In meetings Oct. 29-30 on the school’s campus, Liberty University’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted to recreate its leadership model by hiring both a president as well as a chancellor to be the university’s spiritual leader and to ensure it is faithful to its Christian mission. Previously, both roles were filled by one person, most recently Jerry Falwell Jr. who resigned in August amid scandal.
The board named 10 trustees to a search committee tasked with filling both positions. The Search Committee will also assemble an advisory committee that will consist of representation from students, faculty and alumni. The process for filling the positions is expected to take more than a year and will not begin in earnest until the board approves processes and job descriptions in a future meeting.
The trustees also endorsed all remaining speakers scheduled for the university’s convocation program for the fall semester. At the request of interim university President Jerry Prevo, the board agreed that its Spiritual Mission Committee would partner with David Nasser, senior vice president of the Office of Spiritual Development, to give advice and approval regarding all convocation speakers for the spring semester.
The committee and university will ensure that religious speakers are in sync with the school’s doctrinal statement and communicate that the university does not endorse viewpoints that are inconsistent with that statement, even though such views might be provided a platform for academic purposes. Convocation, a twice-a-week live program, features speakers from all walks of life, such as business, sports, politics, missions and entertainment. The program has been offered solely online thus far this academic year due to COVID-19 restrictions.