Hey everyone! With Christmas Coffeehouse coming up this weekend, we want to make sure that you’re aware of some security updates you haven’t seen at the show before. We’re taking extra precautions this year to make sure you feel safe and have a good time.

Below are five things to know about the event!

1. Each seat section in the Vines Center will have a designated gate for entry. You will only be allowed to enter through your designated gate – a photo is on our Coffeehouse page.
2. We will be utilizing metal detectors and enforcing the Clear Bag Policy (which you can also find on our aforementioned Coffeehouse page) – we encourage you to bring as few belongings as possible so that you can move through your gate swiftly and find your seat.
3. Skip the line – pick up your ticket early! The Box Office at Vines will be open today through Friday until 5 p.m., and on the event day at 9 p.m.
4. There will be NO RE-ENTRY once you’re inside the Vines Center, meaning you should pick up your ticket and your friends’ tickets this week. You will not be allowed to pick up your friends’ tickets and walk outside to hand them to your friends.
5. We want to move through this security process as quickly as possible. Because of this, the first 1,000 people who walk in the doors on Saturday night will be entered into a raffle to win a $150 TARGET GIFT CARD!

BONUS: join us for the Coffeehouse pre-show! DOORS OPEN AT 10 p.m., and we want you to come take photos with our scene decorations, grab some snacks/drinks at the concessions stands, and mingle with your friends!

We appreciate your patience with us for all these changes in advance. Our first priority (besides putting on the best Coffeehouse ever) is to keep you and your friends safe. Thank you for working with us, and don’t forget to purchase your tickets to the show!

A couple weeks ago, we had the honor of hosting Q-Union. Q-Union, in short, is an event that incorporates simulcast national speakers, live local speakers and group discussion concerning the culture around us. Q-Union prides itself on being “a one night event giving guidance and inspiration for how to engage society’s most difficult conversations”. Liberty was proud to be one of 20 colleges across the country to host the Q-Union conversation, which included topics such as technology, community, faith and more.

We recorded our three student speakers’ lectures as well as a critical thinking Q&A session, led by the Executive Director for the Center for Apologetics and Cultural Engagement, Dr. Chatraw. You can watch them below, and for more information on Q-Union, visit their website.

Kevin Richards, School of Divinity, PhD student

Kevin is married to his awesome wife of 4 yrs, Nicole. He is from Lynchburg, VA. He played football for Liberty in undergrad. His current research pursuits involve comparative eschatology and ethics.

Maria Kometer, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Masters student

Maria is a Graduate Student Assistant for the Center for Apologetics and Cultural Engagement, and she hopes to work in Mental Health in some capacity.  Current research pursuits include psychoeducation, postpartum and prenatal Mental Health, and the physiological implications of child abuse.

Jack Carson, School of Divinity, Graduate student

Jack pursuing ministerial education, and his research interests include ecclesial relationships with culture, how our understanding of Scripture’s inspiration influence our hermeneutics, and the influence Christian redemptive theology should have on the ethos  of  Christian para-church organizations.

Q&A led by Dr. Chatraw

The world is filled with questions, controversy, and issues that are misunderstood by the Christian community every single day. Christians have two choices: to run and hide from the issues of today or to face the problems with accurate knowledge. It seems as though the Christian church is either quick to turn away from the controversies of the world or voice opinions that end up placing a bigger wedge between people. Q Ideas is a resource that bridges the gap between people that do not agree on social issues, economic solutions, Christian doctrine and various other topics.

Q is an organization that encourages honest conversation and promotes open-minded thoughts. The purpose of Q is to push people, specifically Christians, outside of the church walls and into the secular world. Q brings top leaders, CEOs, musicians, doctors and other professionals to discuss issues that are avoided in the church. Racism, abortion, and the legalization of marijuana are just a few of the topics that Q covers in their conferences. Q seeks to promote knowledge in the Christian community on uncomfortable issues in order to speak with an honest opinion to those with opposing views.

Liberty University, as the world’s largest Christian university, has the responsibility to be the leading force in the Christian community on the issues of today. America is evidently divided, and instead of looking at the division with the mindset of entitlement or ignorance, “they don’t have it nearly as bad as their ancestors” or “these issues weren’t a problem a decade ago” our goal is to take a gracious approach. Education is a vital piece to healing the hearts of a nation that is divided by social tension.

