Since the day my first-grade teacher introduced me to the world of books, I have been reading and writing. I can still remember the day Miss Finnerty looked at me and told me I would be an author when I grew up.

That was at least 16 years ago and a lot has changed, but my love for written language never has.

The two full bookshelves that I furnished my small apartment around and the box of used notebooks, journals and scrap paper under my bed attest to this fact. I rarely open the box under my bed, but in the search for some old notes I opened the box last night. I did not find what I was looking for, but I did find what I really needed — a reminder that everything and nothing has changed.

The box was full of old journals. I read random entries from my college years and couldn’t believe how idiotic some of my decisions and beliefs were only a year ago. While many people doodled flowers and stick figures during classes I wrote ramblings about life or stories about nothing. I can remember exactly where I was sitting and what was occurring in my life when I read every scribble, even some that I wrote back in high school. That box of randomly written nonsense is the story of my life, told in a way that only I can understand.

As I read through years of writing I remembered old friends, felt pain as if it were fresh and laughed at every childish belief I innocently held about the world.

The crazy thing is that while I have overcome so many challenges, especially during the past four years of school, I still struggle with many of the same issues and deal with everything, good and bad, through writing.

In high school, I thought college would just be academically challenging. I didn’t realize that college would challenge and stretch me in ways I could not have imagined. I have learned more about friendship, life and myself than I knew there was to learn.

In just a few short days, I will be done with college and officially begin my journey into the mystical concept commonly called the “real world.” I have plans, I have goals, and I have dreams, but I have no idea what will actually happen when I leave this university. If my past writings have any reflection on the present and future, I can only imagine that I will continue to write as I have always done, and that even though I feel like the past four years have stretched me to my limits, there will continue to be stretching and new limits to be discovered.

I am sad to see an end to my undergraduate college career. I am also sad to see an end to my time on staff at the Champion. The past year has been an amazing opportunity, and I will miss the craziness, the late nights, and random conversations about words and grammar that only journalists high on coffee can appreciate. Most of all, I will miss the family I became a part of, and that has become a part of me. When I open that same box five years from now, I don’t know where I will be, or even who I will be, but as I sit there and read about the times I shared with friends and staff members, and look through all the articles I wrote, I know that nothing but good memories and valuable lessons about life and journalism will resurface.

So now, I take my leave and will begin writing the first words of the rest of my life.

Four years ago a group of freshmen walked onto Liberty’s campus. They came from all around the world, excited and ready to begin the next chapter of their lives.

Fast forward to the present day. Those bright-eyed freshmen, now seniors, are tired, immune to caffeine and counting down to the day they thought would never arrive — May 15, 2010 — graduation.

According to Vice President for Administrative Information Management/Registrar Larry Shackleton approximately 4,300 students will be attending the graduation ceremony. Of those students 61 percent are online students who will be on Liberty’s campus for the first time.

“The online students love the fact that we include them in our big main ceremony,” Shackleton said. “We don’t treat them separate. We embrace them. There is not one (ceremony) for them and one for the residential students.”

According to Shackleton and the graduation project manager Lori Baker the average student brings six family members with them, so 28,000 people are expected to attend commencement.

Liberty does not hand out tickets for graduation so students can bring as many family members and friends with them to the ceremony as they would like.

“Everybody that helped you get through all this and wants to share this with you, come on down,” Shackelton said. “It is a family event and you would be surprised how many people helped every student a little bit here and there.”

The main commencement ceremony will take place in Williams Stadium, which is undergoing construction and will not be completed by graduation. According to Shackleton, guests will not be able to get anywhere near the construction, however the construction has created interesting obstacles for seating and restroom facilities.

“Nine thousand five hundred chairs will be placed on the field, last year there were 8,000,” Shackleton said.

Temporary bleachers are also being constructed from the edge of the visitors’ locker room to around the third yard line. According to Shackleton those bleachers will probably be the best seats in the house.

