eight strikeouts, one away from his career high.

“I was pumped to see him get up there on the mound and get us out of that,” Shepherd said. “To pitch the way he did the rest of the game, that was awesome.”

UConn came within one run of tying the game in the fifth inning off of a two-run Bobby Melley home run that hit off of the foul pole in right field.

In the bottom half of the inning, Artis began a rally by getting walked on a full count. After a Grabowski base hit, Shepherd hit a two RBI single to center field.

Later in the inning, Dalton Britt brought Shepherd home with an RBI double, pushing the Flames lead to 7-3.

The lead was never in danger as the Flames went on to win 8-5. Herndon, who sat out last season with an injury, earned

See LAST, B4

See HALTED, B2

Michela Diddle | Liberty Champion

BUCKETS — Senior guard Jaymee Fisher-Davis scored two more 3-point field goals to put her at 125 in her career at Liberty.

For the last time Lady Flames senior class plays final game at home Will Collier wcollier@liberty.edu

The Lady Flames locked up the second seed for the 2016 Big South Conference Championship, despite losing to the Presbyterian Blue Hose 57-49 on Senior Day Saturday, March 5, at the Vines Center.

Liberty earned the No. 2 seed for the second time in three years.

“It hurts but I find some type of happiness in ‘hey my season isn’t over, its not the end of the world, the basketball will stop at some point,’” senior Sadalia Ellis said.

Liberty came out firing early in the first quarter, hitting three triples in the first three minutes to take a quick 10-3 lead.

Unfortunately, the Lady Flames then missed the following eight shots to end the quarter, allowing Presbyterian to go on a 9-0 run to take the lead.

“They were just being physical inside, and we didn’t match their physicality,” Liberty Head Coach Carey Green said.

Liberty senior Catherine Kearney put the Flames in front 16-14, with six points early in the second quarter. The Lady Flames then went cold and did not score a basket for the final six minutes of the half

WE’LL SEE YOU AT THE GAME

to put Liberty in a 28-20 halftime deficit.

The Blue Hose stretched the deficit to 10 points before Liberty went on a 6-1 run, ending the third quarter with two free throws from senior Jaymee FisherDavis, drawing within five points heading into the fourth quarter.

Liberty pushed the score to 40-43 behind eight straight points from senior Ashley Rininger and Kearney with 4:20

“

fensively, ending the game with a 57-49 loss. The Presbyterian defense held Liberty to just 29 percent shooting and made it difficult to get the ball down low.

“They had a lot of doubling, packing it in on defense, which was making it hard for the guards to get it into the post,” Liberty senior Katelyn Adams said. “And then once we had it, there’s just so many girls on us.”

It hurts but I find some type of happiness in ‘... my season isn’t over, it’s not the end of the world.’”

— SADALIA ELLIS

left to play. Presbyterian sophomore Cortney Storey knocked down a dagger three to beat the shot clock and bring her second half total to 13 points, halting the comeback.

“I think Cortney Storey had a really good game,” Presbyterian Head Coach Ronny Fisher said. “She did a great job tonight of handling the basketball. She hit a big three there when we were in need of it.”

The Flames continued to struggle of-

Softball vs.N. State

Baseball vs. CCSU

Softball vs. La Salle

Softball vs. RI

Baseball vs. Evansville

Mar. 10 @ 5:30 p.m.

Mar. 11 @ 5 p.m.

Mar. 11 @ 5 p.m.

Mar. 11 @ 7 p.m.

Mar. 12 @ 1 p.m.

Follow @LUChampSports for Flames athletics coverage

sports

B2 | March 8, 2016 | Liberty Champion

Mountaineers massacred The Flames rout the Mountaineers 24-3 for their second win of the season Denton Day dday26@liberty.edu

The Liberty Flames men’s lacrosse team put on a dominating performance for the second week in a row taking down the West Virginia University Mountaineers 24-3 Saturday March 5 at the Club Lacrosse Fields.

This is the Flames second win of the season putting them even at .500 with two wins and two losses.

The offense started early and came quickly from the Flames attack. The team took a 3-0 lead before the Mountaineers called a timeout to regroup. The timeout did little else than stop the clock as the Flames offensive attack only grew from that point.

“I think its good for younger guys to get some experience and just get comfortable out there,” senior attacker Ryan Miller said.

“Obviously our older guys have been here before so getting some other guys in there is good for us.”

The lead was 6-0 for the Flames after the first quarter. The second started with a goal from senior midfielder Chad Moore who received the pass from senior midfielder Brett Bernardo. Moore threw the ball over the left shoulder of Mountaineers goaltender Chris Peters to add to the Flames lead.

When the Flames were not scoring goals with long distance snipes, they were implementing movement off of the ball with cuts to the net. Senior midfielder Bryce Mrakovich cut right toward the goal and scored. Directly after, sophomore midfielder Morgan Pitts made a backdoor cut behind the defense and scored to make it a 12-0 game.

The Flames took a 14-0 lead into halftime. On the other side of the break the Flames scored quickly with a goal from junior midfielder Brent Miller to extend the lead to 15. The Mountaineers broke their scoring drought and were able to cut into the Flames monstrous lead.

Leah Seavers | Liberty Champion

CLEAN UP — Flames senior Brandt Grauss scoops up a groundball in the Flames blowout win over West Virginia.

