Liberty Champion May 8, 2018

Towns’ tales B9

Flames fight

Labour of love

B3

VOLUME 35, ISSUE 22

B10

LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA

LIBERTYCHAMPION.COM | TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018 | LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

OUTDOOR CONVOCATION — Thousands of Liberty students gathered outside on the Academic Lawn May 4 to hear from NFL running back Rashad Jennings.

Lounging on the lawn Students embrace 80 degree weather for second annual outdoor Convocation Will Evans wjevans@liberty.edu

Students brought out the sunscreen and the parasols this past Friday, May 4, for Liberty University’s second annual Convocation on the Lawn.

The weather was a sunny 88 degrees and students, in a rather historic moment, were allowed to wear shorts.

“Pants are overrated,” junior Nathan Volz said. “They constrain us and hold back. Shorts equal freedom.”

The event started at its typical 10:30 a.m. time, but some students arrived early to tailgate. They played corn hole,

grilled hotdogs and played music celebrating the last Convocation of the school year.

Event production staff worked some Thursday and all morning Friday setting up chairs and turning the steps of the Montview Student Union into a stage for the Worship Collective, who this year was accompanied by a large choir from the School of Music.

“It’s really cool to be on stage and see all the people worshiping together,” Amanda Brooks, a choir member, said.

Prsident Jerry Falwell opened Convocation by congratulating students on making it to the end of the year and letting them know what’s in store for Liberty’s future

construction projects.

Falwell showed slides of the new School of Business that is currently under construction and upgrades to the Hill dorms.

Of all the new plans coming in the next few years, students seemed most excited about the announcement of a new parking garage.

“The parking on East is atrocious,” junior Dylan Crespo said.

“It will be nice to have a parking garage, so I don’t have to park in Zone 4.”

The guest speaker for this year’s #lawnvo was former Liberty student and NFL running back Rashad Jennings.

Jennings spoke about how,

throughout life, we find ourselves in boxes and how the key to success is learning to dismantle those boxes.

“People are always putting themselves in boxes,” Jennings said.

“If God wanted us to live inside of a box, (he would have) created our bodies at a 90-degree angle.”

Afterward, a Tennessee scout came up to Jennings and told him something he had never heard before.

“He said, ‘Rashad, you have potential,’” Jennings said. “For the first time in my life, somebody saw potential in me.”

See LAWNVO, A2

Hawkins discusses retirement

Liberty’s Provost will retire from his office June 30 but will remain at Liberty Mikaela Stiner mstiner@liberty.edu

Though Dr. Ron Hawkins will retire from the Office of the Provost June 30, he will continue to serve as a faculty member in the Rawlings School of Divinity and

the School of Behavioral Sciences at Liberty for the foreseeable future.

Hawkins arrived at Liberty soon after the university’s initial founding in 1971 and has been a witness to its growth over the past four decades. Hawkins said that he has

Mitchell Bryant | Liberty News Service

LEADING — Hawkins took the stage during the 2017 commencement.

watched Liberty make tremendous progress as a university, and today, his greatest pride as the provost has been watching the university develop into a serious academic institution. Hawkins’s work in the university’s accreditation process has been extremely significant to the university’s academic success. “(As a university), we are attracting more and more gifted students and faculty. We are becoming a truly world-class institution,” Hawkins said. “That makes me feel really good because I realize that … I made a difference. I contributed to just a small part of that.”

Hawkins began teaching as a professor at Liberty in 1977.

Aside from five years spent serving as president of Western Seminary in Oregon and as associate

pastor of Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Hawkins has spent the last 41 years in a variety of roles at Liberty, including department chair for the Department of Church Ministries, associate provost for Adult Education, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and vice provost.

“When you’ve been involved for 41 years, you think, ‘Wow! Look how far we have come!’”

Hawkins said. “Sometimes I reflect on how amazing our story as a university is. Our beginnings were very humble – we literally started in back rooms of the church at Thomas Road.’”

The Tilley Student Center in Green Hall is getting a makeover this summer 2018.

A10

Opinion

A senior looks back at her four years at Liberty and thanks those who helped along the way. A5

Sports

A look at some favorite photos from an outstanding year in B5 athletics.

WHAT’S

NEWS @ LIBERTY

Liberty University Rawlings School of Divinity students, in addition to 50 volunteers, packaged 10,000 meals that will be distributed to children in Nicaragua through the ORPHANetwork. The students are part of the CLED 410: Team Dynamics in Christian Leadership class and have been working this semester to raise money for nonprofit Rise Against Hunger.

In addition to the current construction on Williams Stadium, the Arthur L. Williams Football Operations Center will also receive major upgrades following the 2018 football season. In addition to renovations, the center will also be expanded from 48,000 to about 75,000 square feet.

Calvary Road Baptist Church of Alexandria, Virginia, Pastor David Rhodenhizer will deliver the 2018 baccalaureate address May 18 at the university’s 45th Baccalaureate Service. Aside from his pastoral role, Rhodenhizer is also a Liberty graduate and has served on the board of trustees.

Liberty University’s Debate Team finished first place nationally in both the Cross Examination Debate Association and the National Debate Tournament for 2018.

According to Liberty News Service, Liberty’s team has ranked first overall 12 times

See RETIREMENT, A7

INSIDE THE CHAMPION

News

Max loth| Liberty Champion

Feature

Reflecting on spiritual growth that overflowed from The Well, a womens event.

B8

News Opinion Sports Feature

A1 A4 B1 B5

news

A2 | May 8, 2018 | Liberty Champion “No matter what you decide to do in life, if you keep God first, and you keep chasing him and From that point on, Jennings repursuing him, he will always show alized he had to step out of his inup in the midst of everything,� security in order to realize that potential and No matter what you decide Jennings said.

Afterward, Liberty quarterbecome a great athlete. back Buckshot Calvert joined “I completely turned to do in life, if you keep God Jennings in throwing my life around and did footballs into the crowd. a 180,� Jennings said. first, and you keep chasing Anyone who caught one “Through that, there was a box I had to break him and pursuing him, he will would win a free, signed copy of Jennings new book out (of) and dismantle “The If In Life,� which was also in order to become the always show up in the midst available for students to purperson and find the poof everything. chase at a discounted price after sitions I find myself in Convocation. today.� — Rashad Jennings “I liked his box metaphor He encouraged for overcoming obstacles,� sestudents to dismantle their own boxes by leaving box, so there is a direct connection nior Jackson Evans said. “I got his book because I want to use it for worthless things, never backing between you, and our lord and savior Jesus Christ.� summer small group.� down and connecting oneself Jennings closed by talking with Christ to find God’s plan for about having a relationship with one’s life.

EVANS is a news reporter. “God already knows what he Christ.

LAWNVO continued from A1

has put within you ‌ God knows your talents, your gifts and your purpose,â€? Jennings said. “It’s important to remove the top of the

Max Loth| Liberty Champion

OUTDOORS—Students hear from Liberty alumnus and NFL running back Rashad Jennings, who spoke at Convo on the Lawn May 4 about getting rid of distractions and putting God first.

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Liberty Champion | May 8, 2018 | A3

Pray against violence Liberty students honor victims of gun violence and pray for their families Abigail Bowman abowman7@liberty.edu

A day after the National Day of Prayer May 3, students gathered on the front steps of DeMoss Hall after Convocation to pray against gun violence May 4.

Sophomore Selina Feliciano, a double major in government and history, and freshman Addi Tarr, a journalism student, organized the event with the help of the Office of Spiritual Development.

Feliciano and Tarr said that it was not an anti-gun event, but rather a prayer gathering to pray against future gun violence.

Janice Vining, an LU Shepherd who attended the prayer gathering, also said it was an opportunity to pray for the families and friends of those who died from gun violence.

Tarr and Feliciano said that they wanted to emphasize the power of prayer, saying that they trusted that God was able to stop gun violence.

“I feel like, oftentimes, the power of prayer is underrated, and we don’t realize how strong it actually is,” Tarr said.

Both students also said that they encountered misunderstanding from other students when they were setting up and advertising the event. They said they had to explain frequently that the gathering was not anti-gun. It was anti-gun violence. They said they wanted people from all political backgrounds and all stances on gun control and the Second Amendment to attend the prayer gathering.

“We want people who are for guns, we want people who are against guns, and we want people who couldn’t care less,” Tarr said.

Feliciano said she believes that Christians should let prayer against violence transcend political issues.

“We as Christians need to stand above so many other people and truly be the light that God wants us to be and show Christ’s love

by just saying, ‘Hey, we have our political opinions, but the thing that stands above all of that is the power of prayer,’” Feliciano said.

Feliciano said she and the others were praying specifically against gun violence instead of other kinds of violence in general, not because they cared about other kinds of violence any less, but because she believed in praying about specific issues, and gun violence has been a hot topic in America recently.

About 18 students and four LU Shepherds met May 4 to pray. Feliciano opened the time of prayer by reading a Bible verse, talking about the power of prayer and explaining the purpose of the prayer gathering.

Photo Provided A dozen students wearing ENOUGH — Eighteen students gathered on the steps of DeMoss Hall May 4. matching yellow shirts, lined up in front of a microphone to read the names of people who died tending to pray individually. At the family and friends of gun violence from gun violence. After a student end, LU Shepherd Dillon Segar victims. read each name and described read a Bible passage about prayer how they died, there was a time of and Vining closed the gathering by BOWMAN is a feature silence allowing each person at- leading everyone in prayer for the reporter.

Graduation Timeline Vines Center 5:35 p.m.

Faculty Processional

Commencement

6 p.m.

Service

Various Locations Check Liberty’s website under Registrar and Commencment

Williams Stadium

Baccalaureate Service

8 a.m.

Graduate Procession 10 a.m.

Ceremony

Degree Presentation

OPINION

A4

May 8, 2018

Servant's heart

Serve Lynchburg benefits residents of Lynchburg and the Liberty students who volunteered Macy Hrncir mhrncir@liberty.edu

Over the past two years, Liberty University has participated in an event called Serve Lynchburg that, as the name may suggest, is focused on serving the community of Lynchburg, Virginia.

“Liberty University’s long-lasting commitment to positively impact the community as ‘Champions for Christ’ turned into a campus-wide effort on Friday and Saturday, as approximately 2,000 students, faculty and staff members crowded into buses and headed to more than 90 sites throughout the city for the second annual Serve Lynchburg,” Liberty News said in an article regarding the event held April 20 and 21.

The Serve Lynchburg event is an incredibly effective service opportunity that leaves a lasting impact on the Lynchburg community as well as the Liberty student body.

This type of community outreach shows the Lynchburg community

that Liberty University cares. We are not just living in our own little happy bubble, content to ignore the needs of the city around us. We want to help.

We want to invest in people’s lives and show them what it means to be a Christian.

This leads to another point — Serve Lynchburg is an amazing opportunity to spread the message of Christ. While students only set out to serve for a day, they have the chance to leave an impact that will affect people for the rest of their lives.

Before the crowd of students set out on the day of the latest Serve Lynchburg event, David Nasser reminded them of this fact.

“You really are reshaping in the minds of so many people the way that they think about your generation,” Nasser said in an article from Liberty News. “You are being a testament to Christ, not only to locals, but to the world by volunteering and walking into the lives of people.”

Additionally, while the focus of this event is to bring hope and change

Deanna Drogan | Liberty Champion

COMMUNITY IMPACT — 2,000 Liberty University students, faculty and staff were involved in the city-wide service day in Lynchburg April 20.

to the people of Lynchburg, service opportunities like this can also produce a positive change in the Liberty student body.

Many recent studies have shown that the benefits of community service are not just limited to the recipients of the services. An article by Teen Life points out a long list of benefits that community service can have on the growth of young people, such as developing an increased sense of social responsibility. The article claims that community service gives volunteers a heart for “giving back” and helping others.

The act of service teaches people to look beyond themselves and focus on the needs of others. It can also help them connect with the people around them.

“Volunteer activities can strengthen the social ties that protect individuals from isolation during difficult times, while the experience of helping others leads to a sense of greater selfworth and trust,” the Corporation for National and Community Service said in report about the benefits of volunteer work.

Events such as Serve Lynchburg also expose Liberty students to realities that they may not even be aware of.

Often times, Liberty students can feel a bit isolated from the real world. Only by going out into the community and getting our hands dirty can we really see for ourselves what people around us are going through.

The Serve Lynchburg event is truly an amazing opportunity and the people of Lynchburg will not forget the work of the Liberty student body. I can only hope that participation in this event will grow astronomically and that, one day in the future, Liberty can spread its efforts to affect even more people outside of the Lynchburg area.

