LUconn wrote:Who cares about Matt Barber? The only time I ever hear about this guy is when it comes to whiners whining about athletic conferences. He appears to be a loud guy with little tact. How many stupid stories to we read about every day about some idiot professes at State U making his class do some dumb thing that we get all outraged at? Yet they never seem to come up in conference realignment talk. I wonder why? Because it has nothing to do with athletics.
LUconn, you hit the nail on the head. Universities are supposed to be about the free expression of ideas. That's why you hear and see so many nutty left wing ideas from professors at secular universities. Nobody ever assumes that the professors' personal opinions are the official position of the university.
I am glad we have diverse viewpoints being expressed on the conservative sides of these issues from Matt Barber, Stuart Schwartz, Karen Prior and others. I would be disappointed if all our faculty and staff were in lock step on every issue but anyone with average intelligence knows that our people speak for themselves, not officially for the university. I think it is amusing that our critics have to go back a dozen years to find a statement by LU's top leadership to support their argument that Liberty is a bigoted school -- and they always ignore the fact that Dad apologized for that statement.
As a Christian university, Liberty hires only Christian professors who affirm the university's doctrinal statement. Beyond that, our faculty and staff have complete academic freedom. Liberty has no official position on party politics. Most of our students, faculty and staff are conservatives just like most of Harvard's students, faculty and staff are liberals. That doesn't mean Liberty is officially Republican or that Harvard is officially a Democratic school.
When the law school applied for ABA accreditation, many argued that, because Liberty's leadership over the years have been outspoken conservatives on theological and political issues, we would have difficulty because the ABA is so liberal. Just the opposite happened. The law school was accredited in record time. People in leadership at the ABA and in these athletic conferences don't base their decisions on whether or not they like a school's political or religious leanings. They are more professional than that and they like diversity. Liberty definitely provides them with that! As it turned out, the things that so many said would be negatives with the ABA actually helped Liberty in the accreditation process.
I believe Liberty is prospering, not only because our academic programs, facilities and athletics are continuing to improve, but because of our distinctiveness as a Christian university -- including our faculty's and staff's conservatism on theological and poltical issues, our code of conduct, our convocation services, and student missions trips. The world is full of liberal secular universities and the last thing it needs is another one. I believe the worst thing Liberty could ever do is try to hide who we are or what we believe.
Our distinctiveness as a conservative, Christian university will ultimately be what gets us invited to the FBS and that is what will attract many fans and players to Liberty once we get to FBS. I even had a billionaire in New York (not Donald Trump) tell me at a Hanukkah Party late last year that he believes Liberty's business model along with its unique blend of online and residential delivery and faith-based instruction will ultimately revolutionize higher education in this country.
4everfsu is right. Liberty will move to the FBS when the time is right. When we first announced our intentions, I told all the CEOs in the Big South that we might get an invitation to a FBS conference in 10 days and we might not get one for 10 years. I believe it will happen soon but, either way, everybody just needs to relax and enjoy all the great things that are happening at Liberty now!
And, Adam and PH, did you know today is the 40th anniversary of the release of the Dark Side of the Moon album or was it a coincidence that you posted the album cover today?
you would love to have liberty to stick out like a sore thumb.
- By thecomeback
- By cruzan_flame13