“The main thing we looked at from last week to this week was being able to get more points in transition,” Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. “Discipline is something we need to be able to do, we spent way too much time in the box and that is something we need to fix.”

Five players finished with hattricks for the Flames. Mrakovich led the way with five goals, Bernardo and Miller each had three goals and five assists, sophomore attacker Nick Lombardozzi added three goals and three assists and freshman attacker Sam

Gregory also scored three goals.

Everybody got involved in some shape or form including McQuillan who was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time and got run over by a Flame going after a ground ball.

“I got trucked,” McQuillan said. “I can’t fault him, he was hustling hard for a ground ball. That is what I coach, that is what I teach.”

Miller expressed his confidence in his team’s ability to matchup with anyone in the country.

“The biggest thing is limiting turnovers and recovering ground balls, working on basic fundamental lacrosse,” Miller said.

“If we work on those, there is not a lot of teams in the country that can beat us.”

The Flames will be in action Wednesday, March 9 against MCLA No. 14 Michigan State at the Club Lacrosse Field at 7 p.m.

HALTED continued from B1

Game 3: Liberty 5, UConn 4 Liberty bounced back in the rubber match Sunday thanks to a strong pitching performance from right-hander Zander Clouse. He allowed four runs on six hits, striking out three and walking two through 7 2/3 innings of work to get the win and move to 2-0 on the season. Designated hitter Nick Walker drove in a career-high three runs to carry the Flames offense.

The Huskies struck early as center fielder Jack Sundberg hit a leadoff homerun in the top of the first inning. The Flames tied the game at one in the bottom of the second, then took a 3-2 lead in the fifth after the Huskies scored in the third. They extended their lead to three in the bottom of the sixth.

The Huskies staged a rally against Clouse in the top of the eighth, scoring two runs to pull within one run. DeRouche-Duffin ripped a two-out, two-run double down the third base line to cut the Liberty lead to 5-4.

The Huskies put the tying run in scoring position with two outs in the ninth, but Quarterley forced third baseman Willy Yahn to ground into a fielder’s choice to grab his second save of the season and give the Flames the series win.

The Flames next home game is Friday, March 11, at 5 p.m. as they host Central Connecticut State at the Liberty Baseball Stadium to begin the La Quinta Inn & Suites Liberty Invitational.

the win on the mound.

“It broke my heart last year to not be out with the guys,” Herndon said. “I think tonight was the first time I’ve been extended past 50 or 60 pitches since April of 2014.

It was big for me and I hope it was big for the team.”

Artis reached base all five times he batted and started the rally in both the third and fifth innings.

“He has the maturity of a junior or a senior when he’s at the plate right now which is good for a freshman,” Toman said. “He’s a good player.”

The win saw Liberty snap a two-game losing streak.

Leah Seavers | Liberty Champion

PITCH — Right-handed pitcher Carson Herndon earned the win against UConn.

Game 2: UConn 7, Liberty 5 (F/11) Saturday, the Huskies rallied late to send the game into extra innings, then scored two runs in the top of the 11th inning to grab a 7-5 win over the Flames.

Liberty jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first three innings before UConn came back with four runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Flames righty Evan Mitchell tossed five scoreless innings before exiting after throwing 98 pitches. The Huskies tied the game in the top of the ninth with a solo home run from right fielder Joe DeRouche-Duffin.

Nico Darras (1-0) got the win for the Huskies and Cole (0-1) took the loss for the Flames.

DAY is a sports reporter.

KEATING is a sports reporter.

sports At long last, the NBA finally has a player other than LeBron James who is dominating the game of professional basketball. He is not a 6-8 forward who throws down ridiculous dunks every game or powers his way past opponents. He is AUL quite simply the most VANDENBOSCH accurate and pure shooter in the game with range that will blow your mind. He is Wardell Stephen Curry.

Curry has been lighting up stat sheets since his days at Davidson, and since winning the NBA MVP and a championship last season, he has not stopped there.

Curry has already broken his own singleseason record for three-pointers, and there are still 21 games remaining in the regular season. He also leads the league in points per game (30.5) and field goals made (595) despite not playing in the fourth quarter in 15 games this season.

Some have him down as a top five point guard of all-time, others say he needs more time, and there are even some who argue that perhaps if there were no such thing as the three-point line, Curry would not be as captivating.

My generation probably has no idea that the three-point line did not always exist in basketball. Though the game itself was founded in 1891, the three-point line was not brought about until 1945, when it was tested in a collegiate basketball game.

It was not even instituted as a rule until the American Basketball League adopted it in 1961. The NBA did not start using it until the 1979-80 season and the NCAA did not accept it universally until 1986.

While it is true that had the three-point rule been used sooner, players’ statistics from that era would have been much

Liberty Champion | March 8, 2016 | B3 higher than what they are, it does not mean players such as Curry are made more dominant because of it.

Although Curry has made 294 treys thus far in 201516 (next player has 186), he has not just dazzled with his knock-down three-point shooting. He can hit a shot from the moon, but he can also hit the average, ordinary mid-range jumper. Curry ranks second among guards in field goal percentage (51 percent) this season, and he and Tony Parker are the only guards in the top 30 of field goal percentage.

Also, have you critics seen this man dribble a basketball? Or have you forgotten when he made Chris Paul look like a D-League scrub? His handles are not of this world, and his awareness is off the charts. He makes behind-the-back and no-look passes look like child’s play, and his touch around the rim is as soft as you could ever want.

