FOX News’ Judge Jeanine admonishes students to ‘plant their stake’ for truth

Students at Liberty University’s Convocation on Friday were told repeatedly that they are the future and that in order to secure that future they must be fortified with integrity and good character.

Judge Jeanine Pirro, a FOX News personality and former New York prosecutor and district attorney, returned to campus after speaking in Convocation and at the School of Law last April. She is the host of FOX News’ “Justice with Judge Jeanine” and contributes legal insights on the news of the week to other programs. Her recent book, “Liars, Leakers, and Liberals,” is a No. 1 New York Times best-seller.

Pirro said she enjoyed her last visit to Liberty and looks forward to each opportunity she has to come back, telling the students that “you are the future, and you are the people who will decide the direction that this nation takes.”

“I want to give you hope, and I want to give you faith to believe in yourself with God’s help,” Pirro later explained. “I don’t care if you want to be an astronaut, a rocket scientist, an engineer, a doctor, a lawyer — I think you can do it all here at Liberty University. I love this place. I love Liberty University.”

Liberty does have a School of Engineering, College of Osteopathic Medicine, and School of Law, among various schools and colleges, offering more than 600 programs of study.

President Jerry Falwell welcomed Pirro back to Liberty, noting her firebrand approach to standing up for her convictions.

“She’s tough. You want to stay on her good side,” Falwell said. “She’s really an accomplished attorney, judge, and TV personality, and we are very fortunate to have her here at Liberty.”

In her speech, Pirro challenged the crowd to remember that each person is an independent-thinking individual, a “special person that God made.”

“Remember, no matter who you are and what you do, it is God who is the wind beneath your sails,” she said “It is God who takes you to the heights and lifts you up when you are down.”

She shared her story of entering the law profession and being told repeatedly that she could not try cases, on the basis of her sex alone. But the strength of her convictions exceeded that of her opposition. Pirro was eventually elected district attorney, responsible for over 40,000 cases per year. She piloted the nation’s first program focused on protecting victims of domestic violence.

“I have spent my life in the trenches where the fight between good and evil unfolds every day,” Pirro said. “It matters not what the context is. You will be confronted with good and evil for the rest of your life.”

She told students how to approach that battle.

“You are going to put a stake in the ground and say, ‘I can do this,’ and you are going to stand as a witness to that belief, and you are not going to let anyone push you off that belief because you are the one who determines your destiny, no one else.”

On Friday afternoon, Pirro spent time on campus interviewing students for her show.

Junior Marina Jennings, who is studying graphic design, was sitting on the steps of the Montview Student Union when she was asked to be interviewed.

“It was a very cool experience,” she said.

Jennings appreciated the opportunity to talk with Pirro about current political issues, including President Donald Trump’s religious rhetoric and the Supreme Court nomination hearings.

“This year, I really pushed to try to get to know what is going on in my country because I’ve realized these are going to be the people running our country,” Jennings said. “We kind of have to know what’s going on both sides. … If you only include yourself into one side of it, then you can’t know what’s going on the other side. You have to realize there are brothers and sisters in Christ who are not here on this campus and do not believe similar things.”

In Convocation, students also had a chance to hear from Corey Stewart, the Republican challenger in Virginia’s upcoming U.S. Senate election. Stewart and incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine recently participated in a live televised Town Hall on campus.

Stewart encouraged the crowd to use their voice to steer America away from the corruption he sees in Washington.

“This generation from this great university, you can take this country back,” Stewart said. “You can stand up for your Constitution.”