HRNCIR is an opinion writer.

Legal entertainment Daily fantasy sports are games of skill, not gambling, that should receive statewide legislative protection Chad Wylie cewylie@liberty.edu

Daily fantasy sports have grown dramatically in recent years, especially football. The demand for one-week fantasy games is at an all-time high. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association compared numbers of players from 2009 to 2017 and found that the number of people playing fantasy sports has more than doubled — 28.4 million to 59.3 million.

It is up to state governments to classify daily fantasy as either a game of skill or as gambling. Most states have recognized the skill involved with these sports. However, New York and Minnesota have decided to classify daily fantasy as gambling, making it illegal based on federal anti-gambling legislation.

Daily fantasy sports should be viewed as games of skill. They should be given the same legal protections as seasonlong fantasy games. There are several key distinctions between betting on sports and daily fantasy sites like DraftKings and Fan Duel.

Daily fantasy involves choosing a group of athletes who are competing in real-life sporting events that day. Every player has a price associated with them, and the fantasy player has a cap amount of money he or she can spend. Better players have a higher price, and the fantasy player must balance these different price ranges to fill their roster for the day’s competition.

This is different from regular sports betting based on fixed lines because there are many more variables to consider. In fantasy, instead of choosing an entire team, the person can choose players from any team competing that day.

Being able to mix and match players to fill a roster means that there are sev-

Google Images

PREPARATION — Successful fantasy sports managers spend hours every week researching players and teams as they make their rosters.

eral specific variables that a good fantasy player must pay attention to.

Nathaniel Ehrman, writing in the Sports Lawyers Journal, describes that a player “must know more than simple depth charts and statistics to win; they also must take into account injuries, coaching styles, weather patterns, prospects, home and away statistics and many other pieces of information.”

These various aspects translate into real life results. Seth Young is an online contributor for the Legal Sports Reports website, and he created a simulator that studied the abilities of “skilled” fantasy players in comparison to an average player. The study showed that skilled players won 70 percent of the games that the simulator played.

Season-long fantasy players must consider injuries, matchups and player tendencies when deciding which players to start in their lineup and which players to bench. The time invested in studying the game translates to success in a fantasy league.

Daily fantasy is the same way. A suc-

cessful player must study matchups, player statistics and many other factors when deciding which ones to select.

Just because a pay-to-play fee is required of daily fantasy players does not mean that it is gambling, in the same way that a pay-in chess tournament would not be gambling. Parents across the country invest thousands of dollars into their children’s youth sports with the hope that their investment will translate into college and professional success. These investments are no less of a risk than playing fantasy sports, but they are not gambling.

Daily fantasy is a risk. People pay to compete in these leagues, and obviously, not all of them will win.

The best players know that they have the skills to manage a successful league and the time commitment to do the appropriate research. That translates into real results, real wins and real money.

WYLIE is the opinion editor.

Logan Smith lcsmith1@liberty.edu

Like the characters from Disney’s “High School Musical 2,” who sat at the edge of their seats, earnestly awaiting school’s end, I too long for summer.

“High School Musical” may be a childish comparison, but the example perfectly captures my current emotions.

Summer… Summer... Summer…

Fifteen weeks ago, when the school semester began, I reluctantly put my video games, fantasy novels and anime TV shows aside to focus on the responsibilities of school and work.

Although several assignments still require my attention, the light bursting from the tunnel’s exit shines brighter than ever. I’m reaching toward it, but responsibility forces me to focus, even though the summer is beckoning my presence.

If you’re like me, a college student yearning for freedom, chances are you’ve developed a detailed summer bucket list, a complete guide for the greatest three months of your life.

Unfortunately, bucket lists are similar to New Year’s Resolutions: they’re exciting, optimistic, but then they slowly dissolve after about 30 days.

Due to responsibilities, you probably cannot complete everything you desire. You might have a summer job that requires your attention. You may travel to visit family, or you may even register for summer classes.

But whatever you do, don’t forget about your bucket list. How you treat it will either make or break your summer experience.

I’m not saying follow it step-by-step or to complete everything on your list. However, I am advising you to experience as much “you time” as possible. Because let’s be honest, you deserve it.

You’ve spent hours reading textbooks and studying for quizzes and tests; you’ve probably had at least one sleepless night this semester.

Nothing would serve you better than time away from school.

In the past, I’ve created awesome bucket lists filled with lavish adventures, but I miserably failed to follow through by summer’s end.

Then once school begins, I feel like I’ve wasted my summer.

Nine months ago, that was my very feeling, but I’m determined to avoid the same mistake. Although I’ll be working this summer, I won’t let anything stand in my way from having a fantastic experience.

And whoever is reading this column — whether a college student, parent or both — I highly encourage you to set time aside for your personal enjoyment.

If you faithfully follow your bucket list, your work experience will be much more fulfilling. It’s always easier to accomplish your goals after you’ve had time to yourself.

And the same applies for summer break. Summers are awesome if you’ve accomplished good work during the semesters.

So, after this summer, when the craziness of responsibility hits you like a brick wall, don’t forget to pick up a copy of the Liberty Champion, visit our website or even follow us on Twitter @LUChampionNews. Trust me, similar to your bucket list, it will be worth pursuing.

Your hobbies may differ from mine, but whatever your interests, spend time exploring them. Don’t end summer with a regretful spirit because you didn’t consult your bucket list.

Persevere. Don’t let laziness interfere with the best summer of your life. Spend time with people you love, play video games, read books, take a trip to the beach and blast heavy metal music from your car stereo (no, it’s not called “screamo,” and screaming in music is an art form, Aunt Lisa).

There’s a fine line between concluding summer and finishing summer.

The result is in your hands.

So, without further ado, adhere to the wise words of characters from “High School Musical 2.”

“School’s out! Scream and Shout!”

SMITH is the manager of content.

opinion

Liberty Champion | May 8, 2018 | A5

Driver’s education

Virginia schools introduce new driving technology 19 year olds.

Since technology is already part of our lives, we need to teach Last week, the Associated Press an- young drivers when and when not nounced that Drive Smart Virginia invested to use it. in distracted driving simulators as a part In a CivicScience survey, 76 of its program to educate Virginia high percent of 13 to 24 year olds said school students. Drive Smart Virginia is a they are addicted to their smartnonprofit organization that promotes traf- phones and portable tech devices. fic safety awareness through its educational Our lives revolve around techoutreach programs. nology. According to the Centers Virginia’s investment opens the door for for Disease Control and Prevena new in-class learning experience. The tion, in their study of Motor Vesimulators are a good investment because hicle Safety, 42 percent of high they teach youth about traffic safety by let- school students report sending ting them see what could happen when they a text or email while driving. In become distracted while driving.

2015, 3,477 people were killed In a National Highway Traffic Safety Ad- in an accident involving distracted ministration report, nearly 400,000 people driving. That is approximately in 2015 were injured in distracted driving nine deaths per day. accidents. And 9 percent of them were 15 to On the Drive Smart Virginia website, its distracted driving simulator funded by State Farm Insurance works with goggles that “simulate various roadway situGoogle Images ations.” In the simulation, teens are asked to send and ABSENT MINDED — Teenagers who use their cell phones while driving are more likely to forget to use turn signals read texts and take photos on and buckle their seatbelts, and their reaction speed decreases. their phones.

In my years of learning in pens when they choose their cell phones cation through virtual reality. By incorpohigh school and college, I have realized over the road. rating interaction and practice through that learning from muscle memory and TechWebSpace reported that virtual re- simulation, Virginia promotes the bigger interaction worked more effectively ality is another form of education through picture of cautioning our teens about what than simply reading something and experience. By experiencing simulation of is most important while driving. memorizing it for a short period of time. real-life scenarios such as distracted drivTheir lives.

The distracted driver simulator ing, virtual reality provides practice based Google Images brings interaction into the classroom to on the user’s interaction with the situation instill the importance of caution on the through the goggles.

SAFETY HAZARD — Distracted driving accidents road. Virginia’s high school students Drive Smart Virginia’s investment opens accounted for 3,477 deaths in 2015, according to can now virtually experience what hapthe door to enter and join the future of edu- GORMLEY is an opinon writer. the CDCP.

Christianne Gormley cgormley1@liberty.edu

Four years in review

One reflective senior looks back on their college experience Since then, we have seen the school grow and change in incredible ways. Over the past four years, we have reaped the benefit of new opportunities that were brought about as the result of years of planning. New science labs, music practice rooms and television studios have helped increase the opportunities that we have here at Liberty.

Over the last four years, we have grown as individuals pursuing our dreams, and we have seen the camFour years ago, we stepped pus grow and transform alongside onto this campus as freshmen. A us. Every new opportunity, every campus where there was only one new facility has helped to better Commons dorm, there were no equip us for the professional world. science or music halls and the only So much has changed over the food options were the Food Court last four years, both on campus at Reber Thomas, Docs Diner and and in our personal lives. As we apthe Tilley Student Center. proach graduation, it is important to take a moment to remember all of the people who helped us get to this point and thank them.

To the Liberty a d m i n ist r a t ion that is constantly reinvesting back into the students and this campus, thank you for giving us the resources we need to receive a worldclass education.

As frustrated as we might get with the constant construction and cranes all over campus, the facilities that have been built as a Liberty University Facebook result were well FINSIH LINE — The 2018 senior class will gather at Williams Stadium on May 19 for their commence- worth the grow-

Elizabeth Lapp elapp@liberty.edu

ment service, headlined by former President Jimmy Carter.

ing pains.

To the professors at Liberty, thank you for pushing us to explore our dreams and to realize our potential. While we may have grumbled about the difficulty of your tests and projects, we have come out of your classes stronger and better equipped to take on the challenges that face us after graduation.

Many of professors here are more than just educators, they have become mentors who we can go to with the challenges and problems that we face outside of the classroom. From dealing with relationships to applying for jobs, thank you to all of the professors who helped teach us how to navigate adulthood and the professional world.

Behind the scenes of our education are the family members and friends who helped to support us throughout our college journey.

They were the ones we called when we were stressed about course work and just trying to survive another sleep-deprived week. Thank you for the care packages that you sent us and for being our prayer team as we navigated finals.

Then there are the classmates and friends that we have spent the past four years with. We have struggled through group projects together and had group study ses-

sions in the library. Together, we pushed and supported one another to do our best in classes and to succeed. As graduation approaches, don’t forget to be thankful for all of the classmates who have helped to shape who you are.

Graduation also means the parting ways of friend groups. What makes Liberty so amazing is that it brings together students from all over the world for four years to learn from one another until they graduate and return home. But graduation doesn’t need to be the end of those friendships. Moving forward, we will need to be more intentional in finding ways to stay in touch with the friends we have made here. As graduation approaches, make sure that your friends know just how much they are appreciated and how much they have impacted your time at Liberty.

The time has come for us to enter the professional world and be Champions for Christ. It is because of the experiences that we have had at Liberty over the past four years that we are equipped for success.

As we move forward to take on new challenges, don’t forget the time, lessons learned and experiences that we have had at Liberty. Don’t forget to say, “Thank you.”

LAPP was the opinion editor.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICIES & INFO Logan Smith manager of content

Sarah Jackson feature editor

Lillian Abbatacola content editor

Bethany Kocik copy editor

Mikaela Stiner asst. content editor

Emily Smith copy editor

Chad Wylie opinion editor

DESIGN

Emily Baker sports editor Jacob Couch asst. sports editor

Haley Incas graphic designer

DIGITAL MEDIA

PHOTOGRAPHY

Deanna Drogan social media manager

Ryan Klinker photography editor

Faith Banford web manager John Vence Bethany Brown digital media editors

ADMINISTRATION Deborah Huff faculty advisor Matt Pierce advertising director

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Letters should not exceed 400 words and must be typed and signed. The deadline is 5 p.m. Friday.

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news

A6 | May 8, 2018 | Liberty Champion

2017-2018 ELIZABETH LAPP /

OPINION EDITOR

So much has changed since I first started writing for the Champion as a sophomore. I went from having no clue of what I was doing to feeling confident in my abilities and my writing.

I would not have gotten to this point without the instruction and support of Mrs. Huff. She has given me so many opportunities and been able to see the strength in my writing when I could not.

I have had the privilege of working alongside some amazing students over the course of my time as opinion editor. There were a lot of long days and nights that I spent working in the Champion office, writing stories and reorganizing pages after articles were cut. However, the people I worked with made everything worth it, and I am so glad that I was able to get to

F E AT U R E E D I TO R Saying goodbye. As a dear friend of mine put it, “What a heartbreaking thing, what a wonderful thing.”

