Sarah (Lane) Ray of Lynchburg was a member of the first class at Liberty University (then Lynchburg Baptist College) in 1971 and one of nine students to receive the first diplomas in 1973. She recalls the inaugural graduation, held on a Wednesday evening in the sanctuary of the old Thomas Road Baptist Church. The graduates were notified just two days before, and staff scrambled to find robes and plan the event.
Her final days as one of Liberty’s pioneers may have been a whirlwind, but Ray said being a part of the school’s history was special.
“Those of us in that first year were totally committed to the vision of Lynchburg Baptist College at the time. It was a big family atmosphere — it was great.”
Sarah Ray, who studied music, went on to teach music at Christian schools in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Richmond, Va., before returning to Lynchburg. She married Walter Ray in 1984.
The couple shared a special connection to Lynchburg and to Liberty’s founder, the late Dr. Jerry Falwell, who was their pastor when they were both saved as children. Falwell continued to personally invest in the couple, offering encouragement at pivotal times in their lives.
On Walter Ray’s 17th birthday, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and at age 22 was deployed to Vietnam.
“There wasn’t a week that went by that I didn’t get a letter from Dr. Falwell,” Walter Ray said. “I was there 53 weeks, and I have 53 letters. He’d ask me how things were going, tell me I was in his prayers and to keep my head up, and that if I needed anything, he would help me out.”
After the Army, Walter Ray worked in law enforcement in California and Arizona. He eventually returned to Lynchburg and headed up a local security company. He reconnected with Falwell at a local store, and the pastor playfully slapped him in the back of the head and said, “Hey boy, when are you coming to school — you need to be in the ministry.” Walter politely responded that he didn’t have the time because he was married and had a full-time job. “He told me, ‘Be in my office tomorrow at 9 a.m.’ So I gave in and when I came, Dr. Falwell said, ‘Class starts in 30 minutes, why are you here?’”
Walter Ray enrolled and earned a master’s degree in theology. He served a local church and helped start churches in New York. He now serves as assistant pastor at Jordan Baptist Church in Lynchburg.
The Rays said they’ve kept up with their alma mater and its rapid growth, visiting campus for athletic events and to view the new construction projects. They said it would come as no surprise to Dr. Jerry Falwell.
“The whole world may be surprised at what’s happened on this mountain, but he wouldn’t be,” Sarah Ray said. “It was his vision, and he knew it was going to happen.”
They said that the original vision for a world-class university is now fulfilled.
“I see it magnified in what Jerry Falwell Jr. is doing,” Walter Ray said. “He caught that vision, and he’s done exactly that. He’s taken his father’s dream, and he’s expanded it and made it possible. Now, the same schools that Dr. Falwell wanted Liberty to be like are the schools that are running right on Liberty’s heels.”
Share your accomplishments, career advancements, family news, celebrations, and other life events through Liberty’s Class Notes. Submissions will be published online and may be featured in the Liberty Journal.