If there were no three-point line, Curry’s points per game would likely suffer, but the same would be true of any other guard or forward in the league. But it would also just mean he would have to attack the rim a bit more than he normally does, which he has shown time and again he is not afraid to do. Though he stands at 6 feet 3 inches and weighs 190 pounds, his creativity and handling around the basket allow him to scoot past the best big men in the league and get to the rim.

So if you would like to continue doubting Steph Curry, be my guest. But I can assure you, it is not a line on the hardwood that makes this guy great.

VANDENBOSCH is the sports editor.

This season in the NBA has been a special one for the Golden State Warriors — as they continue to terrorize the rest of the league — with the exception of the recent loss to the Lakers. Stephen Curry has been a magician on the floor, dropping three point shots from anywhere he pleases. He currently leads the league in points per game with 30.5, according to nba.com.

In response to all the hullabaloo, sports columnists have recently dropped countless opinions on the 3-point line and its validity in the game of basketball.

“The 3-point shot was created for people who couldn’t play basketball,” Bernie Lincicome said in the Chicago Tribune.

While I cannot argue for or against the validity of this claim, as the 3-point line was introduced to basketball more than 15 years before I was born, it does bring to mind an interesting question.

Would Curry be as dominant and impactful if all shots counted for two points? After all, he is shooting 11 threes a game and making 45 percent of them.

That is almost 15 points per game alone from beyond the arc.

Sure, Curry has some of the nastiest handles in the game, but if teams did not have to guard the 3-point shot, it would be much easier to keep him in front of you knowing he probably is not going to drive the lane. The man is 6 feet 3 inches tall, 190 pounds. Using advanced metrics — otherwise known as an educated guess — I would say that translates to about 5 feet 8 inches, 160 pounds in the average human world.

Who would you rather have drive on you, Curry or LeBron James? Consider-

First Four

ing James is a behemoth of a man at 6 feet 8 inches, 250 pounds, I would take Curry all day.

If you look back at the year James averaged 30 points per game, you see that he only attempted 4.8 threes a game and was making 31 percent of them. That translates OEL to 4.5 points per game SCHMIEG from three.

All that said, James is a pure basketball player, while Curry is a sharp shooter. Is it fun to watch Curry shoot lights out from 30 feet away? Most of the time. But it is more fun to watch someone like James manhandle everyone on the court and fight his way to the basket in a tight game.

Curry is not the prototypical NBA player, and I respect him for that. But if the 3-point shot were taken away from the game, most players would be just as good, if not better, while Curry would absolutely be less effective.

There is a reason sports like football are so popular in this country, because Americans love brute force and violence.

Curry does not embody either of those things.

Curry is more like a figure skater — smooth and elegant. And that is not a bad thing, unless of course you are not a figure skater. You are not a figure skater, Steph.

*Editors Note: All stats acquired from nba.com.

SCHMIEG is the asst. sports editor.

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Final Four April 2,4 March 15-16

March 24-25

First & Second Rounds

Elite Eight

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March 17-20

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sports

B4 | March 8, 2016 | Liberty Champion

True Britt It was baseball from the beginning Luke Dillard mdillard1@liberty.edu

Liberty Flames senior shortstop Dalton Britt began playing baseball with his dad in the backyard not long after he learned to walk as a toddler.

“We had a little plastic ball and bat,” Britt said. “I started tee-ball when I was five or six and then pretty much played from there.”

Along with baseball, Britt played basketball and football until he suffered a broken hip during football season his freshman year of high school. The fracture turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Britt, because it allowed him to realize he should focus his time on baseball.

“I didn’t love football enough to risk getting hurt (again) for baseball,” Britt said.

“I talked to my dad and made the decision baseball is where I was going to go from there.”

When his senior year of high school arrived, Britt was not highly pursued by colleges other than Liberty, something he uses for motivation today.

“It’s always tough being told you’re not good enough for something,” Britt said.

“You kind of get an internal drive to want to prove (other colleges) wrong. There’s always a chip on your shoulder when someone tells you you’re not good enough. I think that’s human nature.”

Despite only being recruited by one college, Britt never allowed that to deter him.

“College baseball is a business, and that’s how the real world is,” Britt said. “I used it positively. I never let (not receiving other offers) affect me negatively. I used it as fuel everyday.”

Britt says he has matured in more ways

than one since he arrived at Liberty his freshman year.

“When I came here, I was a Christian, but I wasn’t always following God in the way that I do now,” Britt said. “I sometimes would put him on the shelf whenever I would play. Now I’m in such a great place in my walk with Christ that now there is no time to put him on the shelf. He is always with me, and He influences my decisions and everything that I do.”

Britt graduated last year, earning his undergraduate in communication studies in three years. He is currently pursuing a master’s in strategic communications and enjoys anything to do with advertising, public relations and journalism.

In the rare moments he is not on the baseball field or working on his graduate studies, Britt is no different than any other college student. He plays video games, goes to concerts and hangs out with friends.

Other times, he sleeps, exhausted from the travel that comes with baseball season.

“In the season, you don’t have time (to do a lot of activities off-the-field),” Britt said. “All you want to do is sleep. Whenever you get home from being on the road, you don’t feel like doing anything else.”

Britt has spent his entire career under Head Coach Jim Toman, who recently earned his 300th win as the coach of the Flames.

