Liberty Welcomes Students Back From Break Despite Coronavirus

LYNCHBURG, VA — Thousands of students are being welcomed back to Liberty University's campus this week from spring break, as the Lynchburg, Virginia, college defies the national trend of university closures in an attempt to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19. Local officials were caught off guard by Liberty University's decision, with the mayor calling it a "reckless decision to bring students back on campus at this time."

Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. said between several hundred and 5,000 students are expected to live in campus dorms this spring, where they will continue coursework online rather than in classrooms.

“I think we have a responsibility to our students — who paid to be here, who want to be here, who love it here — to give them the ability to be with their friends, to continue their studies, enjoy the room and board they’ve already paid for and to not interrupt their college life,” Falwell told The News & Advance.

When Liberty University students were on spring break last week, university officials discussed whether to bring them back to campus after the break ended. The decision came down to whether to extend the break and risk students having a longer time to become exposed to the coronavirus and bring the virus back to Lynchburg, or let them return right away to campus after spring break, the university said.

“Our thinking was, ‘Let's get them back as soon as we can' — the ones who want to come back,” Falwell said Monday in a statement.

On Tuesday, Virginia health officials reported 290 confirmed positive cases of the coronavirus, an increase of 36 cases in the state from the day before. Virginia Beach officials also reported the first death from the coronavirus in their jurisdiction, lifting the number of deaths in Virginia to seven as of Tuesday.

As one of the leading evangelical Christian universities in the world, Liberty University has a diverse enrollment, with students from all 50 states and about 900 international students. The mix of students will be returning to the Lynchburg community from areas of the country that have been harder hit by the coronavirus than southwest Virginia. The City of Lynchburg has a population of about 75,000.

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Lynchburg Mayor Treney Tweedy issued a statement Tuesday in which he informed city residents that neither he nor the city manager endorsed having the students return to Liberty University’s campus or any of the other college campuses in the community. "In fact, it is quite the opposite,” Tweedy said.

Lynchburg is also home to the the University of Lynchburg and several other colleges are located nearby. The University of Lynchburg is conducting classes online for the remainder of the semester and is not allowing students to return to campus.

“I was very surprised and disappointed to later learn of President Falwell’s most recent decision to allow students back on campus,” Tweedy said. “We are in the midst of a public health crisis. I am concerned for the students, faculty and employees at Liberty University, and I am also very concerned for the residents of the Lynchburg community."

While Liberty University is an important part of the city, "I believe it was a reckless decision to bring students back on campus at this time," the mayor said.

Other universities in Virginia have shut down their campuses, including student housing, to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus on campus and surrounding communities. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Monday ordered K-12 schools, both public and private, to remain closed for the rest of the academic year in an attempt to minimize the spread of the new coronavirus, or COVID-19.

The university is taking some steps to address the coronavirus pandemic. Gatherings in campus buildings, including some classes still holding in-person meetings, are capped at 10 people in accordance with an order issued Monday by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam. Dining halls are only providing takeout service.

The university was founded as Lynchburg Baptist College in 1971 by evangelical minister Jerry Falwell, the father of the university's current president. The name was changed to Liberty Baptist College in 1976 before settling on its current name in 1984.

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the state's coordinating body that makes public policy recommendations on higher education to the governor and General Assembly, told Patch it is not making any recommendations regarding universities and the coronavirus.

The governor's office had not responded to a request for comment on whether the administration plans to address Liberty University's decision to open its campus to students returning from spring break.

Marybeth Davis Baggett, a professor of English at Liberty University, wrote in a op-ed published Sunday by the Religion News Service that the Liberty University board should stop Falwell and shut the campus down "before it's too late."

Baggett told The News & Advance that she has refused to return to campus during the coronavirus crisis. "As a Liberty faculty member, I have been told that my colleagues and I must conduct our classes from our offices, even though that instruction is now being delivered virtually," Baggett wrote in her op-ed. "We are also expected to hold office hours and welcome students for face-to-face interaction."

"This foolhardy decision tracks Falwell’s conspiratorial thinking about COVID-19 and smacks of defiance," Baggett said. Falwell has made it clear that he canceled residential classes for legal, not moral, reasons, she added.

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