Mike Pence, 48th Vice President of the United States, visited Liberty University School of Law for two private events on March 28: the Ad Fontes ceremony, an annual tradition for 3L students and their families in preparation for graduation, and a Consecration Service, open to all law students, faculty, and staff.
Grammy Award-winning Christian recording artist Michael W. Smith performed during both events. He serves as the executive director of Liberty’s Michael W. Smith Center for Commercial Music.
At the Consecration Service, held in the school’s Supreme Courtroom, Pence shared his story of journeying from practicing his faith as just a religion to entering a genuine relationship with Christ when he was a young man. As someone who took the profession’s oath himself, Pence encouraged the future lawyers to defend the Constitution while standing on the biblical principles that Liberty Law has poured into them. Pence earned a juris doctor from Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law and was an attorney in private practice early in his career.
“As you go from here, I hope as officers of the court or wearing the uniform of the United States, or those of you who feel called to public service, you will take that oath to heart,” he told the students. “And not just support the Constitution but defend it. We live at a time when liberty is enshrined in our Bill of Rights, and the freedom of speech, freedom of religion are under regular assault in the popular culture and oftentimes in the courts. Today as we consecrate this school … think about your pledge to defend the Constitution.”
“There is no one that we would be more excited to have at our first-ever Consecration Service, where we want to dedicate ourselves, commit ourselves, consecrate ourselves to the Lord, than Vice President Mike Pence,” said Liberty Law Dean Morse Tan, who served as Ambassador-at-Large for the U.S. State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice from 2019-21 during the Trump-Pence Administration. Tan came to Liberty Law in January 2022.
“I believe with all of my heart that God is not done with America yet, and all we need to meet this moment is you. … This great institution is raising up a generation of Champions for Christ. … I am more convinced than ever (as I) look at your shining faces and this dedicated faculty that we’ll meet that moment.”
— Mike Pence
Liberty Interim President Jerry Prevo, Chancellor Jonathan Falwell, and Provost and Chief Academic Officer Scott Hicks also attended the Consecration Service. Prevo and Hicks briefly addressed the crowd, and Falwell concluded the afternoon event in prayer.
Pence said he was proud of the work of Liberty Law.
“You’ve built a one-of-a-kind law school that really puts faith and the truths of God’s Word, the foundations of truth in His Word, at the very center and the core of your legal education,” he said.
“I believe with all of my heart that God is not done with America yet,” he added. “And all we need to meet this moment is you. … This great institution is raising up a generation of Champions for Christ. … I am more convinced than ever (as I) look at your shining faces and this dedicated faculty that we’ll meet that moment.”
“Ad Fontes,” which means “to the source” in Latin, is a ceremony unique to Liberty Law that began in 2007. It provides 3Ls an opportunity to renew their focus on the Bible as the primary source of Christian faith and law. A special part of the ceremony is when graduating students can touch the school’s Ebenezer Stone, which is originally from Mt. Sinai and was given to the law school by Liberty founder Jerry Falwell Sr. as a reminder that God ordained and established the school and that He will remain faithful to it. School of Law graduates are the only ones allowed to touch the stone. This year’s graduating class celebrated 92 juris doctor degrees.
Pence also held a book signing between the two events for his latest work, “So Help Me God.”
The March events marked Pence’s fourth visit to Liberty and the second one this school year; he spoke at Convocation in September. Pence delivered the keynote address at Liberty’s 46th Commencement in May 2019 and spoke at Convocation in October 2016 as then-Indiana governor and Republican vice presidential candidate.
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