President’s Circle Dinner celebrates God’s provision with friends in the mission

Liberty University’s Office of Development hosted its annual President’s Circle Dinner on Saturday, welcoming friends and supporters for a time of reflection on how their gifts have contributed to the well-being and growth of students and university operations and have advanced the mission of Training Champions for Christ.

Throughout the event in the Montview Student Union, Alumni Ballroom, guests heard messages of gratefulness and encouragement from university leadership and testimonials from students whose donor-funded scholarships have allowed them to pursue their callings through hardships.

“We are here to celebrate God’s faithfulness and your generosity,” Executive Vice President of Development Brian Mentzer said in opening the evening. “We have seen tremendous growth here at Liberty University and in gifts and commitments from you, our donors. Tonight, we simply want to say, ‘Thank you.’”

Chancellor Jonathan Falwell spoke about the history of Liberty University, which he’s seen firsthand for 59 years as a son of Liberty’s late founder Dr. Jerry Falwell. He shared how the university was not always as successful as it is today, including in the early years when many doubted it would take shape and during financial struggles when people thought the doors would close. He said his father never acknowledged those fears because he had faith in what God had already provided. From day one, Falwell said, there has been a constant on Liberty Mountain: the presence of the hand of God.

“There have been difficult moments, challenging moments, and moments in which, to be honest with you, people questioned whether Liberty would be able to continue. I remember back in those days … that my dad never even gave it a second thought. I remember that look on his face, with confidence in his eyes, because he just simply knew that if God was in it, God would do it,’” Falwell said. “He’d tell them that it was all good. What I’m here to tell you tonight is that not only is it all good; it’s all God. God has done some incredible things here on this campus.”

He said Liberty’s global impact today would not be possible without the generous supporters for over five decades who have believed in God’s provision and his father’s vision, sacrificially gave, and are now seeing the university thrive.

“My dad got his vision, and then he started sharing with people like you, and other people began to see what God wanted to do here,” he said. “It’s because of hundreds of thousands of others who came alongside him with the same mission, same passion, and same desire, and I believe the world has been changed because of what God has done right here.”

Liberty University School of Law 2L Gracie Carter shared how she was newly married when she moved to Lynchburg from Dallas to undertake the rigors of law school and was experiencing financial instability. Thanks to the Ebenezer Scholarship offered through the School of Law, Carter’s tuition and some other school costs have been covered.

“You’ve taught me something very important: to lean into the Lord in everything and to give everything over to Him, even when things are challenging,” Carter told the President’s Circle members. “At Liberty, I’m not only equipped with all of the necessary tools for this role, but the underlying principles of how to best serve as a faithful advocate. The education I have received here makes me very proud to pursue law, and it makes me 100% very excited to serve the Lord through the rest of my journey.”

“Each time that you decide to give to Liberty, please recognize that you’re multiplying the Kingdom’s impact far beyond this campus,” she added. “You’re not only helping equip students to be excellent in their careers, but also for them to share the hope of the Gospel with countless other people. God works through and in every story, and if we put our faith and trust in Him, He will answer.”

Likewise, sophomore mechanical engineering student Ryan Hostetter said he was met by an outpouring of financial, spiritual, and even physical support by his Liberty family when a fire struck his family’s cattle farm in Powhatan, Va. Last April, one week after he went on an LU Serve trip to help victims of the 2023 wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii, Hostetter received a call from his parents saying that a fire had burned down their farmer’s market, feed store, machine shop, farm equipment, and decades of family heirlooms.

“I remember during that (LU Serve) trip, walking through those burned areas, and wondering how the town could move forward with so many scars visible all around them,” Hostetter said. “Little did I know that I would soon be discovering an all too personal understanding of the trials that they were dealing with. Liberty may be an institution, but the Liberty family is the people who came alongside my family during this tragedy.”

A group of friends and fellow Liberty students showed up at the farm less than a week after the fire to help with cleanup. In the weeks and months that followed, he received countless prayers and messages from professors and students, and a donor-funded scholarship provided financial relief for his family. Almost a year later, his family has reopened their farm store and farmer’s market in a revitalized warehouse.

“I am incredibly grateful for these gifts, these scholarships, because they reach so much further than you will ever see,” Hostetter said. “They reflect the heart of Jesus, and that is what this university’s foundation is built upon.”

Liberty President Dondi E. Costin said the investments made by Liberty’s supporters will continue to show a generous return in the form of thousands of Champions for Christ who graduate every year.

“When we think about what our product is, our product is not a piece of paper with a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree or a doctoral degree, even though it is that too. Even more than that is the Champion for Christ, the human being who was made in God’s image, who has been raised up because of what Liberty University is and always has been. Because of the investments that you have made and continue to make in the lives of these students, you have a significant role to play in Training Champions for Christ.”

During the dinner, Costin presented Liberty’s first Legacy Champion Award in recognition of a major gift recently made to support the Liberty Mountain Equestrian Center. (Read the full story.)

The President’s Circle recognizes generous donors who have contributed to making Liberty’s mission a reality. For more information on preserving Christ-centered education and Training Champions for Christ, visit Liberty.edu/Giving or call (800) 543-5309.