Serving as interim president of Liberty University these last three years has been one of the greatest honors of my life. Carol and I have been overwhelmed by what God has done and continues to do on Liberty Mountain and in the lives of our students. We have seen the love of Christ authentically displayed in the extraordinary efforts our students have made in academics, athletics, and, most importantly, spiritual devotion and service to the Lord.
When Dr. Jerry Falwell founded our university in 1971, he wasn’t committed to building another liberal arts institution of higher learning but a world-changing Christian university founded on the Word of God, devoted to world evangelization through the Great Commission, and committed to academic excellence and athletic competition at the highest level anywhere. And together, we must all commit to keeping that singular vision alive.
Liberty University must boldly proclaim the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, uphold the faith once for all delivered to the saints, and never apologize for our biblical mission. The cultural trends and political winds around us present challenges every day, but for the Christian, these challenges are by no means new. We must rise to face them. And we must press hard against the age that presses against us.
We must renew our focus on the permanent and eternal things that can never be snuffed out by the machinations of man or the slings and arrows of our most ancient adversary.
As we send the largest graduating class in Liberty’s history out into the world, we cannot forget the original vision that made us what we are. We cannot forget the sacred and extraordinary effort, prayer, sacrifice, and devotion to God from those earliest days until now. We can never forget how we began so that we might be found faithful until the very end.
May the watching world soon discover that Liberty is not significant because it is one of the largest universities; it is only significant because it is God’s university. We must commit ourselves again to the eternal truth of God’s Word, which cannot be extinguished. When we do, we will not only be the university that Trains Champions for Christ but also the place that is counted among those saints of old who hear the long-anticipated words that greet us at our heavenly home, “Well done thy good and faithful servant.”
— Jerry Prevo | Interim President
* Editor’s note: Jerry Prevo will transition to President Emeritus on July 1. Read about his contributions to Liberty University as president and as a longtime member of the Board of Trustees.