“It’s really special,” Britt said. “He’s been the face of the program for (nine years). He’s been successful. It’s been really special to have been a part of a lot of those (wins).”

Britt said he is going to try his hardest to remember every little thing about his senior season, including the experience of playing at Liberty Baseball Stadium.

“The first time I ever experienced (Lib-

Leah Seavers | Liberty Champion

AT THE PLATE — Dalton Britt up to bat in the Flames win over the Huskies. erty Baseball Stadium), we were playing Penn State my first game here,” Britt said.

“Sometimes it feels like it’s not real because it’s so perfect. You couldn’t ask for anything more. You see the packed house,

the mountains, the scoreboard (and) it almost feels like you’re watching yourself in a movie sometimes.”

DILLARD is a sports reporter.

Till next year Flames could not stop UNC Asheville Paul Vandenbosch prvandenbosch@liberty.edu

Leah Seavers | Liberty Champion

THE BEGINNING — The Flames came a long way from their first game against Division III opponent Covenant College, a 64-62 win at home.

The Liberty men’s basketball team saw its season come to a quick and abrupt end Friday, March 4 in the second round of the Big South Championship in Buies Creek, North Carolina.

The No. 5-seeded Flames trailed from the beginning and were never able to recover in an 80-49 loss at the hands of the No. 4 UNC Asheville Bulldogs.

Redshirt sophomore guard John Dawson led the Flames with 15 points, while freshman Lovell Cabbil added 14.

Bulldogs sophomore guard Ahmad Thomas led all scorers with 27 points and added seven rebounds. He was one of four Bulldogs to reach double figures in scoring.

The Flames shot 31 percent from the field for the game and managed only 16 points in the first half. They also committed 13 turnovers, which translated into 17 Bulldog points. The Bulldogs came out firing and finished the game shooting 54.4 percent from the field and 52 percent (10of-19) from beyond the arc.

Liberty finished the 2015-16 season 13-19 and 10-8 in the Big South. Despite the early exit from the conference championship, the Flames were by far the most surprising team in the Big South this season. Picked to finish last in the conference (11th) in the preseason poll, the Flames

LAST continued from B1 directed at things that are important heading into the 2016 Big South Women’s Basketball Championship.

“Going into the conference championship I have to give it all I have because I know I won’t have another chance,” Ellis said. “I can always do something to help this team, whether it is causing somebody to take a terrible shot or throw it out of bounds.”

Adams also left the game with a great sense of urgency knowing that this is the seniors’ last trip to the tournament together.

The defending champion Lady Flames will start play Friday, March 11 at 6 p.m. against the winner of seventh seed Charleston Southern and 10th-seeded Longwood quarterfinal round matchup at Kimmel Arena in Asheville, North Carolina.

COLLIER is a sports reporter.

— aided by a seven-game winning streak from Jan. 19-Feb. 13 — managed to earn the fifth seed and a first round bye in the conference tournament.

After starting the season 3-1, the Flames struggled mightily, going on a 12-game losing streak that stretched from Nov. 26 to Jan. 2. They snapped their losing skid with back-to-back wins over conference opponents Coastal Carolina and Campbell and then lost two more conference games before shocking the rest of the Big South by winning seven in a row.

Flames Head Coach Ritchie McKay was named Big South Coach of the Year thanks to the unexpected success his team experienced this season. Dawson also earned Big South All-Conference Honorable Mention honors despite not playing for the Flames until Jan. 2 due to NCAA transfer rules.

The Flames will lose only one player — redshirt senior guard Anthony Fields — to graduation in 2016 and will retain their core players for the 2016-17 season. Although a promising season ended in a blowout loss, the Flames will return next season older, wiser and hungry.

VANDENBOSCH is the sports editor.

FYI The Lady Flames open up their postseason in the Big South Conference Championship against the winner of Charleston Southern and Longwood, Friday, March 11 at 6 p.m. in Asheville, North Carolina.

Michela Diddle | Liberty Champion

SO LONG — Seniors Catherine Kearney and Ashley Rininger in their final home game.

feature Ministry exposure Opportunities to serve others

Liberty Champion | March 8, 2016 | B5

Politically engage Discussing faith, politics with the school of divinity Abby Sweeney asweeney8@liberty.edu

Katelyn Rutt kerutt@liberty.edu

Every fall and spring, the Center for Ministry Training (CMT) leads groups of Liberty University students on ministry exposure trips across the U.S. These trips help students understand their roles as disciples of Christ and give them an opportunity to put their faith into practice.

Each exposure trip usually lasts around five to seven days. The group will spend the week serving with a local church or nonprofit ministry in ways specific to the location’s needs.

“We do things that relate to the local church, and also mercy ministry with antisex trafficking or homeless ministry,” Ministry Trip Coordinator Justin Wester said.

Because each trip is designed to give students hands-on experience, the teams are typically small, consisting of around 10 to 13 students. Each applicant is interviewed beforehand and prayerfully considered by the CMT leadership team. Ultimately, the CMT chooses a group of students who have a mutual willingness to serve and learn.

“It all starts with the mission of the CMT,” Wester said. “(We) create ministry opportunities and cultivate ministry-consciousness.”

Wester said the leadership team plans these trips to give students the opportunity to connect and serve with other like-minded believers around the country.

He also added that the CMT’s goal is for these experiences to bring about a distinct shift in students’ mindsets.

“It seems like there’s a perception where ministry is reserved for a specific type of occasion or a specific type of person, like a religious-type degree or a ministry personnel in an institutional church,” Wester said.

