Virginia AG Miyares visits Convocation, government classes, urging students to ‘anchor hope in Christ’

Wednesday’s Convocation at Liberty University featured Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, who empowered students to find their purpose in Christ, trust in God’s calling, and love their neighbors as Jesus loved.

“If there’s anything I could entrust to you all is to anchor your hope in Christ and not the world, because the world will disappoint you, but we know that we have a higher calling in the kingdom,” Miyares said to over 10,000 students in the Vines Center.

Miyares served in the Virginia House of Delegates (2016-21) prior to his election as attorney general in November 2021. He is the first Hispanic American to serve in statewide office in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the first son of an immigrant to serve as attorney general. His mother pursued the American Dream after fleeing Communist Cuba in the 1970s.

Miyares told the Convocation audience that he originally had no interest in running for attorney general, because he didn’t think he would defeat the incumbent. But he felt convicted after his wife, Paige, encouraged him to rise to the challenge, saying, “The Lord does not call us to victory. The Lord calls us to obedience.”

“We all have a rendezvous with destiny, to answer God’s calling, even if it is difficult,” he added.

Miyares reminded students that the real heroes in society are not necessarily the famous public figures, but rather the humble servants who truly enact change.

“The real heroes are the quiet heroes,” he said, “the ones who show up at unique moments and show the unique bravery of 1,000 lions.”

Miyares told the story of 16-year-old Barbara Johns, who was divinely inspired to lead a student walkout in Farmville, Va., to protest segregation. The 400-plus student demonstration was four years before the famous actions of Rosa Parks and 12 years before Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

“That is what true bravery and courage looks like,” Miyares said of Johns. “When a quieted hero has the strength of 1,000. … It’s amazing what happens when you take that step of faith.”

Miyares closed his Convocation address by encouraging students to lead a life of diligence, because the Lord calls Christians to reject a life of comfort and convenience.

“We live in a time of both conspicuous consumption and social media that sends us so many voices about what should be valued,” he said. “In many ways, we have replaced human relationships with pixels on a screen.”

“You have so many voices on Instagram, YouTube, and Tik Tok, and the (rest of the) Internet begging us to go down a road that actually ends in a dead end,” he added. “The reality is that it is not fame that should be the anchor of your life. It should be your faith, your family, and also your friends.”

Prior to his Convocation message, the Virginia Beach native spoke in two Helms School of Government classes, where he focused on federalism and the separation of powers in the American government system.

“To know where we’re going, we have to know where we came from,” he told the government students. “Our founders were worried about two things above all else. They were worried about anarchy, and they were worried about monarchy. They didn’t want a government with too much power, so it’s been an amazing seesaw throughout our history of what that looks like. Our system is so unique compared to the rest of the world.”

He said the founders persevered to establish a solid foundation for government.

“I think that is the genius of our founders. They were dealing with this traumatic experience of living under tyranny. … That trauma influenced so much of how they formed this new government.”

He also gave students a glimpse into his job responsibilities as attorney general.

“It was really great to talk to them because so many of those students are interested in going into law enforcement or going into law,” Miyares said during an interview after Convocation. “I think it is a really, really noble profession, despite all the bad press that lawyers get.”

Wednesday marked Miyares’ second visit to Liberty. Last semester, the Helms School of Government and School of Law hosted Miyares at their annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Luncheon in October, where he spoke on the biblical ethics that built America and encouraged local law enforcement leaders to stand for justice, guard the weak, and protect the rule of law.

Miyares was the third high-ranking state official to visit Liberty since last spring; Gov. Glenn Youngkin addressed the student body at Convocation on March 25 in conjunction with the Helms School of Government’s public policy conference and Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears spoke in Convocation on Oct. 5 and was also part of the School of Business’ CEO Summit.