A message from the Spring 2022 Liberty Champion graduating staff members

I never knew this small little office labeled “The Liberty Champion” would become such a staple piece in my college experience — and in many ways, it felt just like home. I first got involved with the Champion through CSER my sophomore year of college. This then transitioned into becoming the news editor last semester and the editor-in-chief this semester […]

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Alumni’s Communication Talents Leads Him TO Successful Career In Hometown

He loved to tell stories – sports stories in particular. When he applied for the sports editor position at the Liberty Champion, so did four other highly qualified students. Andrew Woolfolk (2013) ultimately accepted the position of opinion editor to gain valuable experience working for Liberty’s campus newspaper, which now circulates 13,000 weekly issues as well as online content. He […]

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Alumni ’96: Josh Cooley

College life often contains twists and turns that no one can plan for. Josh Cooley, who graduated from Liberty in 1996, experienced that phenomenon. The Silver Spring, Maryland native came to Liberty with a passion for sports writing. When he arrived in Lynchburg in the fall of 1992, he immediately got involved with the Champion newspaper by covering sporting events. […]

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Alumni ’10: Mandi Sokolik

Certain people in this world have the innate drive to constantly better themselves and to look for opportunities where they can learn and do their best. Mandi Sokolik is one of these people. During her time at the Champion, Mandi’s desire to grow and work hard led her to form important relationships and write impactful stories that would affect the […]

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Loving the Similar like it is New: Alumni, Leah Stauffer

Dreams change, people change, experiences grow and people grow. Typically, a dream of the future from high school does not remain as a long-term goal, however in Leah Stauffer’s case, it did.  Leah said her high school photography teacher encouraged her to develop herself into the photographer she is today. She started her own business photographing weddings and engagements, while […]

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Alumni: Quinn Barefoot

Change is an inherent part of life that often leads people down paths they never expected. No matter how much people plan out their futures, life always seems to find a way to flip their plans upside down.  When Quinn Barefoot graduated college, she didn’t expect she would soon move to a completely new and unfamiliar place. She didn’t expect […]

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Alumni: Rich Maclone

Being a sports journalist might be covering an everyday game, or it might be covering the story of a lifetime. Rich Maclone has been writing sports stories since he started writing for the Liberty Champion in the 90s.  Maclone said he covered a story close to Christmas in 2017 that reshaped his life. Two high school ice hockey players were […]

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A Voice for the Voiceless: ‘16 Alumni Josh Gordon

Josh Gordon is working for an organization striving to improve youth justice systems across the country. He is the communications manager for the National Juvenile Justice Network(NJJN), a movement of state-based juvenile justice organizations advocating for fairer juvenile justice systems.  “Nationwide, children are being incarcerated, and we are not seeing much benefit to that,” Josh said. “When young people leave these […]

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