Liberty University President Jerry Prevo has apologized for violating COVID-19 regulations by leading a mass snowball fight with hundreds of students, following sharp criticism of the event.
The snowball fight, which took place Sunday on the front lawn of the campus, was captured in pictures and on video and shared on social media by the school and students. The posts show students and Prevo participating in the event, unmasked and packed close together.
That post sparked strong reaction from those who viewed the event as unsafe.
“So when we click over to half a million dead of COVID we can thank you morons,” someone named Clint commented. “Congratulations on becoming an international embarrassment L.U.,” wrote Adam J. Barlow.
Prevo now says he’s sorry for the event and that he simply got “caught up in the moment of the day.” In a statement posted to Liberty’s website, Prevo wrote:
I donned my gloves and coat and headed outside and immediately engaged in some snowball fights with a few students. From that small beginning, I invited them to meet on the front lawn to continue the fun with more students. The student body took to the idea, they showed up in large numbers and had the snowball fight. I stood front and center and led this event.
I messed up. We did not think through or communicate the need to wear facial coverings and remain 6 feet apart in compliance with Virginia Governor’s Executive Orders for the suppression of the spread of COVID-19 or even our own COVID-19 Operations Plan. And the size of the group was not in compliance either.
Liberty already has a strained relationship with the Lynchburg community because of the way it has handled the coronavirus pandemic. Last spring, the university sparked controversy when it welcomed students back on campus, despite most other Virginia colleges and universities moving classes online.
At the time, Lynchburg Mayor Treney Tweedy called the decision “reckless.”
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However, former Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr., who resigned in August amid scandal, said he believed Liberty’s practices would “become the model for all colleges to follow in the fall.”
Prevo said in his recent statement that Liberty has a “strong record of compliance and containment of COVID-19 from the start, and we want our community to know that Sunday’s snowball event was not done with a heart of defiance.”
Prevo added that he and the school pledge to “rededicate ourselves to communicating and reinforcing to students, faculty, and staff the mandate to comply with all COVID-19 policies, including physical distancing and the wearing of facial coverings.”
Liberty has removed all of its social media posts about the event because the school said they could “undermine a culture of compliance.”
Videos shot by students, however, remain online. The video below is from a post on TikTok.
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37 Responses
Wow….that should be enough to have him removed. Disgusting….I am in healthcare and just lost my father to COVID, and I am Christian. Their behavior is in no way consistent with caring for your neighbors, family and friends. I would NEVER send my kids there.
I really hope this is sarcasm
No, it’s not. I would not joke about losing my Dad to COVID or about what I am dealing with at the hospital.
If you would not joke about it then it would also be wise not to indite a bunch of college students you have never met with causing it. Not saying they didn’t make a mistake but if we can’t give one another some grace in a pandemic then we are lost.
C’mon. A snowball fight outdoors? Yes, some people die from COVID, but how many college students die from COVID as opposed to the normal flu? We have been traumatized by irrational fear. So, was there an outbreak of COVID on campus? Was there an outbreak of COVID in Lynchburg? No apology was necessary.
Agreed. This is getting ridiculous!
I was appalled at the Falwell Jr misbehavior, but I can’t get too worked up over a kids having snowball fight.
My former co-worker lost SIX relatives to COVID-19.
By the way, I just left the homegoing service of a good friend.. a Pastor of a growing church on the westside of Chicago…40 years old…COVID-19.
I guess my “fear” is irrational.
Those kids will most likely will be fine if they contract COVID. The issue is that they will spread it to vulnerable neighbors, family, etc.
And just wait to see if there is an outbreak. It would take 10-14 days to see if there is an outbreak due to this.
The fact that NOONE had a mask on speaks volumes to the culture and lack of accountability to protect the community at large.
At what point do we stop living in fear and learn to trust God. Are our lives really in his hands or do we control them. If God wants you to go through COVID then you are not going to mask it away or distance it away. Our days are numbered by The Lord. We can trust him and live or be fearful and hide. I know people who have not left the house since last March. The fear is more crippling than the virus. Life and death are in the hands of the Lord. If you think different then try adding a day to it when God has an end to your days here on earth.
Amen.
I’m sorry for the people who lost loved ones due to this virus.
Fear is causing this “stupid virus” to fester I think. Even if you are not walking in fear about it, it’s still causing people to judge each other and be bitter…believers too.
Stand up in prayer against this thing. Bind the spirit of infirmity and fear. Pray that those using this virus for evil agendas be exposed.
Get your guidance from not what men say alone, but God. And show the Truth Father. Amen.
Donnie, there is a difference between being fearful and being foolish. Christians should be setting the best examples in our world, especially to unbelievers. Imagine some of those kids trying to share the gospel with the community around them. They are discrediting their witness by this doing these things.
AMEN, brother Donnie! No apology was necessary – they leftist media and haters will find ANYTHING to try and ridicule/harass Christians.
Republicans don’t believe in wearing masks.
I do NOT leave in fear. I go into work every day to care for COVID positive patients. I do so with a mask and following guidance and TRUSTING IN THE LORD. The optic of these students not following accepted guidance does nothing to promote Christians as caring and loving. It promotes that Christians are arrogant and unloving.
They are outside. Are you aware that even without social distancing, and no masks, the transmission rate is infinitesimal?
No need to apologize. It’s a snowball fight. At least he’s not drunk and making shady deals like the previous one.
Has John Gauger ever been questioned about his working for Liberty as its chief information officer while apparently at the same time rigging media polls for Trump? See pages 189-200, 213, etc. in the “Disloyal” by the President’s former attorney, Michael Cohen. Quite the Falwell stories in this book as well.
Good for you, Lib U.
The accompanying photo looks like a riot situation. Just call it Portland and move along. Nothing to see here except snowballs bursting on impact. Clearly white fragility.
I am saddened at the spell that the world, seems to be under. Has no one looked at the PCR testing and realized it is inappropriate for how it is being used? It is not a true test for “covid-19”. Even the WHO has changed their standards now for reporting “covid” cases. We don’t have a pandemic