A Sea Of Red

For some of you this is like a holiday as you scout out the prospects. But they have arrived on the mountain ....

August 16, 2007
Liberty University begins first school year without its founder



For the first time since it was founded in 1971, Liberty University is beginning its school year without the Reverend Jerry Falwell.

Falwell died last May, but his presence can still be felt on campus.

This morning, the school welcomed its largest-ever freshmen class, about 3,500 students, to their first morning convocation.

Click Here for Full Story& Video Link

There's two billion of them. Ok, just 3500.

The thing is, they all have mommy, daddy, baby brother, and boyfriend/girlfriend/other sibling with them, and the parents have stayed 2-3 days. My parents helped me moved and were gone the next day, saying good luck, call us if you need anything. These kids have mommy and daddy going to the bookstore for them, signing them up for different events, and all of that.

SJ - You'll learn when you get a little further down the road in life that the hanging on is for the parents' benefit and not the freshmen. Its tough dropping my son off for kindergarten so I can't even imagine leaving him at college.

The good news is that those parents are probably dropping some serious change around campus ... that's a great thing.

Do these comments bring back any memories for some of the Old Hags of the fall of '85 invasion of 2500 freshmen (including all three members of dcTalk and yoyrs truly)?

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with mommy and daddy hanging around as long as they do a few things:

1) Park in actual parking spots.

2) Walk on the sidewalk.

3) Don't stop to take pictures of things in the middle of the road.

They do those three things and I'll be their best friend. My sister just moved to Wilmington and my mom went and stayed with her for 3 days to help her get all the stuff for her apartment and get settled in so I understand mommy and daddy hanging around. I don't think that's the issue.

It's been 10 years to the day since I went through the same stuff. Seems like yesterday...

my dad dropped off my stuff...we grabbed a few things at wal-mart...he took a quick nap on my bed and then he turned around and drove back to Florida 3 hours after he dropped me off....I know that parents don't want to leave their kids...but I think its better to just leave the same day you drop them off...for everybody's sake..

thats just my opinion...and trust me...that is how I will be with my kids way WAY WAY down the road

I agree. I'm ok with staying one night if it's a long drive (like in your case). My parents moved me into my house at the beach for Coastal, stayed a night to make sure I had everything and rest since it was a four hour drive, and they were gone the next day. I had to sign up for clubs myself, had to do my financial aid myself, had to buy my books myself, all of that. I learned really quickly that it was up to me to get things done, not them.

yeah....i knew how things worked a lot better then a lot of people simply because my parents weren't there holding my hand....I understand why parents do it....I don't agree with it...and when I have told my dad about it he laughed...but there is a reason why my mom didn't come up for the big drop off...she would want to stay for days...so she stayed home, and she has done the same when my 2 younger brothers came to college...well here actually....

01LUGrad wrote:It's been 10 years to the day since I went through the same stuff. Seems like yesterday...

Fittingly, Verve Pipe's new single was burning up the airwaves...an ode to the year of 1997...the final year before the LU Football drought....

Rutigliano was talkin about Red-Right 88 in convo...LU's 70's architecture was in full bloom...and the travesty that was B-Flat was unveiled to the chagrin of many...

My pops rode down with me to DC to a family friend's house, helped me unload my 18th birthday present...a black Samsonite, and caught the train the next day back to the great Northeast...drove down the bore that is 29 and arrived for my first look at the school without mommy or daddy to tuck me in, sign me up, or hold my hand and show me where the bathrooms were...

I can understand helping the kid get situated and checking out the campus for an afternoon, a final meal, and then time to begin the process of cutting the apron strings...


(Maybe these are the same sheltered kids alluded to in another recent thread on here where the prof weighed in on the subject.)

No offense new freshman who may have found the "kontraband" that is FlameFans.com from an on-campus connection...just stand on your own two feet...(Chick's don't dig Momma's boys.)

My foster parents threw me out of a moving vehicle going east on 460. They didn't remember to chuck out my bags until they reached Appomattox. I didn't see them again until Christmas break two years later and even then I only saw them on an episode of COPS. Good times.

wow. thats about all i can say. some stuff i've seen at the bookstore is amazing
first of all, there are some stupid people on campus. we sat in a meeting for 10 minutes and made fun of people.
second, i've had more parents come through my line than students.
third, some of the freshman girls look about 12, and that scares me. i'm only a sophomore, i'm not that much older than them.
fourth, some freshman girls (that look their age) look pretty good

I learned the hard way on Wednesday to stay away from Target this time of year. That place is worse than Wal-Mart.

jdub dude i feel you there. i was in the rot the other day and the girls next to me looked way too young to be in college. and its also worse because none of them know the dress code yet either

flamesfilmguy wrote:jdub dude i feel you there. i was in the rot the other day and the girls next to me looked way too young to be in college. and its also worse because none of them know the dress code yet either

Yeah, just wait til they see the upperclassmen return next week and figure out they can stop over-dressing.

OK, I just returned from dropping my first-born daughter off and YES, I did stay 2 days (it took that long to get through the line at the bookstore! -some things have not changed in 27 years!) YES, I did help her with things that should have been taken care of BEFORE we got there and YES, we did park in the right spots.
I can only hope that this board is around in coming years when the current students have the privilege to raise a child and then let them go. Enough relenting from a mother missing her daughter....

Like I said, I have no problem with you staying there as long as you park in the right spot and all of that.

I already posted a sign outside my office with answers to all the popular CN questions regarding the maze of classrooms.

Any "lookers" in the bunch?

My parents told me goodbye August of 72 in California and I drove by myself to Lynchburg in a 1962 Cadillac Sedan de Ville. Still going through seperation withdrawls. But I guess when you got 5 more still in the nest, it was good for them to get shed of at least one.

Uh, just a few.

They all either look 12, or look amazing. There's not really an in-between from what I've been able to gather. I need to do more research though.

SuperJon wrote:They all either look 12, or look amazing. There's not really an in-between from what I've been able to gather. I need to do more research though.

Where do you normally park on campus SJ?








I just want to know where I should direct freshmen and their parents when they ask me where to park.

I've had no problems finding parking. The problems I've had have been driving back to the circle and the quads where parents park on the side of the road and make two lane roads into one lane roads, especially back by the intramural fields.


Also, just a note to any lurkers out there who are new to campus, there is no stop sign in on the main road by Chapel Dr. There's no reason to stop there unless you are turning yourself. It's not a four way stop like other places on campus. This is a common misconception that happens to a lot of people.

My parents lived in Farmville...they dropped me and my stuff off and then said "Call if you need or want anything."
It was quite convenient not having them around but having them within an hour's drive.