Student Activities is very proud to partner with Q Ideas on October 26th for the first ever Q Commons on Liberty University’s campus. The conference will have three local leaders and three national leaders that will speak on how to approach a divided nation with a hopeful attitude. Join us in our mission to advance the common good and promote open-minded thinking to Liberty and the Lynchburg community.

Learn more about the Q Union event on October 26th here!

The new school year is upon us, meaning that yet another Block Party will soon be in the books. Join us this Saturday, September 2, at 5 pm in the LaHaye Parking Lot for more fun times at one of our favorite SA traditions. We’re excited about this year’s artist and vendor lineup, which you can see here!

If you don’t feel like clicking the link that will take you to the lineup, just know this – at Block Party, you can chomp down on a barbecue sandwich from Smoke Ring BBQ whilst enjoying Vegan Llamas rock the stage. Soon after your sandwich, you’ll crave dessert, which will be available to you in the form of Hershey’s ice cream from Frosty Penguin, a small yet substantial cider donut from our friends at Mama Crockett’s, a funnel cake from Cross Concessions, and so many more options. Of course, as you watch Soar Dunk fly in the air and Flying Houndz Frisbee dogs perform their crazy tricks, all of this action will make you parched for some good iced coffee/cold brew, causing you to mosey on over to Nomad Coffee and/or Golf Park Coffee Co. The aforementioned vendors are only a preview of the many options you’ll have!

Our artists will provide all the genres of music that could possibly make someone think “I love this event!” From rock by Vegan Llamas to rap from CJ King and Social Club Misfits back over to EDM from Capital Kings, you’ll never want to take your eyes off the stage.

Needless to say, this year’s Block Party will be a memorable one. Tweet us about your excitement at libertysa. We’ll see you soon!

Parking is getting fuller, Green Hall Chick-Fil-A is unveiling all its changes (including breakfast, btw), and new buildings continue to pop up on campus. All of this could only mean one thing – students are baaack (almost)!

For incoming freshmen, we want to welcome you to campus by putting on some of our favorite events for you. Thursday, our staff will be walking around meeting you as you move in and bringing you some information on our upcoming events this semester. We’ll also be a part of the VIP event on Thursday at 5pm, put on by the Bookstore. Come visit our table and meet our friendly staff! After the event, we’ll go straight into a Bingo Night at the LaHaye Event Space at 8pm – you won’t want to miss it.

Friday will bring about new events and opportunities to meet our staff. At noon, we’ll be outside at Montview Lawn, providing games and cotton candy for FREE! Friday evening at 10pm, we’re hosting SA @ Nite, which is a late night event in the LaHaye Event Space. This event celebrates everything you think of when the word “throwback” is mentioned – 2000s tv shows, karaoke, snacks, games and more!

Saturday’s events continue the celebration of a new school year! Count yourself (and three of your friends) in for our campus-wide Scavenger Hunt at 3pm, where we’ll be giving away big money prizes. That night, we’ll conclude the fun-filled week with an Outdoor Movie Night, where we’ll be showing the new Pirates of the Caribbean and Guardians of the Galaxy movies!

We can’t wait to see you come to our events! Don’t forget to bring all your new friends!

The next Student Activities Double Feature Movie Night is boldly going where no Double Feature Movie Night has gone before, and that is really saying something since it doesn’t even involve Star Trek. Just tap into your sense of adventure, maybe unearth a willingness to get damp pants and/or grass stains, and then come to the Dorm 28 fields on Saturday, April 29. If you can do that, staring at a screen for five hours should be a piece of cake. This is what you will stare at:

• Passengers – starting at 9 PM
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – starting approx. 11:10 PM

