Dining with the Dean

Liberty’s first Dining with the Dean event of the semester is on Feb. 1, but many people may not know the “why” behind these events or the near-death experience that almost prevented them.

Mark Hyde is Liberty University’s dean of students. Two years ago, Hyde was hospitalized due to COVID-19. Hooked up to multiple machines in his hospital room, medical professionals were not giving him a good chance of survival.

“I was in a medically induced coma,” Hyde said. “I had three strokes while I was under, holes in my lungs, tubes coming out of me, IVs everywhere. … I was on life support.”

However, God was not done using Hyde. 

“After four weeks, I started coming out of the coma,” Hyde said. “My lungs were well enough, I started waking up, and it took me about a week and a half to get off the ventilator entirely. I was in the hospital for a total of three months from when I went in to when I got out.” 

After his near-death experience, Hyde made the decision to cherish every moment that God gave him.

“I almost died,” Hyde said. “As I was starting to recover and get stronger and I was able to do more, I was washing dishes in the house. As I was washing dishes, I was just praising the Lord that I was able to wash dishes. I couldn’t even lift my arms in the hospital, so I just have a lot of gratitude.”

With his health on the rise, God spoke to Hyde and told him that his story needed to be shared.

“I think that’s why I am alive,” Hyde said. “I live to tell.”

Hyde began thinking about how he could share his story with Liberty’s student body, hoping to inspire them and ultimately give God the glory for his recovery. 

“As I thought through sharing this story, I was like, ‘There’s a lot of people at Liberty University (who) have amazing stories, (who) went through near-death experiences, or God did something amazing,’” Hyde said. “The theme of my recovery — and my wife designed a T-shirt around it — was ‘But God.’ It refers to the verse in Matthew that says, ‘With man, it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.’ And so I got this idea while I was washing dishes to do an event called ‘Dining with the Dean of Students’ and the whole purpose of the event is to give God glory, to encourage students who are going through a rough time, whatever that may be, and remind them that God will never leave them, will never forsake them and still does miracles today.”

Hyde also wants to better connect with the student body through these events.

“Students get to know faculty, but they don’t often get to know administrators, coaches or just higher-ups,” Hyde said. “So, I decided, let’s do all these things at once. Let’s glorify the Lord, encourage students and connect them with administration.”

Every week, Hyde invites different speakers to share their stories, such as President Costin, Chancellor Falwell and wrestling coach Jesse Castro. Every speaker that Hyde invited has embraced the theme of ‘But God,’ as the mission was — and will continue to be — to love students and encourage them.

This semester will see five events, with the first one featuring Liberty Football’s director of spiritual development Ed Gomes on Thursday, Feb. 1, starting at noon in the Reber-Thomas Dining Center.

Caleb Weissinger is a news reporter for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on X