Bleachers are also being built above the seating already in place and along the sidelines. Most of the existing seating in the stadium will be available. Approximately 400 seats will be unavailable due to construction, but three out of the four new sections of seating that extend from the original seats should be completed by graduation, according to Shackleton.

In order to help alleviate traffic and congestion that can occur with 28,000 people on campus at the same time, the gates will open at 7 a.m., three hours before commencement ceremonies begin.

Shackleton said parking should not be a problem because most students will have left campus, leaving student parking areas open for public use.

“There will be a Campus North (bus) route and a main campus (bus) route,” Baker said.

Baker recommends attendees park in a lot near their degree ceremony so they will not have to walk far when they leave.

“For people who are not capable of walking we will have about 15 golf carts to meet people at their cars and take them to where they need to be,” Shackleton said.

Due to the construction, the restrooms that were underneath the press box will not be available. Nine portable toilet trailers will be brought in to ensure there are enough restrooms for everyone at the event.

“They are not portolets. They have hot water and flushing toilets,” Shackelton said.

Another change this year that students need to be aware of is that there will not be a rehearsal the Friday before graduation.

“(Students) still have to come and pick up their name tags and honors cords, and that kind of stuff,” Shackelton said.

Students can pick up these items between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the Tolsma Indoor Track.

Students with multiple family members graduating should also be aware that they can attend any degree ceremony so family members do not have to pick which ceremony to go to.

Students will need to be at the soccer field by 7:30 a.m. and the processional is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., according to Shackelton.

Shackelton does not worry about student pranks, though he said many other schools threaten students not to attempt any pranks.

“We have good students and they are going to have a little bit of fun,” Shackelton said. “Silly string is part of that, and faculty have just as much fun with it … There will be a beach ball. But when it comes time to stop, they do. We have never had any problems. Our students are good people. They respect the moment.”

As a final note to graduating students, Shackelton recommends students get their silly string now.

“Within a week of commencement you can’t find silly string anywhere,” Shackelton said.

More information about commencement is available at liberty.edu/commencement.

Some names in this article have been changed to protect privacy.

There are two kinds of students — those who never venture beyond Wards Road, and those who pursue Dr. Jerry Falwell’s vision to become salt and light soldiers in the Lynchburg community.

Senior education major Aly Sievers, and the students who serve with her, are reaching people in Lynchburg and changing lives through her bible study. Sievers had no intention of initially serving for Community Service (CSER) credit, but her time spent downtown earned her this year’s Volunteer of the Year Christian Service Award.

“(The bible study) got (the project) approved for (CSER credit) because we had been spending so many hours downtown that it just made sense,” Sievers said.

The group built decks, cut grass and did a variety of other service projects in a rundown area of Lynchburg where few students ventured to go, according to Sievers.

The lives of one family in this area have changed forever, not because their lawn is well manicured, but because they have turned their lives over to Christ thanks to the care and love Sievers relentlessly showed them and the relationship she has poured her heart into building.

“We kept knocking on the door, and knocking on the door, and knocking on the door and kept pursuing a relationship (with this family),” Sievers said. “They would always tell us what they needed, but would never accept the Lord.”

Almost three months ago the lives of the family members in this house, a mother, Faith, her daughter Hope, and 2-year-old grandson David began to change when Faith accepted Jesus Christ as her savior and Hope followed suit a week later.

Sievers’ shift focused from simply meeting physical needs to discipling the mother and daughter.

“Aly has been a big blessing ever since I started to see the type of person she was deep inside,” Hope said. “That is what made a difference in my life. Some people are nosy and talk behind our backs. Aly is caring.”

Aly spent one Wednesday evening sitting with Hope in the living room of her home creating invitations for her upcoming baby shower. They made plans to meet the next day to register for gifts at Wal-Mart. Hope was shocked to find out that she could register in more than one store and that people would care enough to throw a shower for her.

Sievers later asked Faith how her life had changed and Faith began to cry.

“You love me so much,” Faith said.

Sievers hugged Faith.