When I joined the Champion staff, I joined so much more than a staff. I joined an incredible partnership of journalists and artists who I call friends.

I’d like to say THANK YOU, with a full heart, to my friends: Will — for level-headed leadership and journalistic integrity as my editor-in-chief, and well beyond.

Dean, Max and Jacob — for being the “cave of chill” and for the unsung work you did as the actual binding force of our stories.

Nate — for being the very incarnation of jazz for our weary souls.

Your wisdom, like your musical taste, is beyond your years.

Matt — for being the old married man who reminded the rest of us that normal life outside of the newsroom can exist.

Elizabeth — for being the cando Hamilton of the office and my worthy high-heel competitor ever since opinion writing class. I’m

honored to now call “that loud smart girl” my friend.

Jack and Erin — for being the paper’s lifeblood in the most difficult and important section. Thank you for your fervor to ask the hard questions and seek truth above all.

Your dedication inspires me and will never be forgotten.

Sarah J. and Emma — for your diligent attention to detail. Especially my dear “Miss Jackson,” for going above and beyond for me when I needed you most.

TJ and Logan — for being the best desk neighbors. From metal to paranoia over untied shoes, you guys kept me laughing no matter what.

Sarah and both Josiahs — for being the backbone of the paper with your unrelenting creativity, by translating the editors’ frenzied hand-motions into beautiful designs.

Leah — for always asking, “Is there anything I can help with?” and meaning it. Your sweet and gentle spirit was a treasure.

Mrs. Huff — for having the hard-

know them better.

Every Monday, I spent hours with a group of people who quickly became my friends. Nothing helps to break up the work day like a barrage of sarcastic comments, really bad jokes and contest over who has the better pug picture as the wallpaper on their computer. I hate saying goodbye and knowing that I will not get to spend every Sunday and Monday working with them is probably the hardest part of leaving.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the Moot Court and Mock Trial teams that I have had the privilege of competing on with some incredible people. Being involved in these groups kept me extremely busy, but I would not have had it any other way.

There have been a lot of highs

and lows throughout my time at Liberty, and despite everything that has happened, I cannot imagine spending my undergraduate years anywhere else. I have learned so much from this job, and the professors who have become my mentors always challenged and pushed me to excel.

The next three years will present a whole new set of obstacles for me as I take on law school. However, the lessons that I have learned will stay with me for a lifetime and have prepared me to succeed. No matter where life takes me from here, I know that my time at Liberty will always hold a special place in my heart — the friendships that were made here and experiences that I have had are ones that I will never forget.

/ JORDAN JARRETT

est job of all: guiding the entire staff. And for being a comforter and encourager to me. You cared for my heart’s well-being with your listening ear, stories and prayer.

You each hold a special place in my heart for setting my path straight as both a journalist and a follower of Christ.

Moving forward with the growing pains of change — for a grad like me taking on the world, and for the dear friends I leave behind here — I hope we remember one of the greatest assets a journalist can have: adaptability.

Adaptability to shifting tides is vital — but never at the expense of the pursuit of truth and the freedom to speak it regardless of stigma, political climate or anybody’s business model. Truth must reign, for with truth comes peace.

So, in the words of one of history’s finest journalists: “Good night, and good luck.”

And good-bye, dear friends.

LEAH DEPIERO /

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

I can clearly remember my first semester freshman year, when I originally decided to be a volunteer news reporter for the Champion. My first article was about Commons 1, and I was petrified because I’d never written a news article before.

The contact for my story wouldn’t get back to me, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do — it was my first week of college, and I had never taken a journalism class before.

That article never actually got written, and I made the switch from news reporter to opinion writer. I remember my extreme

excitement when my first article was published; it was about a gubernatorial election in Texas.

Since then, I’ve grown as a news reporter and opinion writer and have had the opportunity to write about topics close to my heart, from press freedom to my trip to Rwanda to theater.

I’ve grown a lot (although not in stature) in my four years at Liberty both writing for and working as the contributing editor for the Champion. For that, I have many people to thank.

One of those people is Mrs. Huff, one of the greatest professors and Champion faculty advi-

sors I could have asked for. She is incredible, wise, kind and incredibly supportive and selfless.

I would not be where I am today if not for her.

I would also like to thank my fellow Champion staff members turned family members. They are insightful and talented, and I will always cherish the endless memories of laughter, comradery and jazz hour.

Lastly, thank you to everyone who picked up a copy of a Champion and read the fruits of our hard work — we appreciate you.

With that I say,”Good bye, and good news.”

G O O D B Y E 2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8 S TA F F ELIZABETH LAPP

LEAH DEPIERO

JACOB BUWALDA

JORDAN JARRETT

JOSIAH PIERCE

SARAH KELLER

news

Liberty Champion | May 8, 2018 | A7

Jinkies! We ve cracked the case!

The mystery man behind Liberty's own Mystery Machine is finally revealed John Vence jtvence@liberty.edu

The goblins, ghosts and werewolves of Scooby Doo usually end up being a masked Old Man Jenkins, or some other irate villain. But when it comes to one of the bigger mysteries on campus — that is, the origins of the Myste 0ry Machine spotted driving down University Boulevard — the man behind the wheel is one of our own.

Liberty freshman Foster Gray brings smiles and inspires posts on Facebook pages Overheard at LU and LU crushes with the groovy van.

Much to the dismay of Gray’s parents, the vehicle was nothing more than an unsightly white van when Gray first acquired the HAWKINS continued from A1 Little by little, Hawkins said, Liberty has grown and expanded, even through financial and accreditation struggles, to become the university it is today. According to Hawkins, the university’s success is largely due to the tremendous vision of Dr. Jerry Falwell Sr. and the continued vision and effective work of President Jerry Falwell Jr., whom Hawkins has worked with directly in his role as the provost.

Since he was 20 years old, Hawkins has been pastoring churches and serving in a variety of leadership positions. These leadership positions are a special privilege, he said, because of the amount of influence that leaders are given, and the huge opportunity they have to do good wher-ever they are.

“What I will miss, and what I love about leadership is that, (as a leader), you have influ-ence,” Hawkins said. “I don’t think about the power of the position, and I don’t think about the prestige of the position. What I see is the

PHOTO PROVIDED MYSTERY VAN — Foster Gray’s Mystery Machine is often spotted on campus.

ability to influence for good and the ability to make things better.

That’s what lights my fire.”

In August 2017, it was announced that Hawkins would be retiring from his office the following June. Hawkins said that his decision to resign from the role of provost was largely rooted in a desire to end his time in the position well, give himself time to transition out of the role and also give the university the opportunity to find someone to replace him.

“A good leader does not stay in place until they cannot walk anymore or until there’s a cri-sis and (the administration says), ‘Oh my goodness, now we’ve got to find somebody,’” Hawkins said. “If you hold on too long, you hurt the organization because you haven’t planned for transi-tion.”

Hawkins does not know whether or not a new provost has been selected. He said that he has decided to leave that decision entirely up to President Falwell.

After he retires on June 30, Hawkins said that he will turn his attention to several personal goals

he has established. First and most importantly, he will seek to be the very best disciple of Christ that he can be. He will also spend more time with his wife, children and grandchildren.

“I have an amazing wife that I’ve been married to now for over 55 years,” Hawkins said. “She’s a wonderful person, and she deserves far more than I’ve ever been able to give her.”

And even with decades of experience under his belt, becoming a better teacher and men-tor is another one of Hawkins’s goals.

“I love it when I can have lunch with one of my previous students realizing, ‘This person is impacting more people than I have ever impacted, and he/she was my student. And they still look at me as a mentor,’” Hawkins said. “That is tremendously meaningful.”

Hawkins said that anyone who sees themselves as a leader will always be kept busy, whatever their current position.

“When you’re a teacher or mentor or a provost or a dean, you’re never out of a job. You always have

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Mystery Machine the summer before his high school junior year.

Gray spent even greater effort convincing his parents to transform the van into his dream car.

His father was worried about Gray bringing it on dates, while his mother believed it would be “girlrepellent.”

They would have gotten away with saying no if it weren’t for that meddling kid. With enough persuasion, they came around, and even helped with the process. Over the course of the next year, the van underwent massive changes. The Gray family transformed the van from its humble state to the Mystery Machine, complete with a sectional couch, a shag carpet and a lighting system. A professional detailing company painted the exterior.

Gray says he enjoys the attention it gets, explaining that no matter how bad someone’s day gets, it’s difficult not to smile as the Mystery Machine drives by. It often sparks conversation, friendly waves from pedestrians and even the occasional 70 mph selfie from a fellow highway driver — a practice which Gray does not recommend.

something more to do,” Hawkins said. “There’s always somebody who could use a word of encouragement and use your influence, whether it’s positional or moral influence.”

Ultimately, Hawkins’s current focus is on ending well. He referenced a line from the writ-ings of Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes, which says, “Better is the end of a thing than its begin-ning.”

“I think young people need to know that there are people who actually kept the faith and who walked the walk, talked the talk and who really ended well,” Hawkins said. “I think ending well for me at this point is ending well in the provost’s office and being excited about the next sea-son for influence.”

See the feature video on the Champion Facebook page. The new feature to the page was posted Friday, May 4, and at print time had more than 20,000 views. Be on the lookout for more digital content from the Champion media group.

VENCE is a digital media editor

STINER is the asst. content editor

Liberty News Service

PAVING THE WAY — Dr. W.A. Criswell, Samuel Kenneth Pare and Dr. Ron Hawkins at the 1989 commencement.

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news

A8 | May 8, 2018 | Liberty Champion

Leaving office satisfied Johnson and Cave look back on their term as SGA president and vice-president Kyra Thompson kthompson@liberty.edu

As the 2017-18 school year comes to close, former Student Body President Caleb Johnson was proud to say that, as of a few weeks ago, he and his Vice President Jared Cave were able to accomplish everything they promised at the beginning of their term.

Johnson said that, even though the year flew by, he is satisfied in knowing that all the goals they set were accomplished.

“It feels like I blinked, and I was graduating,” Johnson said.

Some of the promises Johnson and Cave made were increasing the amount of funding that goes to clubs and focusing on the students’

spiritual needs as well as their physical needs.

Johnson said they were able to increase the amount of funds that go to clubs by 30 percent. In addition, they made changes to the budget process for clubs to be more efficient.

Another success was the addition of new clubs. One that gained recognition for its unique perspective on campus was the Catholic Campus Ministry that attributed its official club status to Johnson’s direct help.

This was not the only spirituallyrelated development that the Johnson administration made. After creating the position of Christian Life Director in the executive branch, they began working on the Church Finder, a website with a directory of

churches that matches up students with a specific church based on the results of a preferences quiz.

“There’s a spread sheet that categorizes churches by size, location and other categories that you can

bags at concession stands and ice machines in the dorms.

But both agreed the thing they were most excited about accomplishing was the updates to the Liberty Today app.

“Honestly, I think, within five years, students won’t be able to live without it,” Cave said.

“They’ll — Caleb Johnson want it so go over and see which one is best bad because it’ll become such an for your needs,” Johnson said. important part of their time here at They were just recently able Liberty.” to finish creating the structure The app has been improved for the website, and Johnson said to now include information such it is in review and as how many meal-swipes a stushould be available to dent has left, if their laundry is students soon. done, what food is being served Johnson and Cave at the dining hall and various said from the begin- other helpful things to use for ning, they wanted to campus life. make little practical In addition to the little practicalchanges all around ities SGA implemented, there has campus, which they been several pieces of legislation accomplished through that Johnson signed and sent off to different legislation administration for evaluation. such as the walkway in Johnson said that he had just front of Commons I, received an email back for some of

This year, SGA was able to help people find their passion to fulfill their purpose.

these resolutions informing him that many had been denied, including the open dorms resolution that would have created a regular schedule for open dorms, and the self-harm resolution that would lower the penalty for people struggling with depression and actions affected by that.

Johnson said that even though they were able to get so much done, there is always going to be the feeling that you could have done more.

But he trusts the incoming student body president and vice president, Jacob Page and Derek Rockey, to continue the positive changes.

Johnson said that everything that they have been able to accomplish this year has served one purpose.

“This year, SGA was able to help people find their passion to fulfill their purpose,” Johnson said.

“And that is something we can feel really good about.”

THOMPSON is a news reporter

CHAMPION CORRECTION On May 1, The Champion ran a story about Katarina Bouton and her Fulbright grant. The story said Bouton was the first Liberty student to be awarded the Fulbright award. After further analysis, The Champion would Photo Provided LOOKING BACK — Johnson and Cave debated in April of 2017 before they were elected as SGA president and vice-president.

like to correct our mistake. Bouton was not the first Liberty student to be awarded the Fulbright. We apologize for the error.

