Trump Will Deliver Liberty University Commencement Address

By C Barnett --
24 Mar 2017 --

Taber Andrew Bain Follow is licensed under CC BY 2.0

World’s largest evangelical university’s ties with President Trump to be cemented during May visit.

The students of Liberty University have mixed feelings about President Donald Trump being invited to give the commencement address in May.

Trump Will Deliver Liberty University Commencement Address[/tweetthis]

While some students are celebrating Trump’s forthcoming address because of the honor of being addressed by the President himself, others are upset because the invitation extended by the Christian university is reflective of its ties with him. President Trump’s address will be the first address to the students of the University after George H.W. Bush, who had delivered the commencement addressed in 1990.

President Trump said that he is excited about addressing the students of what is known as the world’s largest Christian school. He added that it would be an honor to address the future of the nation and said he would share lessons of hope, faith, optimism and a passion for life.

Trump to do commencement speech at Liberty University, but why isn't he giving the speech at his own university? Oh, yeah…
— Mark Sumner (@Devilstower) March 22, 2017

Trump will give the commencement speech at Liberty University.
It makes sense for an illegitimate school to welcome an illegitimate @POTUS.
— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) March 22, 2017

President of the University, Jerry Falwell Jr. is a traditional supporter of Trump and has supported him even during times of controversy. In fact, Falwell is one of the evangelical leaders whose support as proved to be crucial in driving Trump to victory. The Liberty University president was even offered the post of education secretary which he turned down so he could be close to home.

Falwell said that it is a matter of great pride for the University to host a sitting president in the campus. He hoped that his presence would have an inspiring impact on his students because of his success in both business, as well as politics. Falwell believes that Trump’s victory has defied conventional knowledge, and so is a great inspiration story.

Liberty United Against Trump, led by Liberty student Dustin Wahl, argues that Trump is the wrong choice for speaker. Wahl believes that a commencement speaker has to be “capable, intelligent and respectable,” all three qualifications that he says Trump does not meet. He adds that Trump is hardly an inspiring man and expressed his disappointment that the US is now ruled by a president like Trump.

As a University that is based on evangelical values, it was only a matter of time before Trump would pay another visit to the campus. Evangelical support was the primary factor that was behind Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton. Children of evangelical parents who have enrolled their children in the university together with the management will definitely overshadow the protests against the US president’s visit.