“You’re going to make me cry now,” Sievers said.

Sievers and those who serve with her usually visit Faith and Hope every Wednesday and Saturday.

“(Wednesday) is the day I look forward to most in the week,” Sievers said. “We read a Psalm a day and I challenge (Faith and Hope) to read on their own. I challenge them to pray on their own. It is cool to see what the Lord is doing in their lives because if you had met them three months ago you would not have recognized them.”

The Liberty Theatre Department is now showing its farewell play in the Lloyd Auditorium, “The Scarlet Pimpernel.”

In the world of the French Revolution it is hard to know who to trust. As Sir Percival Blakeney, played by sophomore Kyle Rodgers, discovers. Even his own wife, Marguerite, played by senior Courtney Landwerlen, helped the French government and inadvertently sent men to their deaths.

When the knowledge of Marguerite’s actions reaches Blakeney a rift is formed between the couple and Blakeney forms a secret society against the French and disguises himself as a man called the Scarlet Pimpernel.

“The Scarlet Pimpernel” opened in the Lloyd Auditorium Friday night under the direction of Linda Nell Cooper. The play was originally scheduled as the first show in the new tower theater, however, delays in construction prevented that possibility and forced the actors and stage crew to use their limited space for the large production creatively.

“We enlarged the stage … We took out the first row of chairs,” Cooper said. “We took off everything on the sides so that we could have every available space for staging.”

The theater has two dressing rooms. Cooper’s office and three other rooms were also used as dressing rooms in this production, which has 40 cast members and 18 crew members, according to Cooper.

“The main theme (of this play) is about finding your personal mission and pursuing it with all your passion,” Cooper said. “Standing up for what is right regardless of the obstacles and the enemy in your way.”

Junior Ronnie Brady plays Ben, one of Percy’s followers.
“(The play is about) finding who you really are,” Brady said.

Along with the space issues, learning to speak the French language was challenging, since every actor speaks or sings in French at least once in the show, according to Cooper. The actors also use real swords, making safety a major concern.

“A very rewarding thing (about this play) is that some of my underclassmen who have not done a big dance musical before have gained such confidence on stage,” Cooper said.

One of the main songs in “The Scarlet Pimpernel” is called “Into the Fire.” Cooper believes this song embodies one of the main reasons students should come to see this production.

“I think students are often called upon to face challenges … ‘Regardless of what the challenges are, into the fire we go. Because we will come out stronger in the end,’” Cooper said. “College students face fire every day. Sometimes you just need a little bit of inspiration and encouragement to face that fire. Too many people fail because they fear that fire and run away from it, instead of seeing how the fire can really mold their iron.”

“The Scarlet Pimpernel” is also a “sweeping love story,” and a story about the bonds of brotherhood, according to Cooper.

For more information about show times and ticket prices visit the box office in the Fine Arts Hall or call 434-582-2085.

Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” Beethoven’s symphonies, John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” — works of art come in all forms, whether it is the morning sunrise coming over the mountains or a piece of artwork hanging in a gallery. Beauty is everywhere, but often times Christian communities place more emphasis on tradition and discipline and the appreciation for beauty is lost.

Author and philosopher Deal W. Hudson wrote the book “An American Conversion: One Man’s Search for Truth and Beauty in a Time of Crisis,” in 2003. Hudson will be coming to speak to students, faculty and the public on Friday, April 23 at 7 p.m. in DeMoss 1090 for the second installment of the English and Modern Languages Department’s Alumni Lecture Series.

“The book is about how (Hudson), as a Southern Baptist, left the Baptist church for the Catholic Church in his search for beauty,” Chair of the Department of English and Modern Languages Dr. Karen Prior said. “Having grown up Baptist myself, I’ve often felt the neglect of beauty within my denomination. I would like to see Baptists and all Christians think about beauty and try to understand beauty in biblical terms. I thought that Deal Hudson would be a good speaker to help us, especially those of us who want to remain Baptist, think more about that issue.”

