Digital display honors over 160,000 Liberty University supporters

As a way to remember its past and recognize the people who were pivotal in ensuring its future, Liberty University unveiled a virtual donor wall in the lobby of the Hancock Welcome Center in August that bears over 160,000 names of those who have contributed to university giving campaigns in the last 51 years.

Liberty has held multiple campaigns for donors to support the school financially, such as buying bricks in someone’s name for the building of the Schilling Center, naming a seat in the School of Law’s Supreme Courtroom or the Tower Theater, and adding an inscription to the school’s Liberty Bell. Assistant Director of Advancement Operations Dan Branda said that many of these names have not been visible on campus in more recent years.

“We’ve had campaigns for those buildings or places where people donated to the university, but those little bricks are no longer there since the buildings have been taken down over the years,” Branda said. “We’re trying to honor our legacy of donors, those who gave to Liberty when it didn’t have two nickels to rub together. We want to remember them because without their faithful giving we would not be where we are today.”

Roughly 100,000 of the names are people who gave to Liberty in its early years, from 1971 through 1990.

“A lot of these people have passed away, but their children or their grandchildren have kids here,” Branda said. “We wanted them to be able to say, ‘This is where my grandma, grandpa, father, or mother gave.’”

Plans call for a new virtual donor wall to be constructed in the Jerry Falwell Center, scheduled to open in 2024. For now, a large screen at the Welcome Center will display names of donors, categorized under the appropriate giving campaigns. Guests can use an iPad to search the platform, which is also available online.