Construction workers walk down a spiral staircase while
fi nishing work on the new Center for Music and the Worship Arts building.
Across the academic commons,
students can now hang out at the Montview Student Union, a four-story, 168,000-square-foot building that also opened this fall. It features an eight-lane bowling alley, gaming area, meeting spaces for student clubs and organizations, a veteran’s center and six eateries, including a brick-oven pizza parlor and a teahouse. On the top floor, a ballroom opens out
onto a deck that provides a view of the still- under-construction, 275-foot-tall Freedom Tower, an iconic structure that will resemble a European bell tower. It will house Liberty’s School of Divinity. “At the center of campus, we wanted to
of 15,000 residential students. “And we had a repeat of that this year.” While the university has been attract-
ing students, it also has drawn national attention as a forum for political discussion. Presidential candidates Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders and Gary Johnson all have made appearances on campus dur- ing the election cycle. Jerry Falwell Jr. has been a vocal sup-
porter of Trump. That position prompted a group of students to circulate a petition in mid-October stating: “Donald Trump does not represent our values and we want noth- ing to do with him.” In response, Falwell issued a statement
that said he was “proud of these few students for speaking their minds” but also noted that his support for Trump does not represent an endorsement by the school. “I always make it clear to the media that my endorsement of Trump is my personal endorsement only and that I am not speaking for Liberty Uni- versity, its students, faculty or staff,” he said.
A construction storm A key requirement for recent Liberty
students is the ability to be at peace in the midst of a construction storm. Since 2011, the school has been carrying out a $500 million building and campus transformation campaign. Liberty is tearing down buildings constructed in the 1970s while upgrading others and erecting Jeffersonian-style aca- demic halls, athletic facilities, dorms, park- ing garages and a library. On any given day, there are up to 3,000 construction workers on campus. “It’s been hectic, but it’s worth it,” says
Kara Witt, a third-year music student who has spent her entire academic career in the
shadow of towering cranes and the constant sound of hammers and drills. “We all feel really blessed. The fact that there’s a lot going on here is a good thing.” That’s especially true for Witt and the
nearly 1,400 undergraduate and graduate students who make up Liberty’s School of Music, now the seventh-largest — and fastest-growing — music program in the country. This fall, they moved into the school’s
new $70 million, 168,000-square-foot Cen- ter for Music and the Worship Arts, which features an education wing with 50 practice rooms, 42 teaching studios and three recital halls.
The building’s academic area boasts a
“box-in-box” design that ensures that each room is fully soundproof (a critical feature since the building sits right next to a rail line).
The center’s 1,600-seat concert hall is
equipped with 360 speakers and a Meyer Sound Constellation Acoustic System. That system can be raised or lowered to adjust for the differing sound levels and echo effects of various types of musical events, including classical symphonies and rock concerts. Meanwhile, a new digital studio, set to be unveiled next spring, will be hardwired to the concert hall and other rooms for live recording of performances. “In terms of technology, there’s not
a building like it anywhere in the United States,” says Brad Butler, Liberty’s planning and construction coordinator. “We expect this space to attract members of the com- munity who wouldn’t otherwise come to campus, as this will be a premiere space for concerts, lectures and even, potentially, presidential debates.”
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do something special that would symbolize what we do here — which is spread the Gospel,” explains Butler. Liberty also soon will finish construc- tion on an indoor practice facility for the football team, an indoor track and field center and a natatorium that will feature an Olympic-size competition pool and a 17-foot diving well.
Education pioneers Ironically, achieving the grand vision
required Liberty officials to take an unex- pected detour through the valley of the shadow of death. For the first two decades, Liberty was subsidized with donations obtained through the elder Falwell’s televi- sion ministry, the “Old Time Gospel Hour.” After high-profile scandals involving tel- evangelists Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart in the 1980s, however, people quit giving money to TV ministries. Liberty officials suddenly had to make
do without millions of dollars in financial support for school operations while coping with more than $82 million in short-term debt. The school soon was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. “It was a really difficult, uncomfortable
time for everyone,” recalls Jerry Falwell Jr. Having just come on board as the school’s general counsel, he worked closely with his father, other school leaders, lawyers and accountants during the next 15 years to restructure the debt and develop a sustain- able business model. “If it hadn’t been for those times of adversity, though, we wouldn’t have had to really stretch and think outside of the box and come up with different mea- sures to operate more efficiently and frugally. It was a blessing, really.”
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