LIBERTY STUDENT NEWS

Recently, Ergun Caner gave a graduation speech to SW Fla. Christian Academy. He said in interesting quote, here it is:

“Get an apartment. Get a job. Go to college. Give us an empty room. And the parents in this room will dance.”

A Former LU football player appeared in court Monday over battery charges he’s facing. Tyler Tipton is accused of beating up a man outside the Buffalo Wild Wings on May 9th. At Monday’s advisement hearing, he told the judge he plans to hire an attorney. Another former Liberty player, Steven Lloyd, is also charged with attacking the man. Lloyd has already hired an attorney.

is transferring from Virginia Tech to play football at Liberty University.

He will have three years of eligibility remaining and will be able to play immediately.

Robertson is expected to enroll in classes for the upcoming summer session at LU.

Robertson redshirted his freshman year at Tech and spent all of last season on the Hokies’ scout team. He never appeared in a game and was fourth on Tech’s depth chart at nose tackle.

Robertson has never played in a 3-4 defense, the scheme the Flames employ. He’ll likely play defensive end at Liberty.

Caner says he never endorsed the recently released document “An Evangelical Manifesto.” 

The “Manifesto,” which was released last week, calls for more civil discourse among evangelicals and non-believers. It also takes some modern-day Christian leaders to task for their efforts in the political arena. The document carried the names of many prominent Christian leaders — among them, Dr. Ergun Caner, president of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary; and the late Dr. Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority.
 
Dave Eppling, Caner’s chief of staff, told reporters that Dr. Caner was consulted about the document but never gave an endorsement.
 
“How [the endorsement] it occurred, we really don’t know,” Eppling admits. “At best case, it was an oversight on the folks who drafted the Manifesto; at worst case they were trying to get his name to garner attention to the Manifesto — and scripture warns us about attributing motive, so I cannot say one way or the other. But Dr. Caner is very, very disappointed that his name was attached to this.”
 
According to Eppling, one of the specific things that bothered Caner was the insinuation that elements of the evangelical movement espoused years ago by Dr. Jerry Falwell were something to be moved away from.
 
“Liberty Baptist Seminary is all about engaging people in the public square with servant evangelism and a frank apologetic so that we can confront folks with the gospel and love them with the gospel,” Eppling explains. “So again, Dr. Caner was very disappointed about the release of that Manisfesto with his name on it, and wished it had been otherwise.”
 
In a written statement on the Seminary’s website, Dr. Caner explains that he voiced reservations about language in a rough draft of the Manifesto that he was invited to read — language he felt was “too dismissive and too harsh.” But he says was “saddened” to read that language was not changed for the final version.
 
“[R]eading the document sounds like an extended apology, and I do not apologize for the stance we have taken for decades: evangelicals are unapologetically and unabashedly pro-life, pro-marriage, and pro-prayer,” Caner writes. And when it comes to standing for truth and righteousness in the political realm, he states: “Popularity is not the goal of an evangelical; converted souls in heaven are the ultimate goal. You do not change a culture by surrender. This is precisely what the [Manifesto] seems to do.”
 
Jerry Falwell, Jr., told reporters that his dad would never endorse a document that appears to undercut political activism.

Lynchburg Planning Commission narrowly approved Liberty University’s expansion plans Wednesday after making numerous changes to the proposal.

A dozen or so revisions were made to the LU package that afternoon to satisfy concerns from both city and school officials.

LU is seeking approval of a new master plan that prepares it to reach 15,000 students within five years. Officials expect to be at 11,000 by the start of next fall’s semester.

The plan they brought forward calls for building out along the base of Candlers Mountain. Lynchburg leaders are being asked to rezone 237 acres there to accommodate the expansion.

The planning commission passed both the master plan and the rezoning on a 3-2 vote with two members absent. Their recommendation will be forwarded to City Council, which has final say over the matter.

Commissioners Rick Barnes and Gerry Swienton dissented, saying the proposal wasn’t crafted according to sound planning philosophy.

Barnes had expressed concern early in the process about plans to build dorms along Candlers Mountain away from the main campus and all the academic buildings.

LU officials said afterward they were pleased with the decision and felt a mutually beneficial plan had been arrived at.

LU objected to some of the original conditions proposed by city planning staffers. The biggest sticking point was a suggestion that the school be required to offset any waterway damage inflicted during construction by making equivalent improvements somewhere within the same watershed.

That caveat was changed Wednesday from a requirement to a recommendation. LU officials said they’ll make improvements locally whenever possible and added their preliminary plans have been positively reviewed by state environmental officials.

Lynchburg did not have the authority to compel the university to comply with its request.

Other alterations made to the terms attached to LU’s plans include:

- Changing the timetable on all traffic improvements at LU’s request so projects are tied to specific enrollment targets rather than calendar dates.

- Making it clear the city will partner with the school to construct three pedestrian crossings once it hits 12,000 students, which will likely be around fall 2009. City officials sought that change following some discussion on who would foot the bill.

- Adding a provision that requires new traffic lights and a turn lane to be installed at the crossing of Wards Road and Harvard Street once LU builds its planned vehicular tunnels there.

- Allowing LU to clear up to seven acres of trees beyond what has been specifically designated within the master plan. University officials requested that revision as a means of preserving some flexibility in their future development options.