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| Alumni Weekend 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It’s only a month away. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alumni Weekend 2009 is just around the corner. You won’t want to miss our Homecoming football game, parade, tailgating, nostalgic “Then & Now” themed events and more. Mark Oct. 16-18 on your calendar and register now to avoid a $10 fee at the door. For a full list of events, please visit www.lualumni.com. The Alumni Relations Office is looking forward to seeing you there. Here are a few highlights:
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| Snowflex Centre Grand Opening | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ceremony and exhibition highlight festivities | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 About 3,000 members of the Liberty community and general public, as well as local and national media, gathered on the slopes to witness the official launch of this unprecedented attraction. The dedication began with opening remarks from Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr., followed by Brian Thomas of Briton Engineering, the inventor of Snowflex. “We’re just proud to be the only university in the world with its own Snowflex ski slope,” Falwell said. “When students are well-rounded, we believe they perform better academically if they have outlets like this for good clean fun and recreation. We’re happy not just for what it will do for Liberty University, but what it will do for the whole community.” Thomas called the accomplishment “the most exciting moment for [Briton Engineering].” “Since the launch of Snowflex, we have been lucky enough to have worked on quite a few different projects around the world and I’ve been welcomed in places as varied as Hong Kong, Lebanon, Spain, France and Denmark. However, I have to say the reception here has been the best yet,” he said. During the ceremony, Falwell introduced two important donors: Jay Stein, an Arizona businessman who helped kick off the Snowflex project, and Dr. Al Barrick, a longtime Liberty supporter and friend of Dr. Jerry Falwell who donated his wildlife trophy collection to Liberty, now displayed in the new Barrick-Falwell Lodge at LMSC. State and city officials were also on hand, including Sen. Steve Newman, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, Tamra Talmadge of the Virginia Tourism Authority and Lynchburg mayor Joan Foster. “This is a great day for Virginia, and it’s a great day for Liberty,” Bolling said. “But I hope that in the midst of this day we will really remember in a very special way the guy who had the foresight so many years ago to begin this whole effort that ultimately brings us here today, and that is a good friend of mine, Dr. Jerry Falwell.” As university officials and distinguished guests cut the ceremonial ribbon, skydiver Jim McCormick kicked off the snow sports action as he leapt from an airplane onto the main slope and skied downhill. Twenty-four pro skiers and snowboarders from the U.S. and U.K. put on an amazing aerial display, wowing the crowd with the big-air stunts and high-flying maneuvers. Following the freestyle frenzy, the slope opened to students and the public for skiing, snowboarding and tubing. |
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| Support from the 12th man | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alumni travel to West Virginia to root for the Flames | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Although they dropped the contest 33-20, the defending two-time Big South Champions held their own against a tough Mountaineer squad. Flames Quarterback Tommy Beecher displayed poise in the pocket in his Liberty debut, throwing for 210 yards and one touchdown. Beecher’s lone touchdown pass occurred early on when he connected with sophomore Mike Brown. Officially listed as a quarterback, Brown demonstrated his versatility, posting 157 receiving yards and 107 return yards on the day. Brown found the end zone a second time in the contest’s closing moments when he completed a nine-yard run for a game total of 273. The night before the season opener, 50 alumni and friends of LU gathered at the Waterfront Place Hotel for a special Flames fan reception. The following morning, 138 turned out for a delicious tailgate breakfast at the Flames Tent. |
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| Stay cool at LaHaye | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Come share an evening of hockey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Stepping up our game | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Massive expansions planned at Williams Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Stadium construction will begin immediately after the conclusion of the 2009 home football season in early November. LU Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. said he anticipates Phase One improvements to Williams Football Stadium will be completed Sept. 1, 2010. Phase One will include the addition of 6,600 new seats and construction of a 34,000 square-foot brick- and glass-encased Jeffersonian-style tower on the west side of the stadium. It will have a majestic view of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west and Liberty Mountain to the east. The three-story press box building will include club seating and room for qualified Flames Club donors, 16 permanent, luxury suites, a banquet room for up to 500 people, classroom space for up to 1,000, a high quality Division 1 press box and four elevators. “I think this project will take us to a higher level of competition,” Falwell said. “It will put Liberty on the same level as other major universities in the state and in the region. I think it is amazing what we are accomplishing with God’s help. The sky’s the limit for Liberty.” Phase One is only part of a multiphase plan to boost the stadium’s seating capacity from 12,000 seats to 30,000 over the next five years. The project will give the stadium a Jeffersonian look similar to other buildings on campus. Phase Two and Three will add a new 4,000-seat mid-deck for the east side of the stadium and 6,400 seats in a horseshoe-shaped area, in the end zone, surrounding the visitors’ locker room and the south end zone. When all phases are complete, the stadium will have undergone about $22 million in improvements. The renovated facility will ready the stadium for construction of upper decks on both the west and east sides in the future. The long-range vision is to expand the stadium to hold 60,000 fans. “With some segments of the public, the perception of the university, rightly or wrongly, is largely determined by the success of the athletic program,” Falwell said. “Athletics is the only involvement most of the public ever have with a university.” Improvements to the Vines Center, which houses Liberty men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and wrestling, will boost seating from 8,000 to 11,000 for athletic contests and 12,000 for convocation. Plans call for the addition of columns and a brick façade for the facility, along with a 3,000-seat balcony when the renovation project is completed five to 10 years from now. “The Vines Center currently needs more room for students at Convocation,” Barber said. “We had a few basketball games last year that were near capacity. We were only a couple of hundred empty seats from being full.” “The Vines Center upgrade is another step in a tremendous commitment by Liberty University to its athletics department,” says Dale Layer, Men's basketball head coach. “Once completed, the Vines Center will become one of the better buildings around the country for basketball.” |
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| Youth Aflame | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A wonderful reunion | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Friday’s luncheon with Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. and his wife, Becki, was one of the featured events during the four-day reunion that included a tour of campus, convocation, a banquet in Campus North and Liberty’s first home football game of the season. When Youth Aflame was active on campus, more than 2,000 youth pastor majors came through the program. There were countless other mission majors, music ministry majors and business majors who also participated in the program. |
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| Terrific time in the Triad | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chapter launch was a success | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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alumni@liberty.edu (800) 628-7973