Liberty honors Alumnus of the Year Mark Roberts during Homecoming

Alumnus Mark Roberts (’79) has been named Liberty University’s Alumnus of the Year for his dedication to celebrating the school’s history and cultivating relationships with fellow alumni, both in his local area and around the country. The award was announced at the Office of Alumni Relations’ Alumni Breakfast on Saturday as part of Liberty’s Homecoming celebration, with Liberty President Dondi E. Costin, Chancellor Jonathan Falwell, and university co-founder Dr. Elmer Towns in attendance.

The award considers service, leadership, Christian impact, and passion for Liberty.

From his home outside Dallas, Texas, Roberts has remained heavily invested in the latest news at the university and among the alumni community as the manager of the Liberty University Friends Facebook page, which is approaching 6,000 members. Roberts uses the page for updating the group on news and events at Liberty, sharing historical photos, quotes, and special memories, as well as celebrating members’ birthdays and wedding anniversaries. The members represent five decades of Liberty alumni.

Roberts is also a leader of the Dallas/Fort Worth Alumni Chapter and helps facilitate meetings and events for chapter members locally.

“Mark Roberts is a core member of our alumni network who has contributed significantly to the efforts of our office to build a community of Liberty alums who are excelling as Champions for Christ wherever they are,” said Executive Director of Alumni Engagement Dr. Greg Tilley. “He truly champions Liberty and its vision that continues to this day, and he finds ways to remember and connect with generations of Liberty’s history.”

After an introduction from Tilley, Roberts was welcomed onstage to accept the award and give a brief speech. Roberts reflected on his many levels of involvement in Liberty’s history, which began with him arriving to campus in 1973 and continues to this day through the Facebook group and alumni chapter. He spoke to the topic of legacy — Liberty founder Dr. Jerry Falwell’s legacy, the university’s legacy, his own legacy, and the legacy of every other Champion for Christ who has attended Liberty University.

“It’s a great honor, it’s very humbling, and I’m glad that what I’ve been able to contribute to the university has made a difference,” Roberts said after the event. “We have a vision together collectively (as alumni), a ministry as the body of Christ to reach all over the world… and a legacy we ought to carry out as Champions for Christ. We need to take what we learned (at Liberty) and apply it to our lives every day and make a difference.”

Like many others who attended Liberty University in the 1970s (then called Lynchburg Baptist College), Roberts discovered the school and its mission through a broadcast of Liberty founder Dr. Jerry Falwell’s “Old Time Gospel Hour,” a weekly television program from Thomas Road Baptist Church. Inspired by Falwell’s vision, Roberts enrolled in 1973 and pursued a double major in history and youth ministry while also spending much of his time with the Student Government Association and music ministry teams, including the LBC Chorale and the Enpsalms.

After graduation, Roberts taught history at Lynchburg Christian Academy (now Liberty Christian Academy) for two years before moving to Texas to begin a career in sales and financial planning. He remained an active alumnus, serving as president of Liberty’s Alumni Association and its Texas chapter throughout the 1980s and early ’90s. He made even more connections with Liberty when his daughter, Emily (’21), followed in his footsteps to Liberty Mountain. The family connections to Liberty extend much further, however, as he is one of six siblings to attend. His son, Logan (‘23), marked the 28th member of the Roberts family to enroll at Liberty.

Read more about Mark Roberts in a 2021 profile published in the Liberty Journal.