K N A H T - THE CHAMPION

news

Liberty Champion | May 8, 2018 | A9

History of the Bible displayed

A one-million dollar collection of rare books and Bibles fills the Freedom Tower Scriptorium Rebekah Yoder ryoder3@liberty.edu

The Freedom Tower’s latest addition, the Scriptorium — home to a one-million-dollar collection of rare books and Bibles donated by the Rawlings family — opened April 30 on the first floor of the tower.

According to Ed Hindson, the dean of the School of Divinity, the collection includes rare first edition copies of the 1560 Geneva Bible, the 1611 King James Version Bible, the Erasmus Greek New Testament, the original edition of “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs” and more. The Scriptorium also

includes a working life-size replica of the Gutenberg printing press and a represective 55-inch and 84inch Microsoft Surface HUB. “That allows us to collaborate with various experts and interact with digitized copies of this collection,” Hindson said.

Nicole Sanzo, an interdisciplinary student at Liberty, said the combination of the old books and the new technology create an immersive cultural and historical experience for students, no matter what they are studying, but the resources will be very valuable to divinity students.

“Even though theology is an Joel Coleman| Liberty News Service

STANDING TALL — President Falwell, Dr. Harold Rawlings and Jack Dinsbeer posed with the unfinished Freedom Tower.

Joel Coleman| Liberty News Service

HISTORICAL — A display case in the Scriptorium features rare documents.

overarching concept, you have to know how to go back to the basis of it,” Sanzo said.

According to Sanzo, the Scriptorium will be another way for visitors to see Liberty.

“Liberty is a big platform, and I think (the Scriptorium) is going to add on to its uniqueness and the principles we stand on,” Sanzo said.

According to Sanzo, the Scriptorium will make it easier to see the history of the Bible and how the text has evolved through the centuries.

Hindson said Harold Rawlings suggested that Liberty display the collection Rawlings had collected over the years through the Rawlings Foundation.

According to Hindson, the Scriptorium’s opening was pushed back because the university wanted to expand the Scriptorium from its original size.

According to Hindson, the Scriptorium gives faculty, students and the public the opportunity to become acquainted with the history of various Bible versions and

translations.

“Students can do hands-on research with many of the original sources of the Bible as we know it today,” Hindson said.

Hindson said the amount of traffic that the Freedom Tower draws, the public will be able to see and be aware of the Bible collection.

“The Freedom Tower itself is a constant reminder that the Bible has a central role in the education of Liberty students,” Hindson said.

YODER is a news reporter.

She is beauty, she is grace Center for Music & Worship to host Miss Virginia 2018 pageant Taryn Lammi telammi@liberty.edu

The Miss Virginia Pageant will be held June 21-23 at the Center for Music & Worship on Liberty University’s campus.

Thirty contestants will arrive on Sunday, June 17, to begin rehearsing and on Tuesday, June 19, a reception will be held, open for the public to meet the contestants.

Wednesday, June 20, competitors will have a 10-minute private interview with the judges. Thursday and Friday, half the contestants will compete in talent and the other half in swimming suit, eveningwear and onstage question. Then, Saturday evening, Miss Virginia will be announced.

“Miss America is the largest source of scholarship for young women around the world,” Executive Director of Miss Virginia Organization M.C. Gravely said.

“We’re very, very proud of that.”

According to Gravely, Liberty University will also be offering a scholarship to the winner of both

the Outstanding Teen and Miss Virginia.

This year’s co-host will be Kelly Quick, who was crowned Miss Lynchburg in 1997 and went on to win Miss Virginia.

“Miss Virginia is an iconic tradition,” Gravely said.

Virginia has had the honor of three winners winning the Miss America pageant. The winner of Miss Virginia is not an easy job and requires the winner to take time off from school to work as Miss Virginia, volunteer, travel around and do speeches based off their platform.

The 2014 Miss Virginia Courtney Garrett Coburn was first runner up to Miss New York Kira Kazantsev, in the 2014 Miss America Pageant. Coburn is now a week away from graduating from Liberty University’s School of Law. “Courtney is an absolute delight,” Gravely said. “She is just a remarkable young woman, just like all of our Miss Virginias.”

Coburn’s platform as Miss Vir-

ginia was “Defying Disabilities.”

It was inspired by her brother Austin who has cerebral palsy and is on the autism spectrum, with the hope of giving him and others like him a voice.

According to Coburn, the emphasis that the pageant puts on service really lines up with Liberty University’s philosophy of serving the community.

“Both for young women in the Liberty community, it’s a great opportunity to serve the Lord at Liberty, but also if they were interested in competing … the two programs do overlap because they’re so passionate about service,” Coburn said.

Through Miss Virginia, Coburn has been able to encourage and speak to people through her platform as well as been given numerous opportunities for personal growth.

“I would encourage people to go in with an open mind,” Coburn said. “Because if you’ve never been to something like this, pageants tend to have a very

Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times

REIGN — Cecili Weber, Miss Arlington, was crowned Miss Virginia in 2017. negative stereotype, and I’ve heard numerous times that people who come fresh and new and have never been to anything like this end up walking out so surprised and so overwhelmed by what they experienced.”

Tickets for the Miss Virginia

Pageant will be available and on sale at the Liberty Box Office June 1.

LAMMI is a news reporter.

Downtown, cultures come together Lynchburg's third annual International Festival features dance, food and art Madison Summers mbsummers@liberty.edu

The city of Lynchburg held the third annual International Festival to infuse culture in downtown Lynchburg May 5.

Lynchburg’s International Festival at Riverfront Park featured a parade of flags, foreign foods and artisan crafts.

“It is this multicultural quilt of people coming together to make a great community,” city of Lynchburg Director of Communications and Marketing JoAnn Martin said.

“It takes all of us, and to see that of all ethnic groups, all ages come together and share … There was a real pride people demonstrated in being able to share their culture.”

Prior to the three years as a community event, the festival started as a city of Lynchburg employee event for two years by an employee organization called Action For Change. From the International Festival in 2017, about 1,000 people in total attended with growth this year, according to city of Lynchburg Human Resources Manager Catherine Henry.

Madison summers | Liberty champion

CULTURE — A group of Indian dancers performed at the festival May 5.

Performances at the festival included the Laughing Dragon Kung Fu students performing a traditional Chinese dragon dance and a traditional southern lion dance. Drums were hit in rhythm as the red dragon twisted its way around the stage, and the lions danced about in front of the crowd

of about 200 people.

The traditional Kung Fu school traveled from Charlottesville, Virginia. Founder and chief instructor of the Laughing Dragon Kung Fu Academy Chris Goodbar said that these traditions are precious cultural treasures that are kept alive through the dedication of

the dances.

“My favorite part is watching the audience,” Goodbar said.

“Watching the reaction of the kids in the audience when the dragon swoops down close to them or when the lion comes over and blinks its eyes.”

Other performers included The Federal Ukuleles, Thai 99 dancers and the World Dance Performing Arts Company.

Liberty University junior Charissa Gray and other servers from the Thai 99 restaurant in Lynchburg, Virginia, performed a Thai cultural dance for their third year at the festival. Gray said there are many different cultures in Lynchburg, and to see everyone come out is cool.

“Diversity is a good thing,” Martin said. “Diversity makes life more interesting and exciting …

While it shows our diversity, it also shows how inclusive we are, and we appreciate what everyone brings to the table to make Lynchburg what it is.”

The smell of different foreign foods from Brazilian to Caribbean to Dominican Republic filled the

air. Lillies Kitchen owner Ramon Delahoz described the Dominican Republic food as exquisite and detailed.

Details in hand-woven baskets take approximately a day to make while carvings take anywhere from a day to a week, according to Lynchburg resident and NIYO Cultural Centre American Representative Cynthia Merchant. Artifacts from Ghana, Mali, South Africa and Burkina Faso were sold during the festival.

In Henry’s opinion, it is important that any community, including Lynchburg, considers what the community looks like, what the culture looks like and celebrate it.

“Born and raised growing up (in Lynchburg), culture is something that needs to be infused,” Merchant said. “Lynchburg is growing. The population is growing.

The diversification in the population is growing, so you need to have representation from different countries.”

SUMMERS is a news reporter.

news

Liberty Champion | May 8, 2018 | A10

Inaugural LUCOM class to graduate Dr. Ben Carson to give address at first LUCOM hooding ceremony May 19 Ryan Klinker rmklinker@liberty.edu

Four years after its creation, Liberty University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine is set to present its inaugural graduating class May 19 with Dr. Ben Carson, an esteemed neurosurgeon and the current Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, as the featured speaker.

The Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine opened its doors in August 2014, making it the second osteopathic school in the Commonwealth of Virginia and 30th of what is now 34 schools in the United States.

LUCOM works to train the physicians of the near future, and it also strives to teach the students how to offer service regarding every form of health. For its dean, Dr. Peter Bell, the importance of acknowledging the tremendous responsibility of being a doctor is something he cannot overemphasize.

“We’re giving our graduates the opportunity to obtain a license to practice medicine and surgery — to holistically take care of people. People are three part beings. We care not just for their physical needs, but (also) for their mental and spiritual needs,” Bell said. “The fact is, by putting on that white coat, there’s immediate respect ... but with it comes a huge amount of responsibility, and you have to behave and act differently than what the society norms are for the average person.”

The bond between the students is undeniable, but, in the case of pending graduates Josh and Nichole Brunton, the scholarly bond went as far as blooming into a romantic connection.

After meeting near the beginning of their first year of medical school in a study group, their study dates soon turned into dinner dates, and led to their January 2018 wedding.

“Medical school romance is a curious thing with lots of hours

photo provided

COUPLED UP — The Bruntons went from lab partners to life partners during their time at LUCOM.

studying, cadaver labs and even life and death situations, and all that really strengthens your relationship as a couple,” Josh said. “We’re each other’s biggest advocate, both personally and professionally, and we think having a partner that understands the adversity you are facing is a huge benefit.”

As they spoke about their four years, both Josh and Nichole Brunton made a point to express their appreciation for LUCOM’s faculty, especially Dr. Michael Weigner, Dr. Michael Hueber, Dr. David Klink and Teresa Henderson.

They said numerous faculty members would go to great lengths to adapt the curriculum to students’ needs, developing quality experiences in clinical simulations, and even referenced a joke involving an unnamed faculty member selling the birthright of his first-born child to provide stipends to thirdyear students who needed to travel for rotations.

“They went above and beyond to ensure that we did not just have an adequate medical school, but one that would place us in a position to excel,” Nichole Brunton said.

“We think we speak for our entire student body in saying they have been our greatest advocates, mentors and role-models, and words cannot fully express our gratitude to those four individuals as well as the many other staff and faculty members of LUCOM.” Josh Brunton personally noted the influence that Dr. John Pierce, the Women’s Health Department chair, had on him.

“Through conversations with him, spending time (with him) at the hospital on labor and delivery, and seeing how he interacts with and cares for patients, the

Ty hester | Liberty News Service LONG TERM COMMITMENT — The first year class at LUCOM’s dedication in 2014. course of my career redirected into the field of OBGYN,” Josh Brunton said.

As members of LUCOM’s inaugural graduating class, Nichole and Josh Brunton recognize the significance and the influence that they have had on the past, present and future of Liberty’s osteopathic medicine program. They acknowledged that they have the unique opportunity to set a precedent for future students, and they look forward to seeing what comes next.

“It is amazing to look back at the school, now full with four classes, and be able to say, ‘We helped build that,’” Nichole Brunton said.

“Whether giving feedback about the curriculum, recommending different technology to record lectures for students, or going out into hospital systems that hadn’t had medical students before, we really had the opportunity to influence how the school developed.”

Bell sees this graduating class as a group effort, as the school began its development in 2012 under founding Dean Dr. Ronnie Martin, was handled by Interim Dean

Dr. David Klink and became Bell’s school in April 2017.

“It’s really a six-year culmination of a lot of people’s efforts — some people who are still here and others who came, made a contribution, and that have since gone somewhere else,” Bell said.

As for the future of LUCOM, Bell said that he and the others involved are currently working on numerous aspects of the school to make improvements and flesh out the program.

“There are a lot of components that we’re putting together to make this school the a top-notch, ‘Ivy League’ of Christian medical schools. Our hope is that everyone will want to come here because of what we’re planning and doing,” Bell said.

The hooding ceremony for Liberty’s College of Osteopathic Medicine is set for May 19 at 3:30 p.m., with Carson as featured speaker.

KLINKER is a news reporter.

