Liberty’s 2024 Murph Challenge raises nearly $40,000 for local veterans center

Scores of student volunteers assembled on campus before sunrise on Saturday morning, Oct. 19, to set up for Liberty University’s second annual Murph Challenge, a fundraising event that brought in nearly $40,000 for the National Center for Healthy Veterans (NCHV) at Valor Farm in Altavista, Va.

The event’s namesake is inspired by the CrossFit Murph Challenge, a series of exercises created to honor the heroic sacrifice of fallen Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy, who tragically lost his life in 2005.

More than 800 Liberty students and members of the local community participated in a variety of endurance and strength events, including mile runs, pullups, pushups, and body squats. Turnout nearly doubled from the previous year.

“Michael Murphy took our bullet,” said NCHV President General Robert Dees in the opening ceremony at the LaHaye Recreation and Fitness Center. “We thank him for his sacrifice. And we thank so many other veterans.”

The event, sponsored by Liberty’s Standing for Freedom Center and largely organized by students, centered on the theme of American exceptionalism by supporting veterans.

Guest speakers at the opening ceremony also included Liberty President Dr. Dondi E. Costin, Dean of the Helms School of Government Major General Jason Q. Bohm, Professor of Divinity Dr. David Wheeler, and senior Jacob Bull.

Bull, the event’s main student organizer, argued that many college campuses in America are trying to tear down the fundamental principles that made America great.

“You have LU students working to restore some of America’s core values and principles that prioritize the nation first,” he said. “Veterans in our community deserve respect because they are the spearheads of our country, and we want to shed light on the issue of veteran suicide and honor God in the process.”

As many as 22 veterans commit suicide every day in the United States according to the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). These veterans succumb to a myriad of mental torture including post-traumatic stress (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and a variety of mental and behavioral issues. Since its founding five years ago, the National Center for Healthy Veterans has brought healing and helped America’s heroes reclaim a foothold in society.

Liberty President Dr. Dondi E. Costin addressed the over 100 student volunteers before the event’s first heat and expressed his gratitude to them for organizing and implementing an event that emphasizes veterans’ needs.

“Thank you for taking care of veterans,” he said. “Twenty-two veterans a day find themselves in a (dark) place, for all sorts of reasons. Some (of those reasons) have to do with the things they did on our behalf. … This is not just a way to fill a Saturday. It’s a way to fulfill a mission to help other people who have helped you — whether you know it or not. And now they are in need of great assistance.”

All event proceeds will go directly to the National Center for Healthy Veterans to help deliver housing, counseling, and a multitude of faith-based healing resources and support to veterans.

“We have veterans at the National Center for Healthy Veterans getting saved, becoming Christians, and also beginning that healing that they truly need that you can’t just solve at the Veterans Association,” Bull said. “What we do with LU students in the Murph Challenge has an eternal impact. Go all in on that eternal impact, because what you do now can change lives for years to come.”

The tragic outcomes of war often manifest as addiction, divorce, homelessness, mental health and behavioral issues, and suicide. Dees told students that America has a sacred duty to address these needs and honor those who sacrificed on our behalf.

“Jesus Christ is the secret sauce. We have the privilege, as part of this community, to put the secret sauce right back into the healing equation for our nation’s veterans,” he said. “It’s been a privilege for me to not only work with you and to be the recipient of the proceeds from this event. We are grateful for that. But the greater gift that you’ve given me is the opportunity to interact with young people who are called to do something beautiful for our nation’s veterans.”

The Murph Challenge is still accepting donations.