Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
I shan’t. Summer is so muggy, and there are too many gnats.
Did you decide on what you want for Valentine’s dinner yet?
What? Olive Garden? Seriously, bae?

– Shakespeare, possibly, if he lived around here today and was stupid instead of a genius

Ask 100 people to describe Valentine’s Day. You’ll probably hear terms such as “romantic”, “pressure”, or “overdraft protection”. But now more than ever, people say something like, “Who cares about Valentine’s Day! It’s not even a real holiday!” Sure it isn’t. Just keep your heads buried in the reject sand on Loser Beach, you single ostriches that no one would date anyway. Of course, it’s not surprising to hear such a negative attitude toward Valentine’s Day. Romance and sentimentality are most uncool right now, plus lots of people are mean jerks. And since mean jerks don’t have anything better to do, they’ve joined forces against the one day every year that guarantees everyone a shot at finding true love. “But,” you say, “I kind of like Valentine’s day AND true love! How can I combat these forces?” You combat them by getting your wallets out and spending money on Valentine’s Day, that’s how! Now, we know that many of you baby lovebirds can’t stray too far from the Liberty nest, which means your only option is Wards Road. However, this is no “gimme”. Valentine’s Day can make even familiar territory like Wards Road intimidating. Luckily, you don’t have to go at it unprepared. Let our Wards Road Guide to Valentine’s Day guide you on Wards Road for Valentine’s Day. Here are some key tactics:

• Clarify Your Objective – Sure, you’ve been on Wards Road plenty of times, but do you really think you can make weighty, Valentine’s Day decisions on the fly and under pressure? What will you do before dinner? Are you going somewhere afterwards? Is that really another vape shop? If you don’t plan ahead, questions like these will only distract and confuse you, and your Wards Road Valentine’s Day could end up being the two of you leafing through the bargain DVD bin at Walmart. Know your options and have a plan of attack.
• Shock & Awe – Don’t just go stand in line at Logan’s Roadhouse and shell peanuts for an hour. Make the start of your Day memorable. Go to PetSmart and look at puppies. Visit Pier 1 Imports to see, um, some wicker things? Is that what they sell? Or get a jump on St. Patrick’s Day and buy some ceramic leprechauns or something at Hallmark. Very memorable. Shopping a bit will also help calm your love nerves and buy you some very precious walking-together time. Think of it more like Shop & “Aww!” THEN you can go to Logan’s and shell peanuts for an hour.
• Pre-Shock & Pre-Awe – If you’re ahead of the game and want to try a surprise attack, go to FedEx Kinko’s or The UPS Store and overnight mail your Valentine something special BEFORE Valentine’s Day. Talk about expedited shipping. What could be faster than delivery from Wards Road to Liberty’s campus? Plus, everyone loves getting real mail. Think how much more special it will feel to get to sign for some unexpected Valentine’s mail. First, his/her signature, then his/her heart.
• The Primary Offensive: Dinner – Critically important: know your date’s dietary restrictions ahead of time. The where, when, and what of dinner all ride on this knowledge. What fast/diet/cleanse is he/she currently on? Would Daniel have fasted from delicious dinner rolls? Juice cleansing is stupid, right? What are we doing waiting two hours for unlimited salad and breadsticks anyway? Also remember: the popular places are even more popular on Valentine’s Day, so don’t consider it a failure if you end up at Ruby Tuesday for their salad bar. Their food is as mediocre as anyone else’s, you probably won’t wait as long to sit down, plus their salad bar has cubed ham.
• End Game: Coffee/Dessert – If you’ve gotten to the end of your meal and “coffee or dessert” is still an option, congratulations. We recommend going to a second location for these treats, really rub it in the faces of the anti-Valentine’s crowd. Then just sit back, sip slowly on that coffee, and assess whether or not the person shoveling that molten lava cake into his/her mouth is worth date #2.