'Extreme Makeover:' Tilley Edition The Tilley Student Center plans a facelift before the fall 2018 semester begins Rachel Van Tuyl rvantuyl@liberty.edu

The Starbucks located at the Tilley Student Center in Green Hall at Liberty University will be closed shortly after Commencement this year so that the location can be converted to a Dunkin’ Donuts.

Ryan Wheeler, who has been Sodexo’s Unit Marketing Specialist for over two years, said their hope is to open the new Dunkin’ Donuts in time for the fall 2018 semester. The area will be expanded and then closed in to create a more intimate space.

“This new location will have walls built around it and inside seating, so you’ll be in the Tilley Student Center, but you’ll feel like you’re in a small, intimate coffee house,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler said the decision was a joint one made by Sodexo’s management team and Liberty’s vice president for auxiliary services, Louis Cambeletta.

Several factors went into the decision to make the change, and according to Wheeler, one of the main things that prompted it was a poll asking students whether they would rather have a Starbucks or a

Dunkin’ Donuts in the Tilley. According to Wheeler, the survey received an “overwhelming amount of support” for having a Dunkin’ Donuts.

“I think a lot of people gravitated towards choosing Dunkin’ because of the delicious pastry options that they bring to the table,” Wheeler said. “Dunkin’ is also a very popular coffee brand on the East Coast, which may have played a part in the decision-making process as well of voters.”

Wheeler said they were not trying to determine which location was “better” through the votes.

“Dunkin’ and Starbucks are both great partners to work with,” Wheeler said. “Our goal in the beginning wasn’t as much to make these two companies compete as much as it was us trying to gauge what people wanted to see more in that location, and Dunkin’ Donuts ended up being the winner of the vote.”

Another reason for the switch is because of Sodexo’s past positive experience with Dunkin’ Donuts.

“Dunkin’ Donuts is also a great partner to work with,” Wheeler said. “We are completely redesigning that space, and it will include an expanded menu with more pas-

PHOTO PROVIDED

TAKE A SEAT — Plans include seating inside Dunkin’ Donuts.

tries and specialty drinks, so our guests don’t feel as limited.”

Wheeler hopes the change will benefit students and customers in two ways. Because there will be more registers at the new Dunkin’ Donuts and Natural!, which is also being expanded, customers will be able to check out faster. Wheeler also hopes there will be more opportunities for community in the more intimate space.

“A lot of focus we’ve been putting into dining services is creating spaces where community happens,” Wheeler said. “A lot of the places in Montview are this way, being separated into their own unique spaces, (and) we want to try and bring a little of that same feeling to the Tilley Student Center.”

According to Wheeler, the process has, for the most part, not held many challenges. He said Sodexo has a strong partnership with Atlantic Equipment, the company that has helped with the design and construction of the project. However, he said one challenge will be workers at the new location.

“The main challenge we’ll face is staff training,” Wheeler said.

“Switching them over from Starbucks policies to Dunkin’ Donuts policies will take time, but

Photo Provided

COFFEE BREAK — Liberty released plans for an updated Natural! and Dunkin’ Donuts. that is why our staff will be going through extensive training during the summer months to ensure we don’t miss a beat when we open in the fall.”

More information on Liberty

Dining Services can be found at htt ps://libert y.sodexomy way. com/.

VAN TUYL is a news reporter.

SPORTS

May 8, 2018

B1

celebrate

Leah Seavers | Liberty News Service DIRECTION — Liberty Director of Athletics Ian McCaw congratulated the student athletes during the seventh annual Flamespy award ceremony.

Flames shine bright

Nineteen Flames NCAA Division I athletes honored in award ceremony

Siani Null snull@liberty.edu

For one night of the year, every Liberty student-athlete trades their cleats, jerseys and uniforms for dresses, heels and suits.

The seventh annual Flamespys Student Athlete Awards happened Monday, April 30 at the Montview Ballroom and Music Hall to celebrate the accolades of each of the 18 NCAA Division I sports teams that represent Liberty.

“When you put 550 studentathletes with their coaches and then the support staff, athletic trainers, and academic staff, media, it’s just really neat to see the Flames family all together,” Assistant Director for Academic Affairs Courtney Huffman said.

Huffman is the head of the Flamespys planning team which consists of the entire academic affairs staff, in addition to tutors, student workers, practicum students and interns, each working for months to pull off the event.

“It literally is a several month process of planning,” Huffman said. “We were taking down last year’s decorations and we came up with the ‘Around the World’ theme idea. The day after the event we’re reserving spaces for the next year, so it’s a very long process.”

The theme “Around the World” focused on celebrating the diversity of the places the athletes call home. The first half of the night allowed the athletes to socialize and enjoy American, Mexican, Asian, Brazilian and Af-

rican hors d’oeuvres.

“We are super excited about it because what we’re doing is we’re able to highlight where our athletes are coming from but also show other athletes what those regions are like, too,” Huffman said. “So, last year it was ‘Safari’, we’ve done ‘Hollywood’ theme, ‘Under the Sea’, but I think I’m most excited about this one because we’re tying in our athletes and that’s really cool to see.”

The second half of the night consisted of the awards show hosted by Flames television and radio broadcaster Alan York and the Sports Information Department.

Nineteen Flamespys were awarded throughout the show, announced by the students themselves to be presented to their fellow athletes. Awards like Best

Leah Seavers | Liberty News Service

GLOBAL — Student athletes tried food from several different cultures at the Flamespy awards.

Clutch Performance, Most Outstanding Team Award and Head Coach of the Year Award were received.

Jessica Cicerchia, a softball senior, won the Perseverance of Job Flamespy that is given each year to the student athlete who has triumphed and overcome obstacles over their Liberty athletic career.

In her junior year fall pre-season training, Cicerchia’s heart started racing and it was discovered she had an arrhythmia. She was rushed to the emergency room in need of defibrillation and to receive medicine to restart her heart when she was told she would have to undergo cardiac ablation surgery. After the surgery, she waited six weeks to find that it had been 100 percent successful.

“When I heard I was the winner of the Flamespy, I just felt joy,” Cicerchia said. “Throughout this whole experience, I have been asking God to use my story as a platform to share the gospel and the power of prayer. Job was only able to persevere because he had the power of Christ in him. The same applies for my story and I’m honestly just humbled and honored that God would pick me to bear this testament of his faithfulness and healing power.”

The Breakthrough Athlete of the Year Award was awarded to Antonio Gandy-Golden, sophomore football wide receiver, for having the most significant breakthrough during his season.

Gandy-Golden scored 10 touchdowns, had 69 catches and ran 1,066 yards, compared to his previous season of 315 yards. If Liberty was in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) at the time, he would have finished 9th in the country with his stats.

“The technique and the way I

did things changed a lot this year,” Gandy-Golden said. “I paid more attention to the little things that could help separate me from the defense and my coach had helped me very much in the off season after my freshman year just to perfect very small things. This season I wanted to be more of a leader and I wanted the team and my coaches to feel that they could trust me in any situation.”

Another noteworthy winner was tennis senior Evangeline Crist, recipient of both Best Female Athlete of the Year Award and the Rock Royer/Mac Rivera Award.

The latter award honors the top graduating senior who maintains an exemplary testimony athletically, academically and socially to best exemplify the standards of Liberty’s first head football coach Lee Royer and member of Liberty’s first basketball team Rivera, who each died at a young age.

Crist was named the best female athlete for her stats of earning program all-time leader in both doubles (94) and singles (92) wins, ending her career by winning her last 15 straight singles matches and gaining Big South All-Academic Team selection.

“What an incredible honor it was to receive such prestigious awards,” Crist said. “There are so many other deserving female athletes that put in so much work and are incredible people, so it is truly humbling to win. I am truly grateful for every minute spent doing what I love, for the people I care so deeply about and to be at the school that means the world to me.”

NULL is a sports reporter.

Shooting out

Paintball team earns first national title Jacob Couch jtcouch@liberty.edu

On Sunday, April 22, The Liberty Flames Paintball team defeated the University of Central Florida (UCF) 8-1 to win the Flames first national title.

UCF has been present in three out of the last five national championship matches and was victorious in their first two appearances in 2014 and 2017. The Flames found themselves down early to UFC

but battled back to secure an 8-1 victory, knocking off the favored team from the sunshine state.

Flames graduate student David Dickerson won the victory by capturing the flag following a one-on-one shootout. The National Championship was played at Austin Tindall Regional Park in Kissimmee, Florida.

COUCH is the assistant sports editor.

Liberty News Service

ON TOP — The team earned the championship title when graduate student David Dickerson captures the flag.

sports

B2 | May 8, 2018 | Liberty Champion

Sunny skies, sandy feet Men’s and women’s beach volleyball looking forward to the summer season Peter Gooch pgooch@liberty.edu

It was 9 a.m. Saturday, April 28, at the Liberty Mountain Intramural Sports Complex, and there was not a single cloud in the sky. Sixty-four athletes representing a dozen schools from all along the East Coast were ready to begin a full day of beach volleyball in the sun.

Over eight hours later, the National Collegiate Sand Volleyball Association MidAtlantic Regional Championships were completed.

For those on the Liberty Flames Beach Volleyball team not staying in Lynchburg for the summer, the event was the pinnacle of a season that saw tremendous growth and more competition and team bonding opportunities than ever before.

For those on the summer roster, the fun has only just begun.

“With the athletes, we just want to empower them to do things that they want and give them opportunities to continue to grow not only in beach volleyball, but to grow in their relationship with each other and their relationship with God,” head coach Kaleb Van De Perre said.

In years past, practices were halted during the winter. But this season, players were able to participate in as many as eight tournaments and practice at least twice a week since September.

For Van De Perre, a former beach volleyball player who has been with the program since 2012 and now in his first season as head coach, consistency was vital in the development of his players.

“It’s been unbelievable to see that we didn’t have a drop-off from October to March,” Van De Perre said. “We were able to continue with that control…and I think that that’s been huge for us to then see what we can start working on in practice now.”

Andrew Snyder | Liberty News Service FROM THE BOTTOM — The men’s and women’s teams focused on the basics this season.

Andrew Snyder | Liberty News Service SUMMERTIME — Players from both teams will continue their seasons into the summer.

Moving past the basics of controlled touches and working on the more intricate parts of beach volleyball will translate to more competitive play when the Flames take on the talented and experienced pairs waiting for them at Virginia Beach and at the NCSVA National Championships in Hermosa Beach, California.

The Flames will participate in two “Big Money” tournaments at Virginia Beach, June 9 and July 7. While it would be ideal if Liberty dominated, Van De Perre has tempered expectations for both the men’s and women’s teams when it comes to getting results in the Open Division at these tournaments.

“I’d say any top 10 finish in (the) men’s open would be phenomenal,” Van De Perre said. “The two tournaments we’re going to, there should be 20-plus teams. If we make it into the top half…that would be a successful day.”

For the women, Van De Perre thinks that it will be even more difficult to secure victories if the Flames choose to play in the top division.

“I think winning games in (the) Open would be a success based on the talent disparity there,” Van De Perre said. “They’re a lot taller and a lot more experienced. If we can compete there, that would be good news for us.”

At Nationals in August, however, success may be more palpable for the Liberty women.

Last year, the Flames pairing of Maribeth Kern and Sallie Robertson took second place. If the competition is similar to what it was in 2017, then another appearance in the finals for Liberty is not out of the question.

The top Liberty men’s team that will be sent to California will likely face just as challenging competition as they would at Virginia Beach.

“This year, a good goal to set is to finish in the top half and we can reevaluate when we get there,” Van De Perre said. “If we see 16 teams, let’s try and go for top five. If there’s 30 teams, a top 15 (or) top 10 finish is probably realistic.”

See FEET, B4

sports

Liberty Champion | May 8, 2018 | B3

Max Loth | Liberty Champion

PLAY BALL — So far, senior left-handed pitcher Vinnie Tarantola has thrown 43 strikeouts in the 2018 season.

Routed by the Hokies Flames baseball team falls at home to Virginia Tech in difficult 9-4 loss Nathaniel Chambers nrchambers@liberty.edu

DJ Artis reached base for his 90-straight start, which was one of only a few upsides in a lopsided 11-5 loss to Virginia Tech for Liberty Baseball Wednesday, May 2.

The game started with Liberty senior pitcher Vinnie Tarantola giving up two straight hits followed by a sac fly in the first inning. He then hit a batter and gave up a single to allow Virginia Tech to score three runs in the first inning.

Tarantola then settled in during the next couple innings.

On the offensive side, Liberty scored twice in the second inning and twice in the third inning, with Brandon Rohrer, Ben Highfill, Jonathan Embry and Cam Locklear all registering RBIs for the Flames.

