Liberty parents take part in special move-in day events as they join the LU family

As 4,700 new residential undergraduate students arrived on campus Wednesday and Thursday and are taking part in multiple Welcome Week events before classes start on Monday, Liberty University is also making it a priority to extend a warm welcome and share its vast resources with their parents, helping to ease their minds and hearts as they, too, become an important part of the Liberty family.

This time of transition comes questions, anxieties, and the desire to feel prepared for the college years. On both days, families were invited to Parent & Family Sessions held in the Center for Music and the Worship Arts, Concert Hall, hosted by the Parent and Family Connections office. University administrators and staff directors shared how their divisions contribute to the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of students. Liberty President Dondi E. Costin assured the parents that this milestone is a marker of success in raising their child.

“Your job has been to raise young men and women who love the Lord, who want to be good citizens, and by virtue of the family decision that you have made to have them join the family at Liberty University, I think that is as good an indicator as any that you have more than done your job,” he said. “You have poured into them in a way that they understand that these next four years are perhaps the most significant four years of the rest of their lives. What Liberty does better than anyone else is invest in the spiritual, relational, and emotional and mental health of your children.”

Costin explained that the college experience as a parent is bookended by two drives away from campus — after dropping their child off for the first time and after graduation.

“We’re going to celebrate with you (at Commencement), Lord willing, in just under four years from now,” he said. “In that moment, you will drive away from this campus and you will say to yourself about the kid sitting next to you now, ‘Look what God has done.’”

In dropping off their daughter Alexis on Wednesday, Allison and Daniel Foreman from Nebraska said they felt informed by the Parent & Family Session, allowing them to put a face to the many offices that will serve Alexis during her college years.

“To hear about the campus security and the other offices was great; it was good to know how they’ll look after (Alexis),” Allison said. “It was all so encouraging to hear as a parent all that the school has. Our son goes to a smaller university in Nebraska, so this is a much bigger school, bigger campus, bigger everything.”

Jessica Hale, who traveled from Malaysia with her daughter, Kellyn, to help her move in on Wednesday, has experienced firsthand how God is using Liberty to impact students and others. As a 2002 graduate, Jessica remembers listening to Liberty founder Dr. Jerry Falwell speak about the times when the university was struggling financially and trying to build up its campus. She said being back with her daughter and seeing what the campus looks like today is a testament to God.

“I just feel blessed to be able to send her here,” Jessica said. “To be here now and see what is truly a miracle on this campus, you can see how God has worked mightily here and how He still is. It’s something I get to share with my daughter, and it’s very special to me.”

Kellyn is a third-generation Liberty student, following her mother and grandfather. She and her mother attended a Legacy Family Welcome open house on Wednesday at the Office of Alumni Relations.

Jessica said that even before classes have started, throughout the summer as she prepared to move in, Liberty staff have stood out as being especially helpful, attentive, and friendly.

“From the financial aid office to student services and more, Liberty‘s people talk and work differently, and it makes a big difference,” she said.

Jason and Nan Britt from Winder, Ga., also spoke to the wide range of resources the university has provided their family in preparation for their son, Carson, to begin his freshman year.

“The communication to us as parents has been great, helping us know what to expect and what to prepare for,” Nan said. “It also helped Carson to get really excited leading up to this week. We’ve had such a spirit of excitement.”

“(Liberty) has answered every question we have; we didn’t have to ask sometimes,” Jason added. “It’s a beautiful campus, and we’re excited for our son to start here.”

Also on both days, students and family members were invited to gather on the Academic Lawn for Prayer on the Lawn, a time of prayer and worship led by the Office of Spiritual Development. Chancellor Jonathan Falwell told the families that pausing and bringing all emotions and thoughts about the transition to God is the most important thing the family could do that day.

“At the beginning of the semester, before classes start, when nothing else is happening here except for moving in, we like to spend time here and simply bring God (everything) — all the emotions, all of the challenges, all of the unknowns of what is ahead — and bathe them in prayer,” he said. “My dad (Liberty founder Dr. Jerry Falwell) always said that nothing of eternal significance is ever accomplished apart from prayer. We are praying for you, parents, and for your students… that God allows them to thrive here, that God allows them to grow here. We are praying for you, parents, that today or in the next couple of days when you drive out of this town and leave your most precious cargo right here on this campus, God gives you the awareness that you’ve left them at a very safe and fun place.”