The President of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell, Jr., is facing intense backlash after choosing to allow students back to their campus dorms amid the spiraling coronavirus pandemic.
“The University has decided to move most classes to a digital format and to allow students the choice to return to campus after Spring Break or stay home and complete their classes remotely,” reads a statement posted to the institution’s website.
Falwell’s decision – which comes after Virginia governor Ralph Northam placed a blanket ban on gatherings of more than 100 to try and stem the rate of infection – has invited criticism from members of Liberty’s own faculty.
“This decision runs contrary to the three other residential schools in our area that have closed their dorms, allowing only those with nowhere else to go to remain,” wrote Liberty English professor Marybeth Davis Baggett at Religion New Service, noting that university staff are “expected to hold office hours and welcome students for face-to-face interaction.”
“Jerry Falwell, Jr. is about to make a terrible mistake,” she added. “It’s time for the Liberty University board to stop him and shut the campus down before it’s too late.”
Baggett went on to lambast Falwell’s “foolhardy decision” to reject the official advice on social distancing, saying it “smacks of defiance.”
“His public comments on the pandemic have…
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