The Flames took a 4-3 lead going into the fourth.

Virginia Tech put a five-spot on Tarantola and the Flames as Tarantola struggled to strike out batters.

He gave up hits on seven of ten at-bats where he got two strikes in the count, which does not typically translate to very many wins.

“They threw a lot of strikes and they were just way more aggressive tonight than we were in every facet of the game,” Head Coach Scott Jackson said. “You know, we got back in it there when (Tre) Todd scored and you know we couldn’t get Odachowski in the nine hole and the lineup rolls over.”

Meanwhile, Virginia Tech pitchers combined for seven strikeouts versus four walks. Liberty also allowed Virginia Tech’s infielder Jojo Odachowski to go 3-for-5 with 2

RBIs and 2 runs scored when he came into the game batting just 1-for-19.

“I thought that was as lackluster as we’ve been at home all year, which is frustrating because we’ve played well here,” Jackson said.

Liberty fell to 17-6 at home and 26-17 overall on the season. Virginia Tech improved 20-26 on the season and split the season series with the Flames, with each winning on the other team’s field.

Down 8-4 in the middle of the fourth inning, Liberty registered just one run in the ninth in their 11-5 loss. There were also two wild pitches and passed balls, allowing three Virginia Tech hitters reaching base on strikeouts.

Liberty’s bullpen struggled through the game. They allowed the three baserunners on strikeouts and

gave up a combined seven hits and three walks in 5.1 innings pitched.

Virginia Tech’s win came from the bullpen just as much as it did from the pitcher’s mound. Their pitchers allowed eight hits while walking four and striking out seven.

Their pitching made it difficult for the Liberty offense to get anything going. They were able to really quiet the Liberty offense after their small outburst in the second and third innings.

“I thought they did some really nice things,” Jackson said. “I think their defense was really good. I think three or four diving plays over there at first and second and one at third there late in the game. I think you got to give them credit.”

Jackson brought up the defensive play late in the game, in which Virginia Tech made three spectacular

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plays in a row on very hard-hit balls from Liberty. While Liberty was down by five runs at that point, they were trying to make a valiant effort of a comeback, Jackson said.

“Anytime you fail, it’s an opportunity to grow,” Jackson said. “I mean that’s what you hope as a coach, is that the kids look at it and they take it constructively and it allows them to grow in a way that hopefully makes them better at the end.”

Liberty will travel to Duke on Tuesday, May 8 after a series at St. John’s, May 4-6. They will then return home Friday, May 11 for a weekend series against Big South foe Radford.

CHAMBERS is a sports reporter.

sports

B4 | May 8, 2018 | Liberty Champion

Disc Queens

Women’s disc golf claims national title

Emily Baker egbaker@liberty.edu

Let’s talk about Fortnite. Not about building tactics or the John Wick skin or the changes made to the game on the latest update, but about Fortnite’s impact on today’s society.

I first found out about Fortnite when my brother began to play it. I’d watch him play and, truthfully, thought it was a stupid game. The cartoon graphics, dancing characters and bright colors just don’t fit a battle royale game.

However, after trying it for the first few matches and playing with friends, I found out why my brother would spend hours playing.

Whether you love or hate it, it’s impossible to avoid this game. Game clips are all over social media, and at least one of your Snapchat friends probably has a Victory Royale screenshot on their story right now.

You’ve probably seen parts of Fortnite in real life, too. Students everywhere, particularly those in high school and college, are obsessed with Fortnite. They throw parties and gather with their consoles and TVs just to play Fortnite for hours on end.

If they’re not playing, there’s a good chance they’re watching someone else play. Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins, who is currently the most popular Fortnite streamer, has more than 140,000 followers and makes around $560,000 a month according to Coed Media Group.

In all, Fortnite has found its way into almost every aspect of our culture.

But why Fortnite? Battle Royale games have been around for several years, and Fortnite was announced and developed in 2014-2015. Why not another video game?

Part of its appeal may be the ability to play completely for free, and all you need is an internet connection. Anyone can play, anytime, anyplace.

None of the other popular Battle Royale video games are free, and none of them run quite as well as Fortnite does. Epic Games, the producers of Fortnite, put out weekly updates and maintain the game incredibly well.

But aside from accessibility and quality, why has Fortnite become a large part of our society?

I think that the appeal isn’t in the quality of the game at all. It’s in the challenge, the reward and the community.

The game isn’t easy to win, especially not at first. You spend more of your time loading a new game than playing. But you can’t stop playing because each time you get closer and closer to a win.

Actually, winning is a borderline euphoric experience for many; you entered a match of 100 people and came out on top after countless defeats.

But even the challenge and reward aren’t enough to make a game such a success; there are plenty of intensely challenging games with a high reward system that aren’t nearly as popular.

Fortnite has grown to such a huge success because players each have their unique experiences and their stories to tell each other, as well as a sense of friendly competition that binds them together.

This video game has become like a sports game or other real-life competition that players want to tell each other about. If you listen to any conversation about Fortnite, you’ll probably hear people talking about the win they got last night or the crazy thing that happened in the middle of a match.

On top of that, players enjoy the game for the competition. Some players like to say that Fortnite has brought back the friendly competition and community that older games used to have.

So, really, Fortnite has become such a large part of society today because it’s a way for people to make friends and spend time together having fun.

The quality of the game doesn’t matter so much as the community does, and so long as people are playing together and enjoying the game, Fortnite will probably stick around.

THROW — The Lady Flames disc golf team claimed the national title while the men’s team tied for 18th.

Nathaniel Chambers nrchambers@liberty.edu

Head Coach Steve Bowman is very proud of his team’s accomplishments and what they have ahead of them. The team won by 40 strokes over secondplace South Arkansas, throwing a combined +90 over five rounds.

“I know the biggest thing that was really cool was that when the girls were competing in that final round, pretty much the whole team was there, walking with them, cheering them on,” Bowman said. “So, it wasn’t just four girls that won, it was really the whole team that won, that put all that time in in practice, saw the efforts that they had done.”

Bowman spoke very highly of his team, saying they played as a collective unit and were very supportive of each other. He mentioned many of the girls’ improvements, especially those who were new to the team. He said they improved their form very much and continuously lowered their scores.

Bowman also said that that even though it is an individual sport, the team also has to be collaborative in order to succeed individually. He was proud of the way the entire team came together and constantly cheered each other on from start to finish. Bowman also mentioned another reason why the girls were happy to win a title.

“They were excited because it’s an automatic bid back for next year,” he said. “So, that pressure coming into the next season in the fall is going to be really off of everybody’s shoulders.

FEET continued from B2 While it appears that Virginia Beach wins or national titles may not be within reach for Liberty beach volleyball in 2018, the hope is that growth and improvement among other schools in the area will soon pay dividends for the Flames in their chances to play against quality opponents.

In hosting the NCSVA Regionals, Liberty was able to build connections with teams from five schools in Florida and four schools in Virginia, while continuing their already strong relationships with the beach volleyball club teams at the North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina.

They can really focus on just playing together, the team dynamic.”

The girls felt a sort of relief when they won the championship, on top of excitement. They were excited to win a national title, but they were also ecstatic to have an automatic bid next year.

This automatic bid allows the team’s focus to be entirely on improving instead of qualifying.

On the other hand, the men’s team finished tied for 18 in their respective flight. Bowman said they had a chance to win the championship (for what) even going into the last day, but ultimately, they fell by 63 throws off the lead.

It wasn’t just four girls that won, it was really the whole team that won.

— Steve Bowman “For them, I think the guys are focused and really excited about where we can go next year,” Bowman said.

He said that while they were not able to bring home a championship, the men’s team is remaining confident.

They are already focusing on improving and becoming better for another run next year.

Amongst all of this work that they put in on the disc golf course, Liberty disc golf is constantly challenged by their coach to go out and show teams who they are in Christ.

With the athletes, we just want to empower them to do things that they want and give them opportunities to continue to grow.

— Kaleb Van De Perre “Having all those schools come and see our facilities, see what Liberty offers, see just the hospitality of our team—we heard from so many people, ‘We’ll come back to another tournament,’” Van De Perre said. “I think

Liberty News Service

“At some point there’s going to be a lull in the conversation where I challenge them to share their own story, their journey that God’s kind has kind of taken them on,” Bowman said.

He said he challenges his team to talk about their testimony and their walk with God. He wants them to be able to show other’s how Christ lives in them while being someone who is there for people in need.

Bowman also mentioned that the national title has already brought in recruiting opportunities. People see that this is a championship team and they are interested to be part of it.

“The team knows that there’s going to be guys that are going to come in and be pushing for their spots on the team, so there’s nothing that’s given that’s an automatic,” Bowman said. “You’ve got to come in and prove and put the time in in the summer time.”

He said the players will go out and compete individually this summer.

They will keep him updated on their results and try to get even better. If they take the summer off, Bowman said, it will be difficult for them to automatically regain that touch.

The men’s team will look to claim their first title next year after putting in work this upcoming offseason. The women on the other hand will be working toward back-to-back titles.

CHAMBERS is a sports reporter. the NCSVA would love to have Regionals here again.”

Van De Perre points to the potential for forming influential relationships with other beach volleyball players and how the team can represent off the court.

“We’re going to focus a ton on being successful on the field, but also cultivating relationships and demonstrating the love of Christ,” Van De Perre said. “Through that, the competition will raise. Through that, more people are going to end up coming to Liberty and hopefully coming to know Jesus through us.”

GOOCH is a sports reporter.

BAKER is the sports editor.

Andrew Snyder | Liberty News Service

SPIKE — The beach volleyball team trained through the winter in preparation for the spring and summer seasons.

sports

Liberty Champion | May 8, 2018 | B5

Looking back

SWING — Junior center fielder DJ Artis swung for three home runs and a 16 RBI as of May 7 in the 2018 season.

Jacob Buwalda | Liberty Champion

A season in photos

Liberty Flames spring athletic teams look back on a semester to remember

Max Loth | Liberty Champion

RETURN— Sophomore Vince Salas worked hard under rookie head coach Derek Schwandt.

Jacob Buwalda | Liberty Champion

FLYING— Scottie James ended the 2017-2018 season with 330 rebounds and 499 points.

Max Loth | Liberty Champion

SLICK— Freshman forward Ryan Cox made the ESCHL all-defensive team.

Jacob Buwalda | Liberty Champion

SHOOT— Sophomore Lela Sellers averaged 6.2 points per game.

feature

B6 | May 8, 2018 | Liberty Champion

A Grande gift

Two students raise funds for a tornado victim Rachel Estes reestes@liberty.edu

What seemed like an ordinary day at the Jerry Falwell Library Starbucks quickly materialized into an opportunity to put actions behind biblical principles.

While waiting in line for her morning coffee, Liberty University student Lizzy Campbell overheard a conversation she could not ignore.

It was just days after last month’s tornado struck parts of Lynchburg, and a customer asked barista Gloria Halterman whether her home had been affected.

When Halterman replied that it had, Campbell immediately wanted to do something to help her. “She completely downplayed it— that’s especially why I wanted to do something,� Campbell said. “It wasn’t her complaining, it was her just answering someone’s question and she acted like it wasn’t a big deal.�

After digging around online, Campbell discovered that the damage to Halterman’s home was, in fact, serious.

Together with her best friend Lexie Mealey, Campbell organized a GoFundMe campaign to help Halterman make the repairs needed for her home to be livable again. “With the combination of how she blesses us‌and the fact that she wasn’t reaching out for help even though she was in need of it, I just thought it was time for her to be blessed and helped through this hard time,â€?

Campbell said.

According to the duo, Halterman’s gentle spirit and kind smile have made quite the impression on their Liberty experience. “Gloria has been making my same Starbucks drink, a Strawberry Acai Refresher, every morning‌for the past two years,â€? Mealey said. “She has been a beaming light in my life. If I am having a stressful day, Gloria is always there with words of encouragement to keep going.â€?

Having someone like Halterman to remember their usual orders and ask them how things are going has also been a meaningful way to

Poetry continued from B1 The idea quickly gained momentum, and the need for a storytelling platform became evident. Before the week was out two Stories That Matter participants, Emmanuel Cuffee and Elijah Fields, decided to officially start the process of creating a spoken word club.