This is just a primer, of course, so don’t expect to be a savvy veteran after one try. You can only gain experience by getting out there and earning those battle scars. The war on Valentine’s Day is real, at least as real as the war on Christmas, which means Pat Benatar was double right about love being a battlefield. So be bold. Be brave. And don’t be afraid to go all out, because they can take our Russell Stover’s chocolates, but they’ll never take our Valentine’s Day! (Actually, they can’t take the chocolates either. They were $3 and we’re not made of money.)

Student Activities loves music. Each semester we strive to bring you great concerts and music events. This semester is unprecedented in the amount of concerts we’ll have on campus. With five concerts in the LaHaye Event Space and two in the Vines Center, there is plenty of great music coming your way. I hope you find something that you enjoy, or try out something new at several of these concerts. Music arouses strong passions from people who love it as well as from those who don’t. Anytime that music touches on spiritual themes or ideas, those passions tend to become even stronger.

With such a diverse calendar, we often get questions about the different types of genres represented. You’ll see hip-hop, rock, singer/songwriter and more represented by these various concerts. However, a regular question comes up regardless of the genre: “Is this ‘Christian’ music?” That is a tough question to answer, and I don’t want to speak for any particular artist on how they categorize their music. However, I do believe this is a conversation worth having, and I would welcome you to have this conversation with us. Some define ‘Christian’ music purely as that which belongs to Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). The term CCM then becomes both an industry and a genre. Others view ‘Christian’ music as that which can be used for worship services, or private worship.

In his recent book Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World Michael Horton recounts an interview with Jon Foreman (who is performing here in February). In this interview, Jon is asked to define Christian music. He answers-

“To be honest, this question grieves me because I feel that it represents a much bigger issue than simply a couple SF [Switchfoot] tunes. In true Socratic form, let me ask you a few questions: Does Lewis or Tolkien mention Christ in any of their fictional series? Are Bach’s sonatas Christian? What is more Christ-like, feeding the poor, making furniture, cleaning bathrooms, or painting a sunset? There is a schism between the sacred and the secular in all of our modern minds.”

Jon turns the question back on the listener and asks them to take a step back and answer more fundamental issues. This provides us with a good approach, as this is a large, ongoing issue. The categories here are not simple, and it takes nuance to appreciate some of the subtleties.

I do not have clear cut answers, and a blog does not provide the space or format to hash this out completely. However, I want our events and our office to be a space for the conversation. I would encourage you to take part by attending the shows, talking to our staff, and interacting with us on social media.

I’ll see you at the next show.

I remember the first time I walked into Coffeehouse. It was Christmas of 2012 and spirits were high as there was less than a week left until the long awaited Christmas break. As I walked into the Vines Center, I realized that it wasn’t the Vines Center anymore. It was the epitome of the Christmas season for me. As I looked around, I also realized the community I was sitting among – a community of people cheering, laughing, and trying everything they could to get on the jumbotron.

I wanted to be a part of this. I didn’t want to just come to Coffeehouse anymore; I wanted to be the one to make the decorations, to judge tryouts, to take down decoration thieves, and whatever else came with it. I wanted in.

I interviewed to be a part of Student Activities a few months later, when it was springtime and plans for the next year were starting to be jogged in my mind. When I interviewed, I had no idea that there were so few actual Event Staff that put on these events. I was hired as a receptionist at first, and six months later was offered the switch to Event Staff.

I never could have imagined the implications of joining the Student Activities Event Staff in January 2014. I was never anything short of included and loved as I came into a group of people with diverse, outgoing and creative personalities. This group of people amazes me to no end – the full time staff who care individually for each staff member, the supervisors who work so hard to make sure every need is met, and finally, the Event Staff itself. Ten months after joining, I realize that, when I think about my life, their faces pop into my mind almost as quickly as my family’s. They are more important to me than I ever could have imagined.

I think you really bond with people when you work 20 hour shifts with them. There’s something about being exhausted and then seeing a face that you know and hugging that person that lifts spirits like nothing else. We work often and we work long hours, but the time we spend together is always enjoyable simply because we have each other. This may sound cheesy, but I assure you that you can ask any of the 18 of us if this is true and they will say it is.