“Our idea is that regardless of your vocation, if you are a disciple of Christ, you are in ministry.”

For almost five years, the CMT has used these exposure trips as a platform to spread their mission for ministry. Over the past few years, the program has grown and now offers up to seven ministry exposure trips each year.

“While I was a student at Liberty, I went on a couple of the first exposure trips, and they really opened my eyes,” Wester said. “It was interesting to see the culture shifts, even within the (U.S.), and how ministry practices change depending on who you are trying to reach. … It isn’t all the same.”

This spring break, the CMT offers a variety of ministry experiences.

In fact, they give students the option to choose from five different flight or drive exposure trips.

The first flight trip will be to Salt Lake City and will focus on equipping the team with apologetics. It will also give them the unique opportunity to share their faith with the local Mormon community. The CMT will also lead a flight trip to Las Vegas, where they will be partnering with Grace City Church to do homeless ministry.

“We are also going to be heading a flight trip to Miami,” Wester said. “The focus there is going to be a cross-cultural outreach to the Latino community with James Dobson and his wife. … It is going to be a very unique experience for students.”

Additionally, Wester said they will lead two driving trips to Atlanta and Baltimore, where they will work at local safe houses with victims of sex trafficking.

“Regardless of the trip students choose, it will be a chance for them to put their classroom knowledge to work and get hands-on experience,” Wester said. “We really want to show students that they can get involved no matter who they are or what they want to do career-wise.”

RUTT is a feature reporter.

Photo Provided

SERVE — Justin Wester coordinates trips.

Liberty University’s School of Divinity is combining what some people might consider the two most controversial and heated topics — politics and religion.

The school of divinity is set to host the second annual Everyday Theology Conference beginning March 31, which will focus on Christian political engagement.

This year’s conference will feature special guests Dr. Darrell L. Bock, executive director of cultural engagement and senior research professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, and Dr. Amy Black, professor of political science at Wheaton College.

“The goal of the conference is to bring theological reflection into everyday issues,” Theological Studies Chairman Dr. Chad Thornhill said.

The conference has come at an important time in the year, according to Thornhill.

“Obviously, this being election year, this is sort of a hot topic,” Thornhill said. “Not just here on campus, but across the country and really across the world.”

The conference is held the same weekend as the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) Regional event at Liberty.

“We decided rather than having two separate events, we

Isaac Apon | Liberty Champion

SUIT UP — Theology Conference will be March 31 - April 2. would shorten the theology conference, which last year was a three-day event, and we would pair it with the ETS Regional,” Thornhill said.

The conference includes an open lecture followed by a Q&A Thursday, March 31 with Black from 7-8:30 p.m.

According to Thornhill, Black will share points from her most recent work as the editor of Five Views on the Church and Politics by explaining different ways the church is involved in political engagements.

“Sometimes we know that we disagree as Christians about political issues,” Thornhill said.

“We don’t always know why, so I think she’s going to help us see why different approaches end up resulting in disagreements about the issues.”

There will be a luncheon held in the Hancock Welcome Center featuring a panel discussion with Bock and Black Friday, April 1 from 12-1:30 p.m. Seating is limited and will be on a first-come, firstserve basis, but attendees must register online for the lun-

cheon at www.liberty.edu/divinity/index.cfm?PID=30980.

According to Thornhill, the luncheon will be focused on the application part of political engagement.

“We’re thinking primarily about how this works out in the local church,” Thornhill said. “Again, when people disagree, how do we be sensitive to that disagreement, but yet also as a church body, think about and work through some of these things together?”

Thornhill believes the conference will be beneficial to understanding how Christians come to their political conclusions.

“I think sometimes we come to them already with a perspective, and sometimes we haven’t really critically thought about why we hold a particular perspective. Sometimes it’s something that we’ve inherited,” Thornhill said.

Bock will stay after the conference for a lecture as well as breakout sessions Saturday, April 2 for the ETS Regional.

The Everyday Theology Conference and ETS Regional are two separate events, and sign-ups can be completed online. Both events are free and open to the public. For more information and to sign up, go to www.liberty.edu/divinity/ index.cfm?PID=30980.

SWEENEY is a feature reporter.

Michela Diddle | Liberty Champion

FULL HOUSE — The three Christian metalcore bands performed March 5 to a sold-out crowd of more than 700 people.

Hard-core concert Devil Wears Prada sells out in LaHaye Event Space

Shannon Moyer srmoyer@liberty.edu

The Christian metalcore band The Devil Wears Prada gave a wall-shaking performance March 5 in the LaHaye Event Space. The band’s music utilizes musical screaming and a heavy use of guitar and bass, which made the venue shake with vibrations.

The Devil Wears Prada formed in Ohio in 2005 and has released five full-length albums. According to Student Activities (SA), students have requested the band for years, and this concert was its first time performing at Liberty University. The concert was sold-out with more than 700 people in attendance.

“As soon as I found out they were coming, I bought tickets,” senior

Hunter Layne said.

Boughtxblood, read as “bought by blood,” opened the show with Pathway Home playing after them. Both bands fall into the Christian metalcore genre, and both are from Lynchburg.

Between songs, Boughtxblood shouted spiritual messages to the sold-out crowd.

“There’s nothing more important than knowing if you’re saved or going to hell!”

Boughtxblood vocalist Alvin Triplett said.