Fields, who will be president of the club, said there is a deep need for people to tell their stories in a nontraditional way. “People don’t get to tell their stories,� Fields said.

start each day. “At most places, they’ll say ‘Hi,’ give you your drink and ‘Bye,’ but she remembers everyone’s name,�

Campbell said. “Just having someone smile at you right after you wake up to go get your coffee is always uplift-

Christ when she needed it most. “As a campus, this can’t just be a onetime thing,â€? Mealey said. “Each day we need to put ourselves aside and‌serve those who need it. A simple step like setting up a fundraiser made more of a difference than Lizzy (Campbell) and I

Valerie Pors | Liberty Champion

CHEER — Gloria Halterman has been a smiling face at Liberty for years. ing. It’s the simplest things Gloria does that have made such an impact on everyone else.�

Campbell and Mealey shared the GoFundMe on Facebook, but nothing could have prepared them for what happened next.

The campaign went viral amongst the Liberty community, raising over $2,100 in just two days. “It blew my mind,� Campbell said. “The goal was $1,000 and people just blew that out of the water, so we moved it up to $1,500 and people kept giving. The fact that it got above $2,000 just shows that the workers here on campus are part of our family, too.�

According to Mealey, their efforts were not about receiving praise or attention for themselves, but rather, about taking a burden off a sister in

“And I just feel it’s important to hear their stories, and I think it would be good for Liberty, because we don’t really have a spoken word group.�

Fields hopes the club will meet weekly beginning in the fall, though they already have held several board meetings with their current group members.

At the Stories That Matter event Cuffee, who will be the vice-president of the club, said he was shocked at the depth of the stories and poems people chose to share. “It really hit me deep, the things people go through,�

Cuffee said. “You don’t

could have ever imagined. It is because of the selflessness and generosity of the students on this campus that Gloria was able to have the money she needed to start rebuilding her home.�

Mealey said she hopes this experience will inspire fellow students to continue sharing the love of Christ with everyone they encounter, even in small ways. “Even praying over someone or offering an hour of your time to serve can make more of a difference than we realize,â€? Mealey said. â€œâ€Ś Romans 12:10 sums up my thoughts behind this entire campaign: ‘Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.’â€?

ESTES is a feature writer.

know what anyone goes through, but they still hold on to their faith and hope in Christ, which is amazing. So (we’re) giving people a platform to speak and tell their stories, good or bad.�

The excitement people have for the club is palpable.

Both Cuffee and Fields see a deep need for a spoken word club, and their desire is to give students a platform to speak truth and share the gospel in their own words. “I love storytelling – you get to hear stories, and you get to hear it come alive,�

Fields said. “You can go to the movies and watch the movie or watch the story, but it’s more powerful to ac-

tually hear the person that’s right in front of you.�

Cuffee and Fields hope to hold auditioned events in the fall of 2018, as well open mic nights and weekly club meetings. But overall, their deepest hope is to use their individual gifts to bring people closer to Christ. “We just want to be able to show Christ in a different way,� Cuffee said. “And if we can accomplish that, if a lot of people can see Christ through our ups and downs, that’s a win for team Jesus.�

JACKSON is the feature editor.

I have waited for things my entire life: food at restaurants, my name on the role call, the end of every school semester.

I cannot count the number of buses I have waited for, sitting in a plexiglass shelter counting the seconds I’m wasting. Time spent at a bus stop is time spent in limbo; JACKSON surreal, yet endless.

College is not a bus stop.

In a sense, college feels like a waiting period. It is easy to consider my years in school as simply an in-between time until the rest of my life begins. It feels like a break, a pit stop before ‘real life’ begins.

It feels like a time between coming of age and becoming an adult.

Four years in college end in the blink of an eye, but this time isn’t something to just ‘get through.’ The opportunities college provides are unlikely to reoccur; you will never again be a twenty-something independent human in such close proximity to both educational opportunities and new experiences.

College is a time when choosing to put off homework to go on an impromptu camping trip is seen as acceptable. The experience of a weekend spent bonding with friends is invaluable compared to the grade on a single project.

The things that make college unique – minimal obligations, maximum opportunities, a close-knit, highly-involved community – are easy to take for granted.

I’ve spent too many hours wishing away my college years, eager to begin my ‘real life’ post-graduation. But the things I choose to do and learn in college will influence my life one way or another, whether I want them to or not.

College is not just about hanging up a paper degree above your desk.

I have learned more outside the classroom than in it, and the pseudo-independence of the college lifestyle has allowed me to make mistakes and learn, without the weight of ‘real-world’ consequences.

The days between now and summer break feel like an empty eternity of final projects, lack of motivation and a level of procrastination that would make any senioritis sufferer proud.

Yet when summer hits, it won’t be long before I feel the urge to start counting the days on the calendar until I’m back at school. Wherever I am is never quite where I want to be.

With one year left, I feel the weight of real-world decisions beginning to pile up. I’m beginning to appreciate the time of exploration that college is now that I am coming to the end of my sojourn here.

College is not wasted space – it is space that should not be wasted. It is a buffer between childhood and the real world.

A time to explore, a time to grow, a time to determine who you are and what you want. It’s a season of life, just like any other. Don’t wish it away, but take full advantage of it.

Don’t just wait for the bus.

JACKSON is the feature editor.

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Liberty Champion | May 8, 2018 | B7

a Jake of all trades

Jacob Buwalda | Liberty Champion

READY TO SHOOT — Senior and head photographer Jacob Buwalda has photographed everything from concerts to fashion shows to Liberty’s historic win against Baylor University.

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B8 | May 8, 2018 | Liberty Champion

Feathers and prayers

LU Shepherd shares her heart toward her students and her homeland Taryn Lammi telammi@liberty.edu

Hidden in the confines of the LU Shepherd’s Office down a locked corridor lies an office like no other. The room is filled with a welcoming and gentle ambience. Smells of herbal teas linger from past visits. Elegant light blue and green furniture decorate the room set up for deep conversations over tea and chocolate.

The one responsible for the welcoming atmosphere is Nastinka Morgan.

About five feet five inches, she greets her guests with a motherly embrace and an urgency to begin her hospitable treatment.

Her smile is the most genuine you will ever see. As she looks at you, wrinkles like rays from the sun appear on the outer corners of her eyes.

Every day differs for Morgan. She anticipates the twists that life brings. Mostly, she anticipates taking care of her 230 missionary kids on campus. She sees more than six of them each day.

Most visits consist of unexpected walk-ins that anyone but Morgan would feel inconve-

nienced by.

“I am Iranian and I do time differently, so I have appointments, but I see way more people than I have appointments (for),” Morgan said. “People stop by and I will drop everything. When someone is at my door, it can all stop. I literally don’t even go to meetings sometimes because I have a student that’s just stopped by. They just take precedence.”

As Morgan sits down with her guest, her smile remains. Her almond complexion glows in the sun and her chocolate brown eyes reflect with the joys and sorrows of this life.

Her receptive heart sets a safe platform for her guests to speak their thoughts.

The joys she has in the present do not seem possible when compared to her past, but she has made them so.

Morgan was born in Iran. She says her childhood was like living a “Cinderella dream”.

They had balls, poetry that was read all the time, gardens, food and unforgettable vacations. She was surrounded by people whom she loved.

“I was just a child so I wasn’t exactly

Taryn Lammi | Liberty Champion

COMMUNI-TEA — Morgan loves to pause and spend time with any unexpected guest.

Gala continued from B10 According to the GLHFH website, the organization started about 30 years ago, “in the spring of 1988 (when) a group of concerned citizens met in a local church to discuss the lack of decent, affordable housing in Lynchburg.”

Yaworski talked about how Liberty’s Habitat for Humanity club started a couple of years ago with only four members and, since she joined, the club has grown exponentially. It now consists of more than 50 people.

When asked about her most memorable part of serving with GLHFH, Yaworski recalls the heartfelt reactions from a family with which the team was able to build and supply a home.

“I think the most memorable moment for me during my time in Habitat has been seeing the thankfulness of the family getting the house this past semester,” Yaworski said. “Nakeesha and her family have been so grateful and excited to come to a build day, and seeing their willingness to work and thanking everyone there has been a huge blessing.”

The club has been able to raise money to build two houses (one in the spring of 2016 and one this year), and the gala is another fundraising event for the club that raises money and awareness about Habitat for Humanity’s mission: to continue to build homes for Lynchburg families.

“The gala was such a fun night of celebration of Liberty’s club, our awesome club director, Mrs. Pettit, the Habitat crew members, and most importantly, the new owners of the latest Liberty house,” Yaworski said. “I think the people who came to (the) gala outside of Habitat really got to see what our purpose and mission of the club is.”

Though the gala has come and gone, it is not too late for students to get involved. Yaworski said being a part of the Lynchburg community is a big part of serving in GLHFH. “Habitat for Humanity allows students to get off campus and become a part of the Lynchburg community,” Yaworski said. “It allows students to interact not just with future home owners in need, but also the Habitat crew members and construction managers.”

AGWE is a feature writer.

Taryn Lammi | Liberty Champion

MEMORY — Feathers from Iran are a special reminder of Morgan’s homeland.

allowed to go to the great galas. I especially loved watching my mom get ready,” Morgan said.

Though her life begins to fluctuate in seasons of loss, the sweet memories Morgan has of her own mother refrain from escaping her memory.

These memories begin with the loss of her dear home – Iran.

Before fleeing Iran, Morgan’s family was on vacation at the Caspian Sea. At the end of their stay, Morgan was told to not go in the water.

While the adults were gone, Morgan begged Nane, who was like her grandmother, to take her cousins and her one last time to the sea.

So, in secret, Nane took all the kids to the sea. Only this time the waves were much stronger than they had been before.

As Morgan got into the water, a wave crashed over her small body, getting sand all over her and even inside her eyes. She cleaned herself up as best as she could, but her parents got home before she could fully clean up.

She went to bed that night with discomfort in her eye and never told her parents in order to protect her Nane and herself.

To this day Morgan has a brown speck on the inside of her left eye near her tear duct.

Though she will never again experience the

smells, sounds, or tastes of Iran or the Caspian Sea, she believes that she has a piece of Iran forever in her.

Morgan would later lose her mother, and the man she married would forsake her, yet she still holds on to her faith.

“I live with a constant desire for vindication,” Morgan said.

Many students on Liberty University’s campus do not know Nastinka Morgan, but those who do, certainly have a story about her.

Liberty student, Charis Gnanakan met Morgan after she had broken her foot playing soccer.

Morgan was driving by one day and saw Gnanaka walking with crutches from Green Hall to the Hill.

Morgan, a complete stranger to Gnanakan, stopped her car and insisted she get in.

Gnanakan cautiously got in and began to relax as she got to witness Morgan’s precious spirit.

For the weeks that followed, until Gnanakan was healed, Morgan would wait for Gnanakan each morning so that she could drive her to her class at Green Hall.

Morgan’s eyes fill with tears when she talks about Iran. When anyone she knows travels to Iran, they always ask if they could bring her anything from there.

Her response is to ask them to bring her a single feather from a bird.

“The one place in the world I most want to be, I can never be,” Morgan said. “And I don’t know that I could put into words or describe the need for that feather. It’s my bird, flown over my land. It’s been under my sun. It’s free. It sees the pain of my people.

It hears the laughter of the children and flies through the smell of their fields. It’s tasted the rain drops. It’s flown where I can’t.”

Each tear that streams down her face runs over the speck of Iranian sand in Morgan’s chocolate brown eye.

LAMMI is a news reporter.

Refreshed at the Well Three all-women’s events encourage spiritual growth Abigail Bowman abowman7@liberty.edu

Encouragement. Community.

Those were words two Liberty women used to describe their experience at the Well.

Although both students attended only one of the three nights, they each talked about the refreshment they found through The Well.

The Well is a women’s event, led by Senior LU Shepherd Melanie Denney, that the Office of Spiritual Development started this semester.

“The Well is just a way to get people in a room together,” Denny said. “Women that don’t often know that what they are walking through and what they’re struggling with is a bigger problem on campus because as women we try to clean ourselves up and pretend like something’s not happening.”

Liberty’s women gathered three times this semester to worship and listen to Denney teach about topics such as shame, setting affections on God and finding joy in waiting.

Denney said that although The Well was not designed to compete with or replace the ministry that is already an established part of campus life or with the local church, it was designed to drive the female students that went back toward those things.

Denney said that since there are only five female LU Shepherds, they cannot touch each girl’s life individually. Even the Resident Shepherds and the Community Group Leaders cannot reach out to everyone all the time.

According to Denney, The Well events were designed to get students to open up about their struggles and seek support from the infrastructure around them.

Denney said The Well was also designed to fill a gap that she and OSD saw in women’s ministry, especially college women’s ministry.

“I think the church has a really bad habit of telling women how they are supposed to be ministered to. We kind of consolidate into Proverbs 31, or Ruth, or Esther,” Denney said. “Those are super important, but that is not all that a woman needs to become the believer God has called her to be.”

