Ron Paul to speak at Friday’s convocation

U.S. Congressman Ron Paul, Republican candidate for president, will speak at Friday’s convocation service in the Vines Center. LU Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. made the announcement at Wednesday’s convocation.

Paul, a member of the House of Representatives for the 14th District of Texas, ran as a Libertarian for president in 1988. CNN currently ranks him 4th for the Republican Party in this election, with 16 pledged delegates.

Falwell said this is the fourth candidate to accept an invitation to speak at Liberty. (All presidential candidates have been invited).

“I don’t know of many colleges who’ve had four presidential candidates speak [from one election], so I think it’s an honor for Liberty,” he said.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee spoke in November, U.S. Sen. John McCain spoke at Liberty’s graduation in May 2006, and Alan Keyes, a former Assistant Secretary of State, spoke at convocation in September.

Falwell encouraged students to be respectful of any candidate who accepts the offer.

“This one’s a little more controversial than the others,” he told students when announcing Paul’s scheduled visit. “So in that same spirit of letting the world know we’re different, I hope that we’ll be respectful. He might say some things you all might not agree with. … I think we need to show the world how we’re different, when we have other speakers in that aren’t necessarily in line with everything that we believe.”

Paul, a former OB/GYN, supports the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman, but opposes any federal marriage definition. He opposes abortion rights, but wants a decision at the state level. He also voted against use of military force in Iraq.