Liberty University Students Weigh in on Jerry Falwell Jr. Asking Them to Return to Campus Amid Coronavirus

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On Tuesday, Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. officially called for 5,000 students to return to campus amidst the growing coronavirus outbreak, going against the policies implemented by almost every public and private university in the United States.

The decision by Falwell has been scrutinized by experts over the last couple of days. But interviews with members of the Liberty student body and residents of the college town Lynchburg, Virginia, paint a different picture: Some at Liberty University want to stay on campus and live out the rest of the academic school year in-person, even if that means going against the guidelines of the Center of Disease Control.

“They’re taking serious sanitary precautions,” a senior at Liberty who lives on campus told Mediaite. “It’s also important for the workers cause they don’t have to get laid off like most other jobs. As long as they keep enforcing the 10 [people] policy and clean everything frequently, it’s fine.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, at least 1,100 students are on campus, a LU spokesperson told the Capital-Gazette. According to several students, they aren’t required to return to campus, but are encouraged to.

“Residential students go for residential classes, they want that experience,” said Dakota Horner, an aviation student at LU and resident of Lynchburg. “They’ve already paid for it.”

Falwell’s decision to welcome back his students and faculty goes against the CDC’s guidance for higher education, which encourages schools to “limit events and meetings that require close contact.” Virginia reported 37 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, upping its total to 259 in the state. 

Falwell was appointed in charge of Liberty in 2007 after the death of his father. The televangelist conservative has been a long-time supporter of President Donald Trump, and welcomed him to speak at Liberty University in May 2017. Falwell, a Fox News regular, said in February that “we treat students like customers.”

On Sunday night, Falwell told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, “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.”

Another student, who only takes online classes, agreed with Falwell’s decision. “There haven’t been any cases in Lynchburg yet,” they said, before acknowledging they weren’t a doctor.

One student told Mediaite they were going back to campus in order to eat: “I gotta get my money’s worth for this meal plan.”

Horner, who used to work in Liberty’s custodial staff, was confident students wouldn’t be unsafe returning.

“The staff already wipes down everything,” Horner said. “Liberty is already going along CDC guidelines. I can’t make a strong argument that it’s a good idea, but it’s easier.”

The CDC recommends Americans socially isolate and avoid any unnecessary human contact because of how contagious Covid-19 is. 17 states have implemented stay-at-home orders so far, according to CNN. Virginia is not one of them, but they’ve closed nonessential businesses.

On Monday, Marybeth Davis Baggett, as associate professor of English at Liberty, bashed the university for their decision. 

“I have no animus toward Jerry Falwell Jr,” Baggett wrote in the Religion News Service. “He simply should not have a monopoly on this decision. I think he is dangerously wrong here and seems unable or unwilling to recognize it. For that reason, the decision must be taken out of his hands.”

A Liberty University meme account on Instagram, @the.liberty.way, has criticized the decision of Falwell since March 15. In one post, the user took shots at the president for not “isolating at risk people on campus.” Others used the monopoly man, WWE wrestlers, and Shrek’s Lord Farquaad to take aim at “Jerry.”

Health officials around the state have reported fielding complaints about the decision. But some students are still unbothered. In her column, Baggett feared for Lynchburg residents who could be exposed to the virus because of the possibility of an influx of students.

One student, who lives in Lynchburg, told Mediate she went to Dunkin’ Donuts this morning and struck up a conversation with locals about the university’s decision. The student said that while she personally isn’t too nervous about the reopening of campus, the folks she spoke with at Dunkin Donuts feel differently.

“They were scared students were returning,” she said.