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This Month and Next

Check the Academic Calendar for Spring 2025.

New students’ Move-In is Thursday, Jan. 9. Dining Hall opens for new students at 12 p.m.
Welcome Week activities are Jan. 9-13!
- The spring’s Parent and Family Session is Thursday, Jan. 9, at 3 p.m. in the Center for Natural Sciences. There is a pre-session tabling event to meet various student!
- See Spring 2025 Welcome Week digital pdf for descriptions of all the activities during Welcome Week.
Returning students’ Move-In is Friday, Jan. 10. Dining Hall opens for returning students at breakfast.
Add/Drop Week is Jan. 13-17. Friday, Jan. 17, is the last day to add or drop a class.
Day of Service is Jan. 20 in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. No residential courses meet Jan. 20.
Visit Liberty Dining for locations and hours of service this semester.
ID & Campus Services has answers to Flames Pass, Flames Cash, and Dining Dollars.

February Looking Ahead: The Registrar’s Commencement webpage will have information about Spring 2025’s graduation ceremonies. To participate, Graduating Seniors must complete all the steps on the graduation application checklist! The deadline to apply is March 23 at Graduation Preparation.

Prayer Points

Renew your spiritual battle plan; armor up with Ephesians 6:10-18. Pray for students to submit themselves to use their time wisely and to make decisions that are “yes” to loving God first (Proverbs 15:22; James 1:5-6). May they also grow their relationships with others in ways that honor the Lord (Hebrews 12:14) and create fellowship with life-giving conversations (Ephesians 4:29-32).

Begin this year with a new approach to talking and making decisions with your student.

Consider How to Talk to a College Student. Other articles are also available For Your First Year that may inspire your relationship and our Parent and Family Connections Blogs have even more encouragement for the college family experience.

We pray that your student thrives in every way while they are here at Liberty. For all the ways that you give them encouragement along the way, the Frequently Asked Questions webpage can help you know where to send them on campus for assistance.

College Parenting Tip of the Month

When talking about independence or adulting, agree on what the terms mean. For instance, when you say “independent”, what does that mean to you; what does it mean to your student? (James 1:19-20).

Quote/Resource of the Month

“I Said This, You Heard That” by Kathleen Edelman is descriptive and insightful to any one who reads it. GoodReads.com has an excellent, brief review of Edelman’s resource.

This Month’s Theme: New Beginnings, New Creation

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

What We Hold In Our Hands

Tamatha Anthony, Parent and Family Connections

The following article was initially shared as a blog post in 2022 but its encouragement has no expiration date. Allow the Lord to bless you today as He did yesterday because He is faithful to complete all things that He calls you to do. God is good. Always.

“May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us – yes, establish the work of our hands” (Psalm 90:17).

From the moment we first hold our newborn child in our hands, we are attached! We watch everything about them and journal and snap photos. We remember their first smile, first word, first step…first tears, first day at school. Maybe there are memories that make you chuckle now in amazement. You know! Those moments that at the time you weren’t sure if you all would make it through the nerves and fears (first day driving!) or their first solo. God is good. He is faithful.

Fast forward the years to their first day at college when you dropped them off. You might have felt like you weren’t going to make it through the nerves and fears then either. But you did, and you still are. God is good. He is faithful.

Life as a college family is a developing process. You didn’t become all that you can be as a family on the first day of college. You will continue to practice good conversations about weekly check-ins or daily “likes” to texts; dining and laundry expenses, and Flames Cash; budgeting and stewardship; times for planning ahead or spontaneity. You will experience worries and doubts, as those come to both sides of the conversations – the students away from home and the families back at home. God is good, and He is faithful in those, too.

Graduation is coming; it is the dream, the hope, and the plan. Do you feel the tension that comes from wanting so much to hold onto their status as a child, but you also know that opening your hands to give them fully to the Lord’s watch-care and blessing is the next best stage of your life?

Be brave. Take courage for the Lord is with you and with them. He is with them through every day of college. He is with you through every day of college. He will help them to become the adult version of themselves that He has in mind for them. Do not hold tightly to them to control but open your hands and give control to the Lord. Hold instead to His truth and faithfulness. God is good. He is faithful.

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 4:7, NIV).

“…that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).

Birthdays and Care Packages

Shelby Stidham, Liberty Dining Services

Liberty Dining offers baked goods and care packages through their online gift shop. While the website will ask for shipping information, all orders are pick-up only at the front desk of the Reber-Thomas Dining Center.

Family members may use the university address to satisfy the requirement in the cart process. Use this address: 1971 University Blvd., Lynchburg, VA 24515. When the order is ready to be picked up, your student will be called and/or texted to let them know. If you have any questions regarding your order, please email libertydining@liberty.edu.

PFC’s Mission for Families | From the First Day of Class to Commencement

At Liberty University, you can rest assured that the values you instilled in your children will not be undermined. We take pride in creating an environment where your student feels they have a home away from home. Whether you are a parent, grandparent, or guardian, we are committed to collaborating with you in guiding your student through the challenges and triumphs of the next few years.

Our goal is to support student success and promote an appropriate role for parents and families within the campus community. We hope to encourage you through your transition as a college family. As you move away from the daily monitoring of your child’s decisions and into the role of a coach who listens, prays, guides, and promotes their resiliency, some days may feel like a struggle. The challenges and struggles – and prayers – are all parts of growth.

The First Days

The first semester in particular will give rise to new experiences, new questions, and many opportunities for your student to practice becoming an advocate of their own – housing, food, time management, friendships, classes, the pace of communication with you, and more.

For Your First Year – interprets the key dates and activities on the university’s schedule (i.e., the academic calendar)
Parent & Family Guide 2024-25 – equips LU families with an easy reference to the college schedule and offices
Frequently Asked Questions – recommends the departments that support your student’s success on campus

Every Semester

Most importantly, pray. Cover the highs and lows your student may experience during their academic journey using our Timeline as a guide. We have monthly College Parenting news, and just for you, there are regular Blogs for encouragement on your faith journey as a college parent.

We exist to support the mission of Liberty University Training Champions for Christ by sharing information with students’ family members about the resources, programs, and activities available on campus. Our purpose is to build relationships between parents and the university, promote student success, and support parents through the transition of their students being at college – all the while praying for their highest calling in Jesus Christ.