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Liberty University Set to Approve Third-Party Sexual Abuse Investigation

Rachael Denhollander, Save71 Hold a Press Conference

On Thursday (Nov 5), abuse survivor advocate Rachael Denhollander staged a protest at the school along with Save71, a group of Liberty students and alums calling for a change in leadership at Liberty. In a press conference, Denhollander conveyed that she was able to have a meeting with Liberty University president Jerry Prevo that “seemed productive,” going on to say that the purpose of advocacy isn’t to destroy institutions but to call them to live up to their ideals and values. 

Pointing to the Liberty University’s core values of excellence and commitment to the Christian life, Denhollander said, “If your response to sexual assault is Christian, it ought to be better. Your repentance ought to be better. Your pursuit of justice ought to be better.”

A statement from an anonymous survivor of sexual abuse at Liberty was also read aloud at the press conference. In part, it said, “How can you teach the student body to be the light of the world within and beyond your walls and yet continue to harbor darkness? In the words of Jesus Christ, ‘The truth shall set you free.’ ”

Karen Swallow Prior, who taught at Liberty for 21 years, said, “I love Liberty. I love its people. I love its mission. And I especially love its students. Jerry Falwell, Sr., was famous for saying, ‘We’d rather the property be burned to the ground and vacated than that it should ever cease to be God’s university.’ And I couldn’t agree more.”

“These words are often interpreted to mean that Liberty University would no longer be God’s university if it turned politically left,” Swallow said. “I’m here to say that turning left politically is not the only way that Liberty University will cease to be God’s university.” 

“Liberty will cease to be God’s university if and when it ceases to care well for the least of these. Liberty will cease to be God’s university if and when it puts profits before people. And it will cease to be God’s university when the interests of the institution are put before the stewardship of souls,” Swallow concluded.