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Orange Blooded [2488]
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Campus closures and Liberty University
May 19, 2020, 10:03 AM
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Jerry Falwell Jr was blasted by the national media when he chose to allow students to come back to school to finish the semester after spring break. In fact, some Liberty U students blasted him too.
Mind you, he didn't require any to come back. Liberty has one of, if not the, largest online education programs in the country. They pioneered online degrees. But they also have many international students who couldn't go "home" during the crisis.
So, what did he do? He allowed any who wished to return to school for the rest of the spring semester to do so, with significant precautions in place for "social distancing" of students. And finish they did.
The result? Zero cases of COVID-19.
I don't expect the media or any other of his critics to apologize for lampooning his decision.
But it does seem to me that many colleges and universities, and perhaps even public schools, should study what they did at Liberty before determining that students can't or shouldn't return in the fall. Surely there are lessons to be learned from Liberty.
As a disclaimer, I think Falwell Jr. is a knucklehead in many ways. Just not in this case.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-education-of-jerry-falwell-jr-11589824107?fbclid=IwAR0ZGPXzMNry91mWiC1bTTrC11NzXFZ0i7ZKNtCgsRbBVim-J9tMViUpaVA
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All-TigerNet [10926]
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Re: Campus closures and Liberty University
May 19, 2020, 10:15 AM
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Is that school located in a large urban area or middle of nowhere? I would think that would make a difference and how many students actually came back?
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110%er [5121]
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Re: Campus closures and Liberty University
May 19, 2020, 11:41 AM
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Lynchburg, VA. Middle of nowhere mid-size suburban city. Not very close to any other cities.
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All-TigerNet [10157]
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Re: Campus closures and Liberty University
May 19, 2020, 10:19 AM
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That makes sense. Smart move for Liberty U.
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Walk-On [103]
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Re: Campus closures and Liberty University
May 19, 2020, 10:36 AM
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I have a great niece who was a freshman at Liberty this year and chose to stay on campus for several reasons. She said that many of the students who stayed were from areas with high COVID-19 infection rates and did not want to risk getting sick immediately upon returning home or, in some cases, become infected and become a means of spreading the virus upon returning to campus In my niece's case she is a commercial music major who needed access to reliable internet (not always available where she lives) for her classwork as well as access to pianos and such for some of her projects. So for her staying on campus was the best option.
The school had been on break right as many other schools were closing and the Liberty staff took the time to clean and sanitize the dorms and classrooms. When she returned all of the remaining students were given their own rooms spread out throughout the dorms. In her specific dorm there were only about 200 students total. Social distancing was enforced (no parties, etc.).
While it wasn't ideal she was safe and it allowed her to complete her freshman year.
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Heisman Winner [108390]
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Parties @ Liberty U, the house that Jerry built?
May 19, 2020, 10:43 AM
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Their honor code mandates no premarital sechts, clandestine hookups or secret rendezvous between the sexes.
It's the Liberty Way.
Doesn't sound like much of a party if they ain't getting busy, or maybe that's just me?
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110%er [5121]
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Heisman Winner [108390]
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Never heard of her and no, but thank you just the same...***
May 19, 2020, 11:57 AM
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Oculus Spirit [78892]
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All-In [44055]
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A lot of people are going to criticize since they don't
May 19, 2020, 11:45 AM
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like him or his school.
Don't get me wrong, any school that did this would've been criticized since failing to social distance was equated to murder. But I can't imagine Harvard being criticized as much if they had done this.
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Orange Blooded [3617]
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Re: Campus closures and Liberty University
May 19, 2020, 1:05 PM
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That's awesome.
I didn't know that.
It's not as though Lynchburg or the Liberty campus family had no exposure to Covid. The Worship Pastor at the campus-affiliated church, Thomas Road Baptist, is a fit 50-year old man named Charles Billingsley. He tested positive for Covid on April 1 and had to be hospitalized and quarantined.
He gave his testimony and described his illness experience during the online worship service a few weeks ago. It was both inspirational and informative.
If you are interested in a realistic, non-agenda driven first-hand account of a Covid-19 patient, you might check it out.
Watch.trbc.org clip entitled Acorns and Oak Trees
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Orange Blooded [3617]
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Re: Campus closures and Liberty University
May 19, 2020, 2:16 PM
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Perhaps I should clarify, in case Tobias wants a conversation: the referenced clip (sorry I can't link) clearly has a Christian agenda, just not a political one re. Covid-19.
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CU Medallion [55787]
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There were not zero cases. Several employees have had it.***
May 19, 2020, 5:56 PM
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Hall of Famer [22948]
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Glad no cases. They shrank on campus size from 15k to 1k
May 19, 2020, 7:37 PM
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I hope this isn't needed this fall.
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Replies: 13
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