Hudson will take a closer look at beauty and how “a proper understanding of beauty and its place in God’s being and in His creation compels the Christian to cultivate taste and appreciate beauty in all its forms,” according to an announcement from the English Department.

According to Hudson, beauty is part of spiritual life and not at odds with morality.

“If we look around at the world God created, it is obvious that God cares about beauty,” Prior said. “The Bible does say a lot about beauty and I think that the world has distorted it and perverted our sense of beauty. In response, the church needs to cultivate a correct sense of beauty.”

Hudson taught philosophy for 15 years at Fordham University, New York University and Mercer University. He is currently president of Catholic Advocate, InsideCatholic.com and the Morley Publishing Group.

“(The department) is bringing (Hudson) in as an academic speaker to talk about an academic issue,” Prior said in reference to Hudson’s Catholicism. “He is not coming to address students in convocation or to teach students doctrine.”

Daily routines at Campus North were interrupted Monday afternoon when the building was evacuated after smoke was detected in the Liberty University Online (LUO) office.

According to LUO Assistant Director Phil Milakovic employees were sitting at their desks taking calls when they began to smell burnt rubber and smoke started entering the office.

According to Chief of Police for Liberty University Police Department (LUPD) Col. Richard D. Hinkley there was lots of smoke in the LUO office when LUPD arrived on the scene so the building was evacuated and the fire department was called.

After the fire department determined the building was safe to reenter, maintenance teams went to work to determine the source of the problem in the LUO office.

Assistant Maintenance Manager Jerry W. Childress supervised the investigation.

“What we think happened is we had a ballast burn up in one of the light fixtures … and that created the smoke,” Childress said. “We are still trying to locate it. We found one that was bad, but that does not mean it is the only one.”

Maintenance workers had to check every light in the LUO office for ballasts to ensure that the problem was fixed and would not repeat itself.

The Huxtables have forever taken their place in American television history as an upper middle class black family. The show, based on the comedy of Bill Cosby, reminds alumna Merisa Davis of her own family growing up, according to the first chapter of her soon-to-be-released book, “Bill Cosby is Right.”

Davis, Cosby’s cousin, grew up in Scottsville, Va., with her three sisters and one brother. They occasionally attended evening services at Thomas Road Baptist Church (TRBC), which at the time was a predominately white church that Davis’ family helped integrate.

“I was a small child, and I would think, ‘Oh we’re going to the white church today,” Davis said. “I didn’t think it was a big deal, but it was a big deal. I did not understand what we were actually doing until my mother passed in 2007. Dr. Jerry Falwell dropped everything and came out to Scottsville, Va., and preached at my mother’s funeral.”

Davis said that she and each of her siblings attended Liberty.
“My parents gave us no choice. They said, ‘You go to Liberty or you pay for your own education,’” Davis said.

Davis’ oldest sister Melody Day attended Liberty from 1977 to 1982 and graduated with a degree in music education.

Day recalled her family’s first experience at TRBC.

“We sat under the balcony because we got there a little late. There were these students that turned around and they helped us and talked to us,” Day said. “They were so nice. I remember thinking, ‘I want to be a part of this,’ because they were just so different.”

Davis’ second oldest sister, Dr. Monica Parson, is an associate professor of physical education at Liberty. She received her undergraduate degree from Liberty in 1983.

While at Liberty, Parson joined a music team called “I Love America,” which travelled to every state capital.

“It was a really white team and they decided they needed to add some color. They had auditions … just to get some color, some people with extra melanin in their skin,” Parson said.

Falwell traveled with the team and would often lead group devotions, according to Parson. Parson also recalled the first time she met Falwell .

“I remember my father and mother talking about how Jerry Falwell saw our family sitting out in the pews, and he made a beeline out to us when the service was over and shook my dad’s hand, shook my mom’s hand, apparently he was impressed because it was basically a really white church,” Parson said of her family’s first visit to TRBC.

