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First-year law students participate in local service work before classes begin

Incoming School of Law students paint the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center. (Photos by Caroline Cummings)

Incoming Liberty University School of Law students spent Saturday afternoon painting the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center as a way to kick off their academic year by serving the community.

“It is very exciting to see this first-year class come together and get out here and get involved in service,” said B. Keith Faulkner, dean of Liberty Law. “The legal profession is a service profession, and these folks are starting out their law school careers serving others selflessly.”

Faulkner joined 25 of his 77 new law students, as well as a handful of faculty members, giving the center a fresh look, inside and out.

“Liberty has done such amazing things with the service opportunities at the undergraduate level, and we are certainly trying to build on that at the law school,” he said. “We are really proud to be Lynchburg’s law school and we want Lynchburg to be proud of us, and getting out here serving in the community is going to help that.”

The Christian center offers free, confidential services to women, including pregnancy testing, ultrasounds and counseling. In addition to offering support and resources to new and expecting mothers, the center helps strengthen families through a number of courses and Bible studies.

“A lot of our women are walking in here in a crisis situation,” said Jennifer Snellings, executive director of the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center. “Today the students showed their willingness to come and serve others. They may not ever see the clients, but they are willing to come and give their hearts and make something beautiful and welcoming and inviting.”

Though incoming law student Kristen Trivett has been busy getting ready for an intense year of school (classes start on Monday, Aug. 28), the project was important to her.

“My goal is to help other people,” she said. “Being a lawyer is all about helping other people. I will probably be pretty busy during the semester, so anytime I can find time to go out and help the community, I want to.”

Trivett earned her pre-law degree at Liberty, where she said she learned “the importance of community work and doing something for someone other than yourself.”

Noting that most of her classmates are driven, assertive people, Trivett said the group worked hard and quickly.

“I’m not worried about my clothes,” she said, wiping paint on her T-shirt. “Everyone is very positive, helpful, so nice, and working hard. …It was a great way to start out law school.”

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