Donald & diplomas

President Trump to speak at LU Commencement

Liberty University recently announced U.S. President Donald Trump will be the keynote speaker at Liberty’s 2017 Commencement ceremonies May 13 at 10 a.m.

Liberty announced the speaker March 22 after the White House formally announced Trump’s attendance, but according to Liberty President Jerry Falwell Jr., the announcement has been in the works for weeks.

Falwell said he sent a letter to then-President-elect Trump in December 2016, but after a few weeks of the subject not coming up when Falwell and Trump spoke, Falwell mentioned the request to Vice President Mike Pence.

Pence told Falwell he would work on it, and the next day after Falwell attended Lynchburg Mayor Joan Foster’s State of the City address, Pence called with the news.

“Just when she finished the vice president called, and he said ‘I’ve got a Commencement speaker for you,’” Falwell said.

“That’s when I found out it was confirmed.”

Trump’s attendance at Commencement was confirmed March 6.

With the possible anticipation of increased attendance due to the president’s arrival, Falwell said it is difficult to foresee exactly how many people will attend.

But the university is taking steps to ensure there is sufficient room for guests in Williams Stadium.

“We were planning to replace the visitor’s locker room since we moved up to FBS, but we went ahead and expedited the demolition,” Falwell said.

“So that building will be gone by graduation.

We’ll have a lot more temporary bleachers there than we normally do. We’re going to be ready in case it is a much bigger crowd.”

Falwell said the university is currently unaware of the number of security checkpoints the Secret Service will have on the day of graduation, but Liberty is making sure guests and graduates will be comfortable between security and the ceremony.

“We’re going to use the indoor football practice facility and the concourse, so students and their families can be out of the weather while they’re waiting after they go through security,” Falwell said.

“They can be out of the weather with refreshments available while they’re waiting for the ceremony to start.”

There have been talks about a time change in the schedule due to the president’s address, but Falwell said the university is leaning against the idea because the weather is usually at its best at 10 a.m.

The only other sitting president to speak at Liberty was George H. W. Bush who spoke May 13, 1990.

Falwell said Bush flew into Roanoke and arrived at the stadium by helicopter, but he anticipates Trump flying into the Lynchburg airport.

Falwell said Liberty is going to make sure students and guests are taken care of on Commencement day.

“We’re going to go the extra mile to make sure there is plenty of water, plenty of places out of the weather for students, for everybody to wait and to relax before the ceremony,” Falwell said.

Unrelated to Trump’s confirmation, Falwell and his family were invited to the White House for a visit.

Falwell said he spoke with Pence, toured the White House and spoke with Trump in the Oval Office.

“We talked about a lot of things, and he’s excited about Commencement (and) wanted to know all about it,” Falwell said.

“So I gave him a summary of how it works. He was impressed with how many people were going to attend.”

Students can find more information regarding Commencement by clicking on the Commencement tab of Liberty’s registrar’s page at liberty.edu/academics/registrar.

RODRIGUEZ is the editor-in-chief.