Liberty leadership emphasizes important roles of faculty in ‘Training Champions for Christ’

Gathered in the Montview Alumni Ballroom on Wednesday morning, Liberty University’s faculty members were joined by new President Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Dondi E. Costin, Ph.D., for the first time in thanking God for His provision for the university and their ability to continue boldly teaching and shaping Champions for Christ.

The All-Faculty Orientation, held every semester, featured sessions by various members of Liberty’s leadership and information from multiple departments across the university ahead of the start of classes on Aug. 21. The morning session began with a time of worship, the national anthem, Pledge of Allegiance, and an introductory devotional, followed by messages from President Costin, Chancellor Jonathan Falwell, and Provost and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Scott Hicks.

In his first direct address to faculty since assuming his position as Liberty’s sixth president on July 1, Costin described his personal model for the role educators should play in the lives of their students, citing his eighth-grade teacher’s dedication to setting high standards and spurring her students to meet them.

“She would tolerate nothing other than her standard, which was far higher than any of us ever thought we could meet,” Costin said. “She never lowered the standard; what she did was motivate, encourage, and inspire us to meet the standard she set. I realized if I worked harder … I could meet the standard that she set for me.”

Costin said the faculty are the core source of impact and success in the lives and future careers of students.

“I think of you as the fundamental element of Liberty University,” he said. “I think of you as ones who are called by God to live your dream; not for your purposes, but for God’s purposes. To live your dream so that a young man or woman, who may look like you or me, can be motivated to do bigger things and better things for the glory of God.”

In carrying out his responsibilities to advance the mission, Costin echoed what he said in his introductory press conference in March: his vision for Liberty is the same vision that Liberty’s founder, Dr. Jerry Falwell, put forth at the university’s founding. He quipped that to ignore the original vision would be as if Joshua had chosen to lead the Israelites away from the Promised Land after Moses had already brought them through the desert for decades.

“My vision is exactly the same vision that Dr. Falwell had because that vision is not yet realized completely,” Costin said. “God has called us to march all the way to the Promised Land. What we get to do is Train Champions for Christ, and I cannot imagine a more lofty, meaningful, significant, rewarding way to spend your life than doing that every single day.”

As a son of Liberty founder Dr. Jerry Falwell, Jonathan Falwell, who assumed his role as the university’s chancellor in May, recalled what he has witnessed since “Day 1” of the university his father started — a university he said was established by people who “sacrificed everything” to raise the college from its humble, faithful beginning.

“My dad had the ability to stand up and cast the vision that we would build a school that would change the world, and he said that while students were having classes in the stairwells of Thomas Road Baptist Church,” Falwell said. “We are here today because from the beginning moments of this university, my dad knew one thing: man cannot do it, but God can. We sit here today and we recognize and see all the things that God has done on this campus. God built this university.”

God has continued to shape Liberty students into leaders in their respective fields, Falwell said, and he emphasized that the faculty who boldly serve the students play a significant role.

“Ultimately, the impact that has happened on this campus has been by you, the faculty,” he said. “The front lines of Training Champions for Christ are seated in this room. Don’t ever lose sight of the fact that every time you have the opportunity of walking into that classroom and teaching whatever topic it is that you teach, you are standing there as representative of the God of the universe; that you are training the next generation of leaders who will go around the world and reach others with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Falwell shared an excitement and expectancy for what God will do in this new school year and era of the university.

“There is no institution on the face of the earth today that has more opportunity to change the world than this one,” he said. “I see the Spirit of God moving in this place unlike I’ve seen in a long time, and I’ve never been more excited about what God is doing on this campus than now. (President) Costin is a man of integrity, he is a man of deep faith, he is a pastor, he is an accomplished educator. He’s done all of the things that you’re supposed to do, but the most important thing about him is that he is a man committed to his Lord, his wife, and his ministry.”

In closing the morning session, Hicks charged the faculty to not discount the effect they can have on their past, present, and future students.

“Don’t underestimate the impact that this place has on this world,” he said. “I beg you to be obedient, to persist in obedience, so that you can achieve your part in (God’s purpose).”

Hicks concluded with a quote from Dr. Falwell: “If God’s people will see nothing but the goal line, will accept nothing but victory, will pay any price, will suffer any hurt and hardship, will refuse to be discouraged or disheartened, we cannot help but win because we are charged with the power of God’s Holy Spirit.”

After the morning session, the faculty joined other Liberty leadership, staff, and special guests at a formal ribbon-cutting for the new Reber-Thomas Dining Center, where they had lunch together and participated in the afternoon session.