Davis’ book, which should be released later this spring, focuses on Cosby’s 2004 “Pound Cake” speech at the NAACP’s 50th anniversary celebration of the Brown vs. Board of Education court victory, in which he bluntly chastised the black community for the high percentage of high school drop outs, incarcerations and unwed births that have resulted from the breakdown of the traditional family.

Davis looks at Cosby’s speech, beginning each chapter with an excerpt and supporting what her cousin said, despite the negative reception his speech received.

“(I think the book) should go national,” Day said. “It is my prayer that it would. I also pray protection over (Davis) because (the book) is pretty blunt and honest in some aspects, particularly with some of the issues in the black Muslim community. Once the truth is out there (if) people don’t appreciate that, they may even try to do some harm.”

Day hopes people will receive the message and make changes to their lives and society.

“I hope that the people that really need to hear the message, whether they agree with it or not, I hope that they will hear it … and if they need to make changes, do so,” Day said.

For more information about the book and to read an excerpt of the first chapter, visit Davis’ Web site merisadavis.com. The Center4Me plans to host a book release party for Davis at the time of the book’s release.

Liberty and GLTC first teamed up in January 2006 according to Director of Financial Research and Analysis and Director of Transportation Services at Liberty University Richard Martin.

Martin said GLTC attempted to team with Liberty for years, and other than a small project in the late 90s Liberty did not see the need.

“We didn’t see it at the time,” Martin said. “(GLTC) always said (we had) a transportation and logistics problem. We always thought it was a parking problem, and we approached it as a parking problem.”

Liberty first ran an independent bus system but eventually decided to partner with GLTC, which helped alleviate the traffic problems on campus, reducing student vehicle miles travel by 3,300 miles per day according to Martin.

There was also a 4 to 5 percent reduction in the number of on-campus students who brought vehicles to campus after bus services were implemented, Martin said.

The partnership between Liberty and GLTC not only helped Liberty’s on-campus community but it revived GLTC’s business.

“GLTC had a spotty reputation on service,” Martin said. “Busses were catching on fire, lots of missed service issues.”

GLTC’s reputation changed drastically by 2009 when it won the American Public Transportation Association Award for Outstanding Public Transportation System in the category that provides service to between 1 million and 4 million passengers yearly.

Liberty is directly responsible for this growth, with over 93 percent of the student body using GLTC service on a yearly basis according to Martin.

“Right now we have about 14,000 to 17,000 rides a week, with 20,821 rides on Feb. 19, 2010,” Martin said. “In terms of total impact we carry about 2.1 million passengers during a year … Liberty usage surpasses the City of Lynchburg and the City of Roanoke combined.”

This puts Liberty among one of the top five campuses that use transit services among colleges, with the average Liberty student riding a bus 184 times per year according to Martin.

The transit system has come a long way since its humble beginnings when four Liberty busses serviced the entire campus. Today the GLTC transit system utilizes a 14-bus, 10-route system, including park-and-ride services from the mall, routes to Wards Road, Snowflex and Cornerstone Apartments according to Martin.

The quality of the busses has also improved over the years, which has allowed GLTC to develop a more environmentally friendly service.

“We went from running old 1970s church busses, to now where about 85 percent of our fleet are busses that are less than three years old,” Martin said.

According to Martin each of those new busses costs about $375,000. There are also two hybrid busses that run on campus, costing about $500,000 each.

“We are one of the very few colleges to run hybrid bus technology as part of the regular campus transportation,” Martin said.

While the new busses are primarily used for daily transportation, now Martin said older busses are still kept on reserve for times when the newer busses need maintenance.

“Unlike a car that may work great for five years before you run into your first problem these busses have to be continually maintained,” Martin said.

Another benefit of the partnership between GLTC and Liberty is the impact it has had on the Lynchburg community as a whole.

Assistant General Manager of GLTC Scott Willis oversees the Liberty University operations and works closely with university officials to develop the system.