The bands that performed are comprised of Christians using their music to talk about God. Junior Josh Brown, who attended the concert, was glad to see musicians from this type of genre at Liberty.

“It’s good to see Liberty open (its) doors to something new, something different,”

Brown said. “It’s good to see the biggest Christian university in the world start opening up to that.”

In the middle of the venue, a large mosh pit formed at the beginning of the show and did not disappear until the show finished two and a half hours later. Sophomore Conley Runions was excited that SA presented this type of show.

“I’m actually so happy that they brought them in,” Runions said. “It’s great to have different influences of culture coming to bring us music. I mosh at almost every metal concert, and I’m so happy and ready for it.”

The Devil Wears Prada performed for more than 40 minutes, interrupting their music set to remind the crowd of the importance of faith over all else. Vocalist Jeremy Depoys-

ter asked the crowd to focus on God over politics.

Junior Adie Hayes, who attended the concert while working for SA, had a positive view of The Devil Wears Prada.

“A lot of people who came here are students, and it’s a sold-out show,” Hayes said.

“This band, they’re Christians, but a lot of non-Christians listen to them.”

The crowd was comprised of Liberty students, students from surrounding colleges, and general fans of The Devil Wears Prada. Some students, like sophomore John Maund, wanting more shows like this.

“This is perfect,” Maund said. “This is what they need.”

MOYER is a feature reporter.

feature

B6 | March 8, 2016 | Liberty Champion

Shannon Ritter | Liberty Champion

HOUSING OPTIONS — The Vue offers multiple locations throughout Lynchburg for Liberty students such as “The Oasis” on Liberty Mountain as well as “College Square.”

Living in an ‘Oasis’

The Vue’s newest addition appeals to students looking to move off-campus

Amelia Whittaker awhittaker1@liberty.edu

The off-campus student housing option known as The Vue recently added a new community on Liberty Mountain called The Oasis.

The Vue is Lynchburg’s premiere student housing brand, according to their website. They have created off-campus living opportunities for students beginning with their first project College Square, which opened in 2012. These communities give students the ability to experience greater independence while still living close to campus.

Each community is designed specifically with students in mind, as they are the only tenants allowed. All options are rent by room, fully furnished and provide Internet access.

The Oasis community opened for the first time in the 2016 spring semester allowing students to experience this new

housing option. There are currently 230 students living in the new community according to Erin Reidy, a current employee at Oasis. She believes this number will continue to grow each semester.

“The reaction rate has been incredible as we are receiving new applications every night,” Reidy said.

Molly Gusler, current student at Liberty, moved from her on-campus housing to the Oasis community and has been very pleased.

“I definitely like living at Oasis because I have more space to myself and more freedom,” Gusler said.

Gusler is living in a six-bedroom floor plan that totals 1,671 square feet. Other options include one bedroom, two bedroom and four bedroom plans. Prices range anywhere from $390-$1,075 each month, depending on several factors. Roommate matching is also available for students wanting to be paired with a roommate.

The Oasis community includes several

amenities in their monthly installment including a clubhouse, which offers a game room, billiards, lounge, study areas and a convenience store. Along with this, there is a 24-hour fitness center available to residents. Outdoor amenities include a heated salt water pool and a hammock garden surrounded by grilling areas and fire pits.

Gusler believes that the apartment-style living brings most students to the new environment to experience a change from dorm living.

“My favorite part of living at Oasis is having my own room,” Gusler said.

She also enjoys having a kitchen and laundry available to her in her very own living area. The only resident hall on campus that offers this same opportunity is East Campus. She feels that students want to experience something that is more along the lines of how they will be living after graduating, and the Oasis is a perfect opportunity for this.

Another advantage of Oasis that Gusler

appreciates as a student is the Liberty shuttle. She likes being able to ride to classes instead of worrying about driving and finding a parking space. She said having a shuttle to rely on takes away a bit of stress as a student.

Gusler is glad she moved this semester and plans on staying at Oasis for her remaining time at Liberty University. She encourages other students to consider Oasis on Liberty Mountain when they are thinking about moving off campus.

For those interested in this housing opportunity, leases are available for May 16, 2016 to June 30, 2017 and Aug. 01, 2016 to July 15, 2017. The application process can begin online by visiting vuecommunities.com with a $50 application fee. For any other questions, The Vue can be reached at 434-329-7979.

WHITTAKER is a feature reporter.

Preparing to worship Hours of rehearsal lead up to the ninth annual Night of Worship April 17 Alexandra Ramey aramey3@liberty.edu

Every year, after hours of work go into the rehearsals and preparation, Liberty University’s School of Music gives the gift of musical worship to the community.

Night of Worship is an annual event where students in the School of Music worship God through speeches, spoken praises, singing, and instrumental music, according to Dr. Stephen Müller and the Liberty University School of Music’s video of the ninth Annual Night of Worship.

“Night of Worship is the Liberty University School of Music … joining together … to offer ourselves in praise and worship to the Lord,” Müller, the vocal coordinator for Night of Worship and an assistant professor of music education said. “It’s one of our two yearly opportunities for the … whole School of Music to do something together.”

According to Müller, six different choirs and one orchestra, as well as the LU School of Music House Band, participate in this performance. The choirs involved are the Chamber Singers, the University Choral, Concert Choir, Worship Choir I and II, LU Praise and LU Shine.