Denney said that she and some of the others at OSD thought of some of the common themes they heard when female students

would talk to them about their struggles.

Denney said she and her team wanted to shed light on those issues and bring freedom to areas of shame.

Keziah Goddard, a freshman commercial music major with a concentration in songwriting, went to the night at The Well where Denney talked about finding joy in waiting.

“I just like the whole idea of a bunch of women of God coming together and not only worshipping but talking about our own spiritual issues that we can combat together as a community,”

major, attended the last night at the Well, which talked about shame. She echoed Goddard’s appreciation for a women’s-only event and talked about what a catalyst it was in students’ everyday lives. “(At the event) I saw so many people set free from things and encouraged,” Crenshaw said. “And I think when we do that as a body of believers and we encourage each other and we are encouraged by a speaker, then we are encouraged to go out and do that for other people.”

Crenshaw added that she hopes OSD will

Photo Provided

PRAISE — Women gathered on three separate occasions this semester to worship together.

Goddard said.

Goddard said she enjoyed a women’s-only night of worship and teaching.

“Not that guys don’t deal with some of the same issues, but I think we deal with them in different ways,” Goddard said.

Regarding the topic, Goddard said that it encouraged her not to worry about things like relationships not happening as quickly as she might like. She was reminded to use that time of waiting to serve God and learn from him.

Jenna Crenshaw, a sophomore journalism

continue The Well next semester and perhaps meet more often.

Denney said that although OSD does not know in exactly in what capacity yet, some form of The Well events will be back next year.

BOWMAN is a feature reporter.

feature

Liberty Champion | May 8, 2018 | B9

A tale of two Towns Dr. Elmer and Jackie Towns recount their unexpected story of romance John Vence jtvence@liberty.edu

In 2009, Jackie Johnson Towns always sat in the front row of the Bible class taught by Liberty co-founder Elmer Towns.

Jackie got a lot out of that class academically. But Towns also indirectly convinced her to travel to Texas and achieve her master’s in Theology at Dallas Theological Seminary a few years later.

But never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined that, nearly a decade later, she would be spending the rest of her life with the man she refers to as “the legendary Dr. Towns.”

Unbeknownst to many Liberty students, the two were married in a quiet ceremony May 22, 2016, after a whirlwind romance neither of them anticipated.

Despite Jackie’s enrollment as a student in Towns’ class, it was not until late 2015 when the two interacted again. Jackie, 59 at the time, had been considering returning to Dallas for her doctorate, and wanted to meet the person who inspired her to go there in the first place.

“This girl walks into my Sunday school class,” Towns said. “And she gave me her card. It said, ‘Jackie Johnson: Biblical Story Teller.’”

“He said, ‘Yeah, you need to go back to Dallas,” Jackie said. “That was it.”

Or so she thought.

A few months later, while spending time with her children and grandchildren, Jackie received a text from Towns asking if she would collaborate with him to translate biblical stories for 12 of his courses.

She believed it to be a prank until she heard his voice over the phone, after which her skepticism turned to uncertainty. She was attending DTS again, and the task Towns had proposed seemed daunting.

But Jackie knew the exact words that convinced her.

“He said, ‘Jackie, the greatest compliment anyone can give you is to ask you to do a job that is too big for you to do,’” Jackie said, pulling a blue paper heart from her purse

dated Jan. 21, 2016. “I wrote it down (on here). I keep it with me all the time.”

At the time, there was nothing romantic about Towns’ proposal at all.

“We were supposed to be business partners,” Jackie said.

But after a few weeks of interacting, Elmer began to have different thoughts.

“I found out she was a former student,” Towns said. “And then I found out she was a widow and that she works at a church.”

Eventually, Elmer, a widower himself since 2013, outright asked her: could she entertain the notion of a relationship between the two of them?

For Jackie, it was a jolt.

“The man started pursuing me,” Jackie said. “It was weird. It freaked me out because I knew him (as a professor). He wasn’t Elmer to me, he was Dr. Towns.”

Towns himself had uncertainties of his own—mainly, the gaping 25-year age difference. Dating Jackie would mean dating a woman younger than his oldest daughter.

Jackie, on the other hand, was unperturbed.

“He’s very energetic. He golfs. He travels around the world,” Jackie said. “He’s not a normal 85-year-old.”

What concerned Jackie was the possibility that a relationship might interfere with her mission as an evangelist.

After being widowed at the age of 45, Jackie made evangelical leadership the center of her life. The ministry she founded is called Stories of Glory, and she focuses on biblical storytelling across the globe. Her work gained her the title of the National Association of Professional Women’s 2016 Woman of the Year.

Her ministry has been her passion for nearly two decades, and she was unwilling to give it up for anything.

“If I was going to enter a relationship, I was not going to give up my calling,” Jackie said. “It’s something you’ll die for.”

Besides, Towns had not been the first to pursue Jackie. Since the death of her husband 15 years ago, she has had similar offers—but she turned down all of them.

“I’ve been asked before, and God always

Ryan Klinker | Liberty Champion

LOVE — Though the Towns couple spends days apart, they still make time for each other. said no,” Jackie said. “So, I prayed about it this time and God said yes. He gave me peace in my spirit, and I knew in my heart I was supposed to care for him and keep him happy.”

They dated for about four months. On the weekends, Jackie would drive down to Liberty University from her home in Maryland.

And after some discussion on taking the next step, the two decided to get married.

“He actually texted me to pick out rings,” Jackie said. “I was like, ‘Oh, okay, this is happening.’”

The ceremony was held at Thomas Road Baptist Church, officiated by Jonathan Falwell and attended by Jerry Falwell and Charles Billingsley.

“We have one heart, and one mind,” Towns said, adding that it is not uncommon

for theological debates to dominate their conversation.

The Townses do get to travel together, despite their busy schedules. They have even been able to lead a few couples’ retreats.

But with Jackie pursuing her Doctorate of Ministry in Texas, and Towns frequently leaving the country, they estimate that they have only spent nine of the past 18 months together. Elmer and Jackie Towns agree that the same passions that force them apart also keep them together.

“We are always God-centered, always God-focused,” Jackie said. “And that’s why we work.”

VENCE is an opinion writer.

FEATURE

B10

May 8, 2018

a last goodbye

Jessie Rogers | Liberty News Service

OUT WITH THE OLD — In an unconventional twist, Liberty’s Department of Theatre Arts modernized Shakespeare’s play “Love’s Labour’s Lost” to appeal to today’s audiences.

A cast’s labour of love The Black Box Theater runs Shakespeare in its final performance of the year Leah DePiero ldepiero@liberty.edu

Mixed-up love letters, football tosses and moody characters dominate Liberty’s production of “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” the Department of Theatre Arts final performance of the year at the Black Box Theater.

A lesser-performed work of William Shakespeare, “Love’s Labour’s Lost” tells the story of the king of Navarre, who along with his three companions decides to swear off romantic relationships with women for three years. Their ambitions quickly change when they meet the Princess of France and her ladies, who arrive to meet with the king to discuss a state issue and quickly cause the men to fall in love.

Flirtation and disguises ensue, leading to an unconventional yet fun Shakespearean ending.

“It’s a lesser-known Shakespeare, but it’s definitely a comedy that people are going to enjoy,” said professor Andy Geffken, who directed the show. “There’s some broad comedy in it, there’s some very witty stuff, but I think this particular show, with the romance and the charm that it has – especially with the youthfulness it has – I think is really going to appeal to our students.”

“Love’s Labour’s Lost” is a special show

for Geffken because he acted in the play you said. With Shakespeare, you have to during his college years at Liberty, and have such clear understanding and image proposed to his now-wife, who was also in in everything that you’re saying, otherwise the show, during the rehearsal process. it’s going to go over the audience’s head.

That production was also the first time It’s a lot more of a challenge but it’s a lot Geffken worked on a Shakespeare play, of fun.” and that is the same for many of this proTo help make the story more relatable duction’s cast as well. for the audience, the story has been mod“This is the ernized and is set in first Shakethe 1940s.

Our goal is for the speare show No matter the that I and the setting and time audience to leave the vast majority of period chosen the company have for the play, auditheatre feeling witty and ences can enjoy worked on, so the text presented an intelligent after listening to the wordplay and extra challenge humor from the to everyone,” Restory and the charShakespeare. becca Hibma, the acters portrayed by — Joel Hadden stage manager, the actors. said. “I am grate“I hope (the auful to be able to say that everyone has risen dience) takes away a good time and take to the challenge in ways that surpassed my with them a lot of laughter, a lot of hurting expectations.” abdomens from all the laughing they’ll be Kayla Reichard, who played Rosaline, doing,” said Nathan Beyer, who played Sir one of the Queen of France’s ladies, agreed Nathaniel, a priest. that the language made it challenging.

Joel Hadden, who played Lord “The most challenging part has been Longaville, a friend of the king of finding the constant specificity in the lan- Navarre, agreed. guage,” Reichard said. “Shakespeare isn’t “Our goal is for the audience to leave the contemporary; you can’t just say it and ev- theatre feeling witty and intelligent after eryone’s going to understand everything listening to Shakespeare,” Hadden said.

“We want everyone to enjoy this show, not just avid Shakespeare readers.”

Reichard also encourages audiences who may not be familiar with Shakespeare to go and try it.

“Everybody can enjoy Shakespeare,” Reichard said. “That’s a complete lie that people buy into all the time: that it’s not for them, especially in a production like this that’s going to have something for everyone; it’s so much fun and it’s such a charming, quirky romantic story that can appeal to anyone.”

Through the comedy and Shakespearean language in “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” Geffken hopes the audience will see an accurate portrayal of the human condition that still rings true hundreds of years after it was first written.

“Shakespeare and his understanding of the human condition is really what makes his plays last,” Geffken said. “… It’s the actor’s job to communicate that – there’s nothing worse than Shakespeare done poorly, and there’s nothing better than Shakespeare done well.”

“Love’s Labour’s Lost” opened on May 4 and is running at the Black Box Theater until May 13.

DEPIERO is the contributing editor.

A giving gala Club banquet celebrates year’s end Atang Agwe aagwe@liberty.edu

The Habitat for Humanity gala is an annual event that seeks to bring awareness to the building of homes for families in need in Lynchburg.

The event is hosted every spring by Greater Lynchburg’s Habitat for Humanity (GLHFH).

This year’s theme for the Habitat club’s gala was “Be the Light” and Blake Yaworski, a Liberty nursing student who has been a part of the organization for a little over a year, felt the theme was most fitting for the occasion.

“I think this was the perfect theme because ultimately, Jesus is the light that Habitat members strive to show others,” Yaworski said. “What is so neat about Habitat is that through serving, we can show others the light (that) Jesus has to offer that will hopefully impact people in the community for the rest of their lives.”

Yaworski has seen firsthand the impact that GLHFH has had on herself and the many families that the club has been able to assist.

She came out to the gala proud of the service that has been accomplished through the hard work, willingness, dedication and love shown by the club and its members toward

Jack Panyard | Liberty Champion

TELLING — Liberty student John Vence shared a story from his own life.

Speaking truth Atang Agwe | Liberty Champion

GATHERING — The Habitat for Humanity club hosted a gala to fundraise and inform.

locals of Lychburg.

Yaworski’s love for serving others has grown deeply ever since she joined Habitat’s club. “(GLHFH) has allowed me to see the need in Lynchburg of so many people, and it’s been a blessing to try and bless someone else’s life,” Yaworski said. “In a way, Habitat has humbled me to put others before myself by giving my time.”

See Gala, B8

Story Slam incites spoken word club Sarah Jackson sjackson81@liberty.edu

It all began with one performance.

The poetry slam event on April 6, Stories That Matter, was supposed to be a one-time event. But its impact spread so quickly that the story slam participants decided to start a spoken word club at Liberty University.

According to Rebekah Sharpe, who performed that night, the impact of Stories That Matter snowballed right away.

“On the night of spoken word, we were all just telling each other, ‘Hey you did a great job, that was amazing,’” Sharpe said. “And the more that we were talking to each other

– those of us who did spoken word and poetry – the more we were like, ‘Why don’t we have a club for this?’”

Denise Thomas, forensics coach and a coordinator for the Stories That Matter event, said the response to it was overwhelming, and over 200 people attended the event.

“To have that many people come out for an event like that, and a late-night event, is really wonderful,” Thomas said. “As soon as it was over, people were asking ‘When are we going to do this again,’ and before I left that night Emmanuel (Cuffee) said, ‘Can you help us start a club?’”

See Poetry, B6