“Without Liberty we would still be here functioning however, the partnership of Liberty allowed us to add about 30 full-time bus operators and two full-time mechanics,” Willis said. “That is definitely a benefit to the community.”

Along with the jobs that have been added to the community during these tough economic times, Liberty funds three routes that have a direct impact on the public according to Willis.

“LU has funded a second 4F bus from seven in the morning to five or six in the evening … The 4F goes from the Plaza to the mall via Fort Avenue and then over to Liberty University. Normally that bus leaves the Plaza every hour but with Liberty funding the extra bus it now leaves every 30 minutes.”

This allows many daily community customers to receive quicker service to the mall and Wards Road area.

Citizens near the Cornerstone apartments also have more available access to the city thanks to Route 15 that runs during the school year between campus and Cornerstone.

Route 14 runs between Liberty, Wal-Mart and Target. Willis believes this route is also beneficial to community members who want to travel between many of the main department stores in the Wards Road area so they do not have to wait longer for the 4E route.

Right now Liberty is the only establishment taking advantage of the GLTC Upass program, which allows all students, staff and faculty to ride city busses for free with school ID.

According to Willis, the Upass program is available to any college or business that wants to take advantage of it.

Liberty has invested a lot of money into GLTC to make this program work.

“GLTC is an extension of the city so they receive federal funds, state funds and the city also puts in money … They take fares and then they receive money from us,” Martin said. “This year we will probably end up at about $1.5 million … We surpass the city’s own investment in their own transportation system.”

Last year the city’s investment in GLTC totaled $1.3 to 1.4 million according to Martin.

Former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine took notice of GLTC after it won the 2009 Outstanding Public Transportation System award.

“GLTC’s use of hybrid-electric busses and development of local partnerships with universities have the potential to increase ridership while reducing traffic, greenhouse gasses and fuel consumption,” Kaine said.

Thus warns Mark Twain before the first chapter of his American classic “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

The Theatre Department began its run of “Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” based on Twain’s novel, this past weekend in the Lloyd Auditorium.

The play followed the adventures of the audacious Huck Finn, played by sophomore Caleb Hughes and runaway slave, Jim, played by freshman Taamu Wuya.

Along their journey down the Mississippi River the unlikely duo developed a bond of friendship that ultimately challenged Huck’s beliefs and forced him to make choices about right and wrong that conflicted with his society’s mores.

Director Christopher Nelson said the combination of Twain’s story with the music of Roger Miller created a unique musical score that varies from traditional Broadway-style musicals.

“(Twain) actually was an agnostic … He had few good things to say about the Bible … so people should expect when they come that they are going to get the satirical humor of Mark Twain,” Nelson said. “But the interesting thing about it is that (in the) musical, the music was written by Roger Miller who was a country singer who had faith. So it is an interesting composition of Miller (and) Twain.”

Lighting Designer David Diamond explained how the lighting was used to reflect Huck’s character growth throughout the play.

“Huck progresses through the entire story,” Diamond said. “Seeing where he comes from and seeing where he ends up in the end and you will notice throughout the show the progression of (the lights) start in a really dark blue and throughout the show it gets a little bit lighter, representing that he is learning and growing and has become his own man.”

The recent snowstorms made it difficult for the actors to rehearse, but Nelson said they were flexible and rose to the challenge, putting the production together after missing 15-20 hours of rehearsal time.

Just as Twain warns in the beginning of his novel that the book should not be read for the purpose of morals or principle, Nelson believes that it is simply a reflection of life, as all stories are, and hopes audiences are able to see a mirror of themselves.

“There are a lot of human struggles that Huck goes through that I think everyone can relate to,” Nelson said. “But I just want (the audience) to have a good time, enjoy themselves, take it for what it is and not try to read to much into it. Because I think that is Twain’s thing too. It’s satirical.”

“Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” opened Friday night to a sold-out crowd and will continue through Feb. 28. For upcoming show times and ticket information visit the box office in the Performing Arts Hall or call (434) 582-2085.

Originally printed in the Liberty Champion.