Without digging too deep, you may get the impression that the point of Passengers (released December 21, 2016), at least for the first act or so, is to show everyone Chris Pratt’s butt. Dig a little deeper and you realize Passengers is really about a condition all of humanity may have to confront someday: space loneliness, which, as the movie reveals, is very similar to regular loneliness. This precipitates the natural question any viewer of this movie should ask: If faced with a similar situation as Pratt’s character Jim Preston, would you, or could you, do what he does? Is he a drowning man, as Gus Mancuso (Laurence Fishburne) suggests, or a murderer as Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence) insists?  Beyond this, the movie presents a clear picture of the limits of technology to meet human needs; it offers no lasting, meaningful substitute for human interaction, and in the case of the passengers aboard Starship Avalon, may not be able to offer the safety or protection it espouses. As for the romance of the story, you can judge for yourself whether the movie does an effective job making the case for Aurora and Jim to live happily ever after. Overall, Passengers is just fine, and it should make for some exciting viewing (hopefully) under the stars.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (released December 16, 2016) shows exactly why fans are looking forward to every release in this third phase of the Star Wars franchise. From the moment the classic Star Wars text crawl does not move up the screen, Rogue One sets itself apart from the existing set of movies while still managing to feel like it belongs in the establish movie canon. The visuals and cinematography feel more stately, perhaps less cartoonish, than the other movies, certainly one of the distinguishing touches of newcomer to the series, director Gareth Edwards (who directed the most recent Godzilla movie in 2014). Specifically, there are several scenes that accomplish this in casting the looming shadow of the empire: the presence of star destroyers, whether hovering over Jedha or slowly emerging from the darkness of the Death Star, or the massive presence of Darth Vader in scenes on Mustafar and in pursuit of the Death Star plans aboard the Rebel flagship. This is in contrast to the one word that drives the Rebellion, heard several times throughout the movie, most notably from CGI Princess Leia at its conclusion: hope. Felicity Jones is outstanding as Jyn Erso and K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk) is a perfect addition to the already great list of Star Wars robots.

Just so you know, Passengers is rated PG-13 for “sexuality, nudity, and action/peril”, the “sexuality” and “nudity” of which we will “tone down”. Rogue One, for some reason, is also rated PG-13, but for “extended sequences of sci-fi violence and action”. Maybe there should be something more like PG-10 or PG-11 for movies like Rogue One.

This event is FREE to attend and we will have FREE popcorn and cheap snacks and drinks available. You see how serious we are about this with the all-caps. If you have any questions, email us: studentactivities@liberty.edu.

Student Activities is excited to bring you one of the most inspiring Documentary Film Nights we have ever had as we present the award winning film Life, Animated. Join us on Tuesday, April 18 in the LaHaye Event Space starting at 7 PM for one of this year’s Academy Award nominees for Best Documentary as well as a nominee or winner of awards at 19 film festivals around the world.

Life, Animated is the story of Owen Suskind, a young man who at age three experiences a dramatic decrease in his ability to speak and is eventually diagnosed with autism. To his family’s surprise, Owen rediscovers his voice through his memory and love of Disney movies, identifying deeply with particular characters in many all-time classics including The Lion King, Peter Pan, and especially The Little Mermaid. Even if the film were a straightforward telling of his story, it would be outstanding. However, Academy Award winning director Roger Ross Williams adds a beautiful dimension to Owen’s story by weaving animated segments of Owen’s personal life into the film footage, including a unique animation of one of Owen’s own stories. The juxtaposition of Owen’s life and the brief clips of classic Disney movies is one of the most striking aspects of the film. Almost everyone can think of a deeply affecting story, even to the point of describing it as “magical”, and Disney’s massive appeal likely makes it the most endearing storyteller of the past century. However, the viewer in this film gets a glimpse of seeing that magic through another person’s eyes. You see joy and wonder, fear and sadness, anger and despair; whether you have seen the death of Bambi’s mother or the crowd’s mockery of the Hunchback of Notre Dame a hundred times in your life, viewing those same moments from Owen’s perspective is like seeing them in some ways for the first time. Placing Disney moments alongside the animations of Owen’s life not only adds gorgeous visual depth to the film, it is also one of the most touching gestures the filmmakers could pay to him. It adds a soul-stirring depth of kindness, especially considering the importance animation plays in Owen’s growth and development.

The concept of the sidekick is an important aspect of Life, Animated. Owen’s father recognizes that many of Owen’s drawings of Disney characters are of the supporting cast rather than the protagonists. This layer of the story not only creates such a beautiful and natural irony, but it enhances all of the central themes of the film – familial love and support, persevering through difficulty, and most importantly, issues of identity and significance. In one of the most important moments of the film, Owen’s mother relays a question to one of his therapists that the family has asked among themselves: “So who decides what a meaningful life is?”* This is not only the central question of the movie but to each of our lives as well. Life, Animated is the imaging of this question. It honestly depicts the challenges of autism and what it truly means to bear with one another’s burdens. It is a picture of grace and a powerful reminder of the Christian’s essential fight for human dignity.

FYI – Life, Animated is rated PG for “thematic elements” and “language” that includes “a suggestive reference.”

This event is free to attend and as usual we will have FREE popcorn and cheap snacks and drinks available. Questions? Check our FAQ page to find answers. If that doesn’t help, send us a nice email: studentactivities@liberty.edu.