The preparation for Night of Worship started in January, according to Professor Paul Randlett, the acting chairman of the department of Music and Worship Studies.

The people in charge of the event have this night on their minds throughout the whole year. Randlett said this will be the ninth annual year for the Night of Worship event and it will be held April 17.

The rehearsal process is conducted by Müller, who is also largely in charge of the logistics behind the event. He gives creative input, and at some events in the past he has conducted certain segments of the performance.

In addition to rehearsals for Night of Worship, the School of Music is also busy preparing and rehearsing for their normal concerts. February through April has a total of about five rehearsals, including the dress rehearsals the week prior to the performance.

“There are probably five … rehearsals, adding up to between 15 and 20 hours total,” Müller said.

The preparation for Night of Worship involves the help of the Graduate

Student Assistants, the School of Music faculty, the Thomas Road Baptist Church (TRBC) personnel, and the Red Tie Music company, according to Müller. “…We have to get the music once it’s selected and that requires working with different publishers,” Müller said.

Red Tie Music supplies some of the music for the event. The music is also written by former Liberty students.

Randlett chooses the songs and determines what videos to include in the performance as well.

TRBC is the venue each year for Night of Worship, and because it has a choir loft and microphones in place, the set up on the performance night only takes about two hours, according to Müller. The sound check is at 4 p.m. and the performance is at 6 p.m. There are about 300 students in the performance and they attend the church service at TRBC that Sunday morning and in the evening they perform, Müller said.

According to Müller, Night of Worship is the School of Music’s gift to the community. Randlett said it was started before the

School of Music was founded. According to Randlett, what sets Night of Worship apart from other worship events at Liberty University is that at this event, students from all over the School of Music participate in a night of pure praise and worship and encourage one another.

“These are the people who are gonna make a generation … and will be making a difference in the world through Christ and through the arts,” Randlett said.

RAMEY is a feature reporter.

Ty Hester | Liberty University News Service

PRAISE — Students and featured guests of “Night of Worship” prep for many hours. Last year’s performance is shown above.

feature

Liberty Champion | March 8, 2016 | B7

Matthew Pierce | Liberty Champion

BACK IN BUSINESS — Dean and Joseph Hendricks plan to re-open Beach Hut Shaved Ice March 26, and they will be serving free snow cones throughout the opening day.

Bringing in the beach hut Two brothers re-open shaved ice shop to pay toward schooling endeavors Matthew Pierce mpierce17@liberty.edu

Dean and Joseph Hendricks are opening Beach Hut Shaved Ice in hopes to not only pay for their schooling, but also the expenses of their three younger siblings.

The grand opening of the brother’s business will take place March 26 in the Kroger parking lot off of Wards Road, at its central location, where free small snow cones will be served all day long.

The brothers bought the property in August 2015 and immediately began renovating two weeks before school started again.

“It was just me here, living in my friend’s apartment for a week, sleeping on his couch (and) … going to work at the Beach Hut by myself,” Joseph Hendricks said. “ … I’d say a lot of growing up happened in that week.”

They first opened up in mid August until

Oct. 31 before closing down for the winter months to start marketing for its upcoming grand opening.

Joseph Hendricks explained that they had a friend in Tennessee whom they would visit as they were growing up who opened up his own shaved ice business and that he was their inspiration to start the Beach Hut. “It’s very low investment with possible high return,” Dean Hendricks said.

Dean Hendricks is a junior business student at Liberty who also works for the athletic department. Joseph Hendricks is a freshman engineering student who is a part of the Student Government Association (SGA) and their younger siblings plan on attending Liberty as well. “(My parents) don’t say it’s a big deal, but we know it’s a big deal to put five kids through college within the span of 10 (to) 12 years,” Dean Hendricks said. “We definitely wanted to help out.”

As of right now, Dean and Joseph Hendricks are the only two employees of the Beach Hut, as well as the co-owners, and they operate the business during the entirety of the hours they are open. It stays open until 10 p.m. every night and offers four different sizes of snow cones and 32 different flavors including some special, noton-the-menu combinations such as ‘surf wax’ and ‘little mermaid.’

“We’re working hard to make this Beach Hut the best thing that we can, not just for us but to set the example for what a hard working Christian should look like,” Joseph Hendricks said.

Dean Hendricks echoed his brother’s thoughts, explaining that working hard and not cheating the system was what an honorable, Christian business should look like.

“Not every person who has dedicated their life to following Christ wholeheartedly has to be a pastor, but they can put their heart and soul into a business and run

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it above par,” Dean Hendricks said.

Beyond the Beach Hut Shaved Ice main location in the Kroger parking lot on Wards Road is a mobile unit they can move anywhere, which allows them to serve their product at events. So far they will be serving their shaved ice at a Liberty University tennis match, Forest Middle School’s annual reading day, and also Lynchstock Music Festival.

“I think the major thing is, Christians really should be known for being the best workers,” Joseph Hendricks said. “… I want to set that example for our siblings too as they grow up.”

PIERCE is a news reporter.

Clinical Trial | Asthma Study

Do You Have Asthma?

Asthma Study Participants from Liberty University Needed 

Volunteers are needed for a study about asthma and the common cold. 

You must have asthma, not smoke and be 18-40 years old. 

College Special unlimited special 14.99/month

Screening at UVA is in progress now and involves 2 visits ($40 for the 1st visit; $60 for the 2nd). $30 reimbursement for gas mileage for Liberty University participants will also be provided. Those who qualify can participate with payment of up to $1,870 for completing the study.