Student Activities Event Staff is home for me. Walking into the office almost daily and seeing familiar faces smiling at me is the best highlight of my time here at Liberty. The friends I have made on staff are the people I am inseparable with, in and out of work. Our job is to build and sustain a community of believers that know how to have a lot of fun by providing a variety of events that allow just about everyone to build relationships. And our job immediately reflects what Student Activities is like for those of us who work here: we have become a community of believers that are not just friends, but family.

Have you ever been to the movies alone? For some reason, it feels really different from just watching Netflix at home alone. Even though you generally don’t talk during a movie (unless you’re one of those annoying folks who asks a lot of questions during a movie) it still feels normal to sit and watch with someone. In the same way, it seems better to share a delicious meal or a great concert with someone you care about rather than by yourself. At Student Activities we recognize the value of shared experiences. It is our sincere hope that this school year can be a time when you can attend many of these events and enjoy them with old or new friends.

We filled our extensive calendar with a broad range of events to appeal to various interests. From Open Mic to trail races to Coffeehouse, there is something for everyone. There is value in this variety. Hopefully, you will be willing to try something new or step out of your comfort zone. Each year, it is exciting for the staff to watch people progress from attending our events to participating in them actively (perhaps by performing in Open Mic, Campus Artist Series, the Art Expo, or Coffeehouse). Regardless of what your semester looks like, there will be times when one of our events can provide a time of respite, entertainment, or fun.

We hope that our events can provide an environment for strangers to become friends, for existing friendships to blossom, and for old friends to reconnect. Ultimately, the reason events matter is because relationships matter. Some of the relationships you make while you are here will last a lifetime. We hope to play a small part in fostering them and providing environments for them to thrive.

The Student Activities staff is here to serve their fellow students at Liberty University through our events calendar. Come out, say hi, and let us get to know you. See you at the next event!

Few friendships seem as magical as that of the group known as The Inklings, particularly the relationship between C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Based on the grandeur and influence of their works, it almost seems unjust that their meetings took place in such regular, real-life whereabouts as a pub, a cottage, or on a long walk, and not in Middle Earth or Narnia. Yet there they were many Thursday nights, often arguing a topic or discussing literature with one another, but perhaps just as often, doing nothing more than spending time with one another. And this gives hope to the rest of us. As the book about their friendship, The Inklings, reveals, their favorite times were the long walks that “got through the serious arguments in the ten miles before lunch and came down to mere fooling and school-boy jokes as the shadows lengthened.”**

Student Activities draws a great deal of inspiration from this. One of the pillars of our department mission is to foster relationships among Liberty students. We want our events to be the catalyst for the forging of new friendships, for existing friendships to develop and strengthen, and even for the rekindling of old friendships. This is about shared experience – rarely does one want to enjoy something alone. The movies and music that move you, the experience of rafting or rock climbing, or screaming “Bingo!” before your friends: these are meant to be experienced together. Of course, events do not make people become friends (especially if you beat your friend to that “Bingo!”), but they do allow for people with similar interests to become familiar with one another. As we offer multiple opportunities for students to participate in these events, we hope that this will lead to the formation of lasting bonds.

The relationships made during a student’s time at Liberty are, arguably, the most valuable thing that a student takes from here. Now, does that mean students spend $80,000 to come here and make friends? Of course not. But what value do you place on a friend who stands with you at your wedding, who visits you for the birth of a child, who supports you during a life failure or tragedy, who walks with you through life? There is no number for this. This is the potential we see at Student Activities. Though it is not our sole purpose (we will discuss our cultural engagement purpose in a subsequent post), relationship formation is every bit as important to us as the type and quality of the events we provide. Lewis and Tolkien walked together and were better men for it. Through the gospel, Jesus becomes our friend who walks with us forever. At Student Activities, we want our events to become characterized by the reality that “Friendship is having someone to walk with.”

**Quotes and other information taken from Someone to Walk With: Meditations on Friendship by Ray Rhodes