Liberty University’s sixth president inaugurated during ceremony

Students, staff, faculty and honored guests all stood to their feet, cheering as President Dondi Costin was officially inaugurated as Liberty University’s sixth president Oct. 26 at Thomas Road Baptist Church.

The ceremony opened with music performed by Liberty’s Wind Symphony and Chamber Singers, the songs including the school’s alma mater, “Champions, Arise!” written by School of Music professor Dr. John Hugo. 

Praise and worship music was led by Michael W. Smith, followed by a welcome address given by Chancellor Jonathan Falwell and remarks from Dr. Chris Gnanakan, Erin Hagen, Student Government Association President Daniel Hostetter, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Dr. David Dockery.

After these remarks, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Tim Lee and President Emeritus Jerry Prevo officially installed Costin before he gave his presidential address. 

Costin’s main point in his address was keeping the mission to train Champions for Christ at the center of Liberty University, and he urged students to follow this calling, no matter what specific career God has called them into. 

“God has called us to make a difference in this world,” Costin said. “And from this mountain, we train Champions for Christ who will not stay on this mountain, but go down the mountain and serve every single mountain of influence and every valley in between. This is the mission of Liberty University.”

Costin addressed the faculty in the audience, emphasizing that they had a key role to play in the students’ academic and spiritual development. 

“Your job is the same as mine,” Costin said. “Your job is to guarantee that you teach your discipline through the lens of a biblical worldview, so that the students that you’ve been called to train up as Champions for Christ do exactly what Dr. Dockery told us earlier: that they would lead Christianly, that they would think Christianly, and most importantly, that they would live Christianly. That is what we’re about here.”

According to Costin, one of the main goals for this year at Liberty is establishing a senior leadership team that meets consistently and checks the decisions of the president’s office. Costin said this is to ensure that no one person is holding the power and decisions are made carefully and effectively. 

Costin and his team are also hoping to unveil a plan that details specific, targeted goals by the end of March concerning the school. Finally, Costin’s third goal is to focus on the culture at Liberty, making sure people know that the campus operates out of and because of faith in Jesus Christ.

“That’s what I hope happens, is that the culture becomes exactly what God would have it to be,” Costin said.

He went on to outline three key traits of a leader’s job: being a minder of mission, a keeper of culture and a steward of strategy. 

“And trust me when I tell you that the president is very interested, and very committed to, and very passionate about not just what is done around here, but the way things are done around here,” Costin said.

Costin used a metaphor showing how his life is similar to a turtle sitting on top of a fencepost: He hasn’t gotten to where he is today without all the help he’s received along the way. He told the crowd that he will fail as president, but he asked that when he does, Liberty points it out to him so that he can ask for forgiveness and “fix it.” 

Costin said that he hopes students will see, through his actions, that he believes what he said about the importance of culture and that a Champion for Christ is someone who promotes others instead of themselves. Costin also hopes to portray someone who is committed to the spiritual integrity of Liberty, and that when people look back at Liberty years from now, they see what God has done rather than what Costin has done.

Senior Liberty student Katherine Musgrove, who attended the inauguration, said she enjoyed seeing the president’s sincerity and modesty.

“It was encouraging to hear from President Costin,” Musgrove said. “His view of things and his humility to say that it’s not all about him, and he was placed there in that position, and that we have one God and one sovereign.”

The inauguration ended with worship and a benediction, preparing Liberty for its next era under Costin’s leadership. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, if you remember nothing else about today, you remember this: There is only one king of the hill on this mountain,” Costin said. “And his name is Jesus. Amen.”

McKenzie is a news reporter for the Liberty Champion