For more information, please contact the UVA Asthma and Allergic Diseases Center via email at ddm9q@virginia.edu or 434.982.3510.

(HSR#12656 and 14427)

UVA Asthma and Allergic Diseases Center ddm9q@virginia.edu | 434.982.3510

B8

FEATURE

March 8, 2016

Christian to the core

Michela Diddle | Liberty Champion

ROCKIN’ OUT — Student Activities hosted “Devil Wears Prada” accompanied by two local bands, “Boughtxblood” and “Pathway Home” at a premiere performance March 5.

For full story see B5

Comfort through caps ‘Love Your Melon’ donates beanies, activities to children fighting cancer Hannah Elliott helliott9@liberty.edu

All over the United States, there are tiny warriors nestled uncomfortably in hospital beds with needles and tubes prodded deep into their fragile, pale skin. For days, months and sometimes years, they will fight painfully against a common enemy through countless surgeries, treatments and transplants in hopes that the battle will end in a field of victory.

Although they are tired and worn with scars marking their difficult journey, a brave smile remains engraved at the corners of their lips, waiting for the news that the enemy has surrendered and they are finally cancer free.

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), more than 10,380 children will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in 2016. The most common types being leukemia, brain or other tumors as well as neuroblastoma and lymphoma. Unfortunately, more than 1,250 of those diagnosed are not expected to survive within the year.

However, a group of Liberty University students, in association with the organization Love Your Melon (LYM), not only hope to lessen that amount for the future, but also bring comfort to children who are suffering from the fatal disease.

In 2012, two students from Minnesota’s University of St. Thomas, Brian Keller and Zachary Quinn, set out on a mission to change the lives of every child battling the pain of cancer through their apparel company, LYM. Their original goal was to give a hat to every child that would not only bring them a smile but bring them a little hope as well.

Today, the company reached its goal with help from students across the nation were responsible for donating more than 51,000 beanies to children fighting cancer in 2015, according the LYM Instagram. Now, the organization has announced it will be donating 50 percent of its sales to the Pinky Swear Foundation and CureSearch in efforts toward pediatric cancer research.

Katie Clinebell

HELPING HATS — “Love Your Melon” donated more than 51,000 beanies to patients.

After hearing about the cause and realizing that Liberty was not registered as a campus crew, strategic communications student Paul Mehltretter, who serves as captain for the team, applied on behalf of students at the university who were interested in becoming ambassadors for LYM. The team’s vice captain and Liberty nursing student, Carly Warner, expressed how her passion for her major and her passion for children have aligned through LYM’s mission.

“One day, I hope to be a nurse for these kids with cancer,” Warner said. “I have spent a lot of time volunteering in the pediatric cancer clinic in the children’s hospital in my hometown and I have never experienced the kind of joy that I did when I was hanging out with those kids.”

Mehltretter explained that LYM works through its campus crews to meet various needs of children suffering from the disease, not just by selling hats, but by going out into the communities to interact with them on a more personal level.

“We like to show up to kids’ houses or

hospital rooms, dressed up as superheroes,” Mehltretter said. “We really just want to focus on the child and not the cancer.

We are trying to give them a (break) in the atmosphere of nurses and people who are constantly asking them how they feel. We want to accept them for how they are and try to brighten their day that way.”

Mehltretter explained that LYM crews work off of a point system. With each purchase affiliated with the Liberty crew upon checkout, the more activities the team will get to organize with the children.

“We don’t want people to think of it so much as buying a hat,” Mehltretter said.

“We are asking people to look at it as they are donating to these children and then their hat is almost like a donor card that other people can see and share. The more hats that people buy, the more credits we have to take these kids out on boat rides, plane rides, helicopter rides and just have adventures with them that they can be excited about.”

According to Mehltretter, the crew is not yet an official club at Liberty. However, it

is in the process of becoming one. For the last year, the team, which is capped at 20 Liberty students, has been planning for the fall semester.

For those interested in joining the LYM crew, Mehltretter suggested emailing him at pcmehltretter@liberty.edu to be placed on a waiting list. Positions will become available as schedules change and members graduate.

Mehltretter expressed that while the Liberty team is working to fulfill LYM’s overall mission, it has an even greater purpose it wishes to share with the world.

“I want this to be a ministry,” Mehltretter said. “I want Liberty University to really stand out. I think that we have enough college students here that we can make a huge impact with LYM. … We can really get our college to be known as one of the top consumers of these products, because I think we are going to do it with a different attitude than everyone else.”

Both Mehltretter and Warner revealed their excitement for the crew’s future plans to bring hope and comfort to children and families that are suffering, whether it be through various activities or simply praying for them. Warner also shared what she has learned throughout the process so far.

“I have learned that prayer is more powerful than we can comprehend,” Warner said. “We prayed for success in forming a crew and God gave us success. We prayed for opportunities to spread the word about Love Your Melon and God has already given us so many opportunities. And we prayed for children to minister to and God has given us specific children that we hope to minister to in the near future.”

To purchase a hat or for more information on LYM, visit loveyourmelon.com.

The option to select a college will be available during checkout.

For more information regarding Liberty’s crew, visit their Facebook page: Love Your Melon Crew at Liberty University or on Twitter and Instagram as @lym_lu.

ELLIOTT is a feature reporter.