The start of any new year is a good time for reflection. This year, in particular, as I look out on the bulldozers and cranes and Virginia dirt so familiar now on campus, I can’t help but think what a monumental time this is for Liberty. The new developments and the new buildings — they are testaments, tributes; they are milestones marking our progress. Stand in any spot on campus and you’ll be standing on answered prayers. You’ll be looking up at structures grounded in faith.
These milestones mark not only how far we’ve come, but how far we’re going to go. In 2012 we opened the doors to the new Hancock Welcome Center and broke ground on our highly anticipated Jerry Falwell Library, as well as on our new baseball stadium and the Center for Medical and Health Sciences. The vision once cast is taking shape as a university like no other. Liberty has emerged as one of the preeminent universities not only in the Christian community, but in the nation. Our newly formed School of Music (already the seventh largest in the country) will see construction begin on its own building this year, and the first of six new residence halls will go up on the Circle.
But we’re not just building a campus here; we’re building lives. I encourage you to flip through the pages of this Journal because on them you’ll find blueprints for the future. Our students are Liberty’s greatest construction project. We are using every available resource to acquire exceptional faculty and staff, to build exceptional educational facilities and training grounds, to do what it takes so that exceptional graduates take their Liberty diplomas and use them to build a better future for this country and for the world.
Our nation is standing at a crossroads — recent political events have placed Liberty in a position of unique opportunity. We’re not afraid to be there. Whether in the courts, on fields of competition, or in any academic arena, we are committed to turn every opportunity we’re given into a flame of excellence for God’s glory. The world has noticed, and others in the spotlight are drawn to Liberty. They film us. They write about us. They come and speak to us.
Liberty is growing, not just in square footage, but in influence and in impact. 2013 will bear witness to the mark Liberty is leaving on the world.
Sincerely,
Jerry Falwell, Jr.
Chancellor and President