* This question occurs at approximately 33:20 of the film.

Student Activities invites you to join us for the Every Square Inch Conference on Theology and Culture, an event we are co-sponsoring with the Center for Apologetics & Cultural Engagement. The event features James K.A. Smith, Professor of Philosophy at Calvin College, in two different settings:

• Wednesday, March 29 – Coffee, discussion, and a book signing, 1:30-2:30 PM in Liberty’s Barnes & Noble Bookstore
• Thursday, March 30 – A lecture on his latest book, You Are What You Love, 7 PM in the new Center for Music and the Worship Arts Concert Hall

The conference events are free, but you must have ticket to participate. You can pick up tickets in three locations:

• Religion Hall room 101
• The Student Activities Office in Green Hall room 2900
• The Student Activities Office in Montview Student Union room 2760

If you have not done so already, we encourage you to pick up a copy of any of Dr. Smith’s books in preparation for this event. For an excellent preview of the lecture, no one can do it better than Dr. Smith himself can. He recorded ten short videos that preview You Are What You Love itself, including a brief summary of how it relates to his previous books. You can sample them here.

Student Activities invites you to a real ground-rule-double of a Movie Night as we present Field of Dreams on Saturday, April 1. The movie will be in The Liberty Baseball Stadium starting at approx. 7:30 PM, or, right after the baseball team demolishes Bethune-Cookman for the second straight game on their way to a series sweep GO FLAMES.

Field of Dreams (released April 21, 1989) is not a baseball movie, at least not in the same way that, say, The Natural or For the Love of the Game, also starring Kevin Costner, is. Sure, Field of Dreams has baseball in it, and baseball is definitely a sport. Yet, in 2008, when the American Film Institute completed top 10 lists of various genres*, Field of Dreams was #6 on the list of greatest fantasy movies of all time, but did not appear on the list of top 10 sports movies. Their assessment is accurate. Sports movies tend to feature the drama of sport: extended action sequences of a game and a win or lose moment on the field that defines a player or team. Field of Dreams does not really have either of those elements, at least not in a way that is essential to Ray Kinsella, the protagonist played by Costner. Adapted from the book Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella, the movie does feature “Shoeless Joe” Jackson and other members of the infamous “Black Sox” team who threw the 1919 World Series and subsequently were banned from baseball for life. “Shoeless Joe”, played by Ray Liotta, appears first from the cornfield, the initial answer to the mystery surrounding the famous line, “If you build it, he will come.” The rest of the movie is about Ray Kinsella pursuing the mysterious voice, deciphering that quote as well as two others: “Ease his pain” and “Go the distance.” His pursuit takes him to Boston where he meets famous author Terence Mann, portrayed by James Earl Jones, and then to Chisolm, Minnesota, to find former player “Moonlight” Graham, portrayed by Burt Lancaster. In every encounter, baseball is the constant, the foundation to the action, but hardly ever the prominent feature of on-screen action.

That is why Field of Dreams is not really about baseball, but the idea of baseball. It is the pre-steroid era, nostalgic, “as American as baseball and apple pie” idyll of baseball. Comments made by Liotta’s Joe Jackson and the famous speech given by Jones’ Terence Mann exemplify this. “Shoeless Joe” says that he would have played for food money, or even nothing, as he recalls the sights and sounds of the game. Later, while Ray’s brother-in-law threatens him with the loss of his farm, the voice of James Earl Jones provides the counterpoint: “People will come, Ray…as innocent as children, longing for the past.” It is a movie about faith, and even though, as Roger Ebert said in his 1989 review**, “the religion is baseball,” Ray’s out-in-left-field faith would not work without the trust and support of his wife Annie, played by Amy Madigan. It is a movie about fathers and sons, exemplified in the end by the relationship between Ray and his father and embodied in “Moonlight” Graham’s words: “We just don’t recognize life’s most significant moments while they’re happening. Back then I thought, ‘Well, there’ll be other days.’ I didn’t realize that that was the only day.”*** Ultimately, Field of Dreams is a movie about missed opportunities and second chances, putting the ghosts of the past to rest not by resisting or escaping them, but by engaging and embracing them, no matter how risky or difficult it may seem.

Just to “cover our bases”, Field of Dreams is rated PG for “some language and thematic elements”.

This event is free to attend and as usual we will have FREE popcorn and cheap snacks and drinks available. Questions? Check our FAQ page to find answers. If that doesn’t help, send us a nice email: studentactivities@liberty.edu.

