Talk:Liberty University

New section for Liberty University's ties to white supremacy and authoritarianism?

Do we need a new section for Liberty University's ties to white supremacy and authoritarianism? For example, it appears that LU was formed under white supremacy, at least from what a recent New Yorker article stated.

According to the Daily Kos, Jerry Falwell Sr. "was a rabid segregationist in the 1950s and 1960s, railing against Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and insisting that Jim Crow laws were God’s will."

According to Megan Stack "The university has its roots in the Lynchburg Christian Academy—later renamed Liberty Christian Academy—which opened in 1967, as the movement to compel the integration of public schools was consuming the South." Admittedly, there have been faculty, staff, and students that have pushed back on the white supremacist environment.

LU's school of government is named after Senator Jesse Helms, a staunch segregationist.

In 2020, Pentecostal pastor Christopher A. House resigned after Liberty University president, Jerry Falwell Jr., "announced on Twitter that he had designed a face mask decorated with a photo of someone wearing blackface standing next to another individual wearing a KKK robe."LeeQuan McLaurin, a worker at LU's Office of Equity and Inclusion, and Thomas Starchia, associate director in the Office of Spiritual Development, also resigned. McLaurin said that “I cannot encourage students of color to go to that university the way that it is.”

In terms of its ties to authoritarianism, Liberty is the only school not to rescind the honorary degree it awarded Donald Trump after the January 6, 2021 insurrection. --CollegeMeltdown (talk) 15:44, 4 June 2022 (UTC)

References

An article for Liberty Christian Academy exists and confirms that institution was once segregated. The statement that the university "has its roots" in the academy is kind of vague, however. Does anyone know of a source that's more specific on their relationship? Jno.skinner (talk) 22:50, 15 June 2023 (UTC)

I second this. At the very least there must be a criticisms page considering the tremendous controversies the university has been tied too. 2601:282:167F:1300:842F:AA0F:FD8B:D49D (talk) 06:15, 18 October 2023 (UTC)

Liberty University Wikipedia page is biased

The Liberty University Wikipedia page a prime example of why no one trusts Wikipedia. Just the History section alone is completely one-sided. What a joke this website is. Lol 2601:342:C002:27B0:3D0E:8BDC:4A44:C2EA (talk) 04:34, 24 September 2023 (UTC)

Additional information can be added, as long as it comes from reliable sources and is referenced. Change it if you see issues! glman (talk) 17:56, 24 September 2023 (UTC)

Washington Post story about Clery Act compliance

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/10/03/liberty-university-clery-act/

Liberty University broke safety laws for years, government asserts

In preliminary findings, the Education Department says the Christian school underreported crimes and destroyed evidence. Administrators can appeal.

By Susan Svrluga

October 3, 2023

... The initial report on the school’s Clery Act compliance — which the university can respond to and dispute before the department makes a final determination — paints a picture of a university that discouraged people from reporting crimes, underreported the claims it received and, meanwhile, marketed its Virginia campus as one of the safest in the country.

Liberty failed to warn the campus community about gas leaks, bomb threats and people credibly accused of repeated acts of sexual violence — including a senior administrator and an athlete — according to the report, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post....

“This is the single most blistering Clery report I have ever read. Ever,” said S. Daniel Carter, a campus safety consultant who reviewed a copy of the initial report obtained by The Post. Nbauman (talk) 22:07, 4 October 2023 (UTC)

More today -

• French, David (22 October 2023). "The Worst Scandal in American Higher Education Isn't in the Ivy League". The New York Times.

This one contains links to documentation elsewhere also.

Bluerasberry (talk) 20:09, 23 October 2023 (UTC)

"non-profit"?

LOL. I kinod of understand that this scam, mafia-like institution that has enriched its founders for many decades now is not described as such in the first sentence, but "non-profit"? Seriously??? --Anvilaquarius (talk) 13:23, 9 December 2023 (UTC)

Zinski Case - Don't Autorevert

Added to the Zinski section. What was presented was an LGTP magazine's take on a complaint against a Christian university. Naturally this was completely unreliable and biased. I added the defence as written for CP. Feel free to tweak the phrasing, or discuss here, but please do not revert to an unreliable prejudiced single source. WP:EDITWAR 人族 (talk) 02:35, 14 October 2024 (UTC)

We don't deadname people in Wikipedia. And we don't present a subject's courtroom defense as if it's fact in our own voice. ElKevbo (talk) 02:56, 14 October 2024 (UTC)

Wikipedia states not to use unreliable sources. An LGTP magazine's take is about as unreliable as you can get. Jonathan Zinski was hired for the job with LU then sacked when he violated his contractual agreements. To exclusively quote a pro-Zinski piece without the case having gone to trial or been decided is to turn Wikipedia into an advocate, not a source of knowledge. Since Zinki's status is fundamentally material to the case, and it was Jonathan that was fired, what I'll do is 'restore' my CP contribution but append it to the original section. I fundamentally disagree with what it claims, but will leave it to readers to decide how they can reconcile the conflict. I won't budge further on this though. 人族 (talk) 10:15, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Addendum: LU is listed as an evangelical Christian university which likely means transgenderism is not accepted as legitimate. How does deadname get reconciled with that? Assuming Wikipedia doesn't outright reject the legitimacy of that position you've 2 mutually exclusive claims - the original employed by LU and presumably only valid identity in their eyes, or the identity claimed and presented by the Advocate. I'm unclear on whether the law currently considers Zinski Jonathan or Ellenor.

The ALCU piece and complaint appears to be here: https://www.acluva.org/en/cases/zinski-v-liberty-university but it's slightly different to the Advocate piece and doubtless will be challenged in court. Per the ACLU piece LU hired Ellenor then fired her when it found out she identifies as trans and wanted to change her name with the cause being denying biological and chromosomal sex assigned at birth and conflict with Liberty's Doctrinal Statement. ACLU contend doctrine must comply with federal law, which risks making this a Constitution case. 人族 (talk)

MOS:DEADNAME is very clear. We are to use the "person's most recent expressed self-identification" which is Eleanor. There is no reason to assume The Advocate is an unreliable source. It is not listed as such on perennial sources, and there is no reason to exclude it here. glman (talk) 13:17, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

I'd call the magazine's nature ipso facto evidence. No it is not listed as either reliable or unreliable. Most sources aren't.

ElKevbo your change is far more succinct than what I had. Not quite the same, but close enough I guess so thanks? I tweaked it to include the contract issue because it's not theology v law. That should suffice until a court resolution. 人族 (talk) 04:34, 17 October 2024 (UTC)