College For a Weekend is chance for parents to hear directly from Liberty University leadership

While Liberty University President Dondi E. Costin is a familiar face around campus, often eating with students in the dining hall and attending academic and sports events, he and other university executives devote their time to meeting with prospective parents too, as they consider sending their children to college on Liberty Mountain. On Friday morning, Costin, Chancellor Jonathan Falwell, and many other university leaders extended a warm welcome to guests during the College For a Weekend (CFAW) President’s Parent Session, where they shared about their own roles at Liberty and how the university carries out its mission of Training Champions for Christ.

Held four times a year (twice a semester), CFAW is a chance for prospective students and their families to experience campus life at Liberty. The event runs through Sunday and includes opportunities to attend classes, meet with professors and admissions counselors, and join in many exciting activities throughout campus.

At the President’s Parent Session, held in the Center for Music and the Worship Arts, Concert Hall, Costin acknowledged that the college search can cause anxiety but said Liberty is a top choice for parents who desire to see their children continue to grow in their faith through their college years. He said while other schools may not see it as their responsibility to encourage students to hold tight to the Christian values with which they were raised, Liberty prioritizes each student’s spiritual walk, ensuring they are fed a biblical worldview in every aspect of college life while preparing for their careers.

“In the first season of their life where you aren’t there to guide and guard and protect, are you going to send them to a school where the professors will be hostile to everything you have held dear and tried to pour into them … where for the first time, many of them will be surrounded by fellow students and peers who are pouring into them the kinds of things you know do not need to be poured into them?” he asked the parents. “Or, in this most vulnerable season of their lives, are you going to send them to a place where every professor is a believer in Jesus Christ, where there are spiritual life components on every hallway and every dorm … a place where they will be spiritually formed and transformed into the image of Jesus Christ?”

Falwell elaborated on the multiple opportunities for spiritual development and how if students want to “get away” from their faith at Liberty, they will have to “swim upstream.”

“Here at Liberty, everything runs toward (God),” Falwell said. “Is it possible for your student to get away from God here? You bet it is. But I’ll be honest with you, it’s going to be a tough road for them to get there because everything here is focused on following Christ and understanding what God wants to do in and through you as a Champion for Christ.”

“If you come to Liberty, it is a place where you will be prepared, you will be trained, you will be educated,” he added. “But you will also be inspired to go out and change the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Leaders from various university departments spoke about important topics ranging from security and public safety, finances, next steps for enrollment, resident life, athletics, academics, and more. Each speaker related to the parents on the challenges of sending their student away to college and assured them that Liberty is not only an exceptional place for learning but also for living.

Marci Dodd, who traveled from Milton, Pa., to attend CFAW with her daughter, said hearing from Liberty’s leadership was comforting.

“It was a really good session; it was really informative,” she said. “I appreciated how they explained the security detail they have and how they talked about student life and the spiritual component of being faith-based. To see all of the different departments, it is really nice to put a face to who runs things (at Liberty).”

Students and parents have many other opportunities during CFAW to get to know the culture and community of Liberty. Following the Friday morning session, students attended a Convocation where Miss Universe 2017 and human-trafficking prevention advocate Demi-Leigh Tebow spoke. Later on Friday, they had the option of attending a Flames Football scrimmage, a Late Night Worship session, and Josiah Queen concert. Families could also go on student-led campus tours and attend a DI men’s hockey game and a Department of Theatre Arts production of “The Three Musketeers.”

The next College For a Weekends are scheduled for April 3-5, Sept. 18-20, and Nov. 6-8. For more information, visit Liberty.edu/residential/CFAW. Liberty offers many other opportunities throughout the year to explore campus and answer questions, including ExperienceLU, during which prospective students can engage with faculty and staff, sample food from different dining locations, learn about student services, visit sports and recreation centers, and explore the campus all in one day.