Resources

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFI%27s_10_Top_10

** http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/field-of-dreams-1989

***http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097351/quotes

She’s Erin, a millennial by age, but with the soul of a millennial who thinks she’s Zooey Deschanel.

He’s Brian, a Gen-X’er who thinks anything made after 1998 is pure, hot garbage.

Let’s look at what at each of them say about La La Land in a very special Outdoor Movie Night Preview!

Brian – Hello, Erin. Let’s talk about La La Land. I’m sorry, I mean, let’s talk about La La Land: Brought to you by the makers of Fancy Cocktail Dresses and the All-New Toyota Prius.

Erin – Hello, Brian. I, along with most of the rest of the world, really liked La La Land, so I hope you’re not making fun of it.
B – No, of course not. The first big question is: What is this movie’s deal?

E – You know, the typical “musical romance” movie deal. Boy meets girl. Girl asks boy to perform “I Ran”. Boy leaves girl for jazz career ft. John Legend. Girl marries a dork. THE END!
B – Great synopsis. Where is the eyeroll emoticon? What I mean is, do you think this movie is as “great” or even as “very good” as all the hype? I mean, come on. FOURTEEN Academy Award nominations? ALL the Golden Globes??

E – I think this movie is “great” and “very good” and all the things that it has been called by “critics” – I think it deserves all 93 of its Rotten Tomatoes. I think that as a “millennial” or whatever you want to call my age group (I am a 22-year-old Latina), I hear the word “dream” in so many contexts. Something that I appreciate about La La Land is that although “dreams” may be the focus, it ends up being something that involves certain kinds of sacrifice, which is a word that isn’t spoken of often these days IMHO.

B – I wondered how many sentences there would be before you used the word “dreams.” You beat my guess of 2. 

Congrats!

I think you’re right about dreams and sacrifice in the movie. I also think it was an effective twist (if you want to call it that) on the standard dreams-come-true narrative. They mostly did come true, but not without difficulty, and ultimately not in the way they thought. And that’s why you get an ending that is more bittersweet than simply sad or happy.

E – I can’t say that I’m thrilled to be so predictable, but how could we discuss this film without discussing dreams? Of course, there are other aspects of La La Land that are unavoidable when it comes to the “magic” of the movie, such as its setting, which combines new-age, colorful Los Angeles with the nostalgic feel of “Old Hollywood”. Although Stone and Gosling may not be the most talented singers/dancers, what they lack is made up for in visuals of the Griffith Observatory at dusk, California’s rolling hills in the background of the usual traffic jam, etc.

B – Yes, “Hollywood”, old and current, is all over La La Land. I’m glad they kept showing the sights or else I would have thought they were in Branson, Missouri.

Speaking of the stars, what non-perverted-weirdo crime would Ryan Gosling have to commit for you to think less of him?

E – Probably something along the lines of animal cruelty and/or treason.

B – Follow up: Is this a rare instance of actor attractiveness overpowering actress attractiveness?

E – I guess it sort of depends on what kind of thing you’re into. It’s difficult to compare Gosling, being known for his “10/10” looks and sultry smile, with Stone, who is probably more well-known for her charm, on a scale of attractiveness. For this film, though, it seems to even out.

E – Being a little bit “older” is there anything about the film that you would say feels frustrating to you?

B – Well, I normally don’t seek out musicals, so that was a barrier to overcome. (I am so brave.) I think it still ends up a tad too fairy tale-ish and self-congratulatory “Hollywood” for me even though there are plenty of obvious attempts to get away from that in the movie (e.g., RG’s line that “Hollywood worships everything and values nothing”). I would never describe my viewing experience as frustrating, but I think I would have preferred a movie within the movie about the jazz musicians that ended up playing at Seb’s. Which might just be Whiplash (same director, you know)

B – Since you loved this movie soooo much, what is/are your big takeaway/takeaways?

E – I’ll excuse the patronizing tone just this once. Besides the obvious dreams vs. sacrifice message, I took away a greater appreciation for the modern musical, especially in a cinematic form. If you can believe it, I’m not a huge musical gal myself, but this film could possibly enchant even the biggest “musical cynic”, such as yourself.
B – Yeah, ok, I was a bit enchanted.

E – So I’m not the predictable one after all!

Student Activities invites you to a real ground-rule-double of a Movie Night as we present La La Land on Saturday, April 22. The movie will be in the Dorm 28 fields starting approx. 10 PM.