Last week, Jerry Falwell‘s Liberty University stripped the Democratic Party club of their status as an official campus group.
Over the weekend, Chancellor and President Jerry Falwell, Jr. issued a public statement explaining the school’s decision.
Let’s analyze…
The University has not banned Democrats from campus. Nor has the Democrat club been banned from meeting. And, never has the University or its’ officials said that a person cannot be a Christian and a Democrat. Sorry for those who want to run with these titillating soundbites, but these are the facts.
The students who formed the Democrat club last October are good students. They are pro-life and believe in traditional marriage. They can continue to meet on campus. The only thing that has changed came about as part of a University-wide review of all student organizations for official recognition status. Official recognition carries with it the benefit of using the University name and funds. While this group will not be an officially recognized club, it may still meet on campus.
In other words, the student Democrats can meet… we’re just not going to give them a room to meet in, or funding to hold events, or the opportunity to advertise their group’s meetings on campus.
Oh… and you’re all horrible, evil people for thinking women should be allowed to decide what happens to their own bodies and for supporting the Gays.
Liberty University is the world’s largest and fastest growing evangelical university. While many schools have faced budget short falls and declining enrollment, Liberty is debt free and continues to grow at a rapid rate. We now have 11,500 students on campus and nearly 38,000 students online. This fall Liberty University will exceed 50,000 total students.
This has nothing to do with the issue at hand… we just wanted to promote the fact that our school has a nearly 95% acceptance rate of students, making us one of the least selective colleges in the country.
Liberty brings many diverse speakers to campus… Last year Senator John McCain’s brother spoke to the students along with Virginia Democratic Governor, Tim Kaine. Dr. Bernice King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke to our students this Spring about how her opposition to same sex marriage put her at odds with her family and her political allies. Ted Kennedy also spoke at Liberty in 1983.
When we were in the midst of a major election, we dared to bring representatives from both major parties to our campus! Look at how open-minded we are!
Oh. And liberal Ted Kennedy came to our school more than 25 years ago.
(Did they really include that last line? Really?)
