Thousands of Liberty University students are expected to return to campus after spring break despite the coronavirus pandemic.
President Jerry Falwell Jr. told the News & Advance he’s expecting that between several hundred and more than 5,000 students will return to on-campus housing to continue their studies.
Classes will be online instead of in the classroom, but hundreds of professors without a valid health exemption will still hold office hours. Liberty has kept its library and fitness center open, though the dining halls are providing take-out services only.
“I think we have a responsibility to our students, who paid to be here, who want to be here, who love it here, to give them the ability to be with their friends, to continue their studies, enjoy the room and board they’ve already paid for and to not interrupt their college life,” Falwell said.
The decision makes Liberty University an outlier as colleges and universities across the countries close their doors to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered all nonessential businesses in the state to close by Wednesday morning, including fitness centers and salons. He also ordered all K-12 schools in the state to remain closed through the end of the academic year. It’s not clear how the order affects Liberty University operations.
Falwell downplayed the threat of the coronavirus in recent weeks and claimed without evidence that it was designed by North Korean and Chinese scientists to harm Americans.
“I think we, in a way, are protecting the students by having them on campus together,” he said. “Ninety-nine percent of them are not at the age to be at risk, and they don’t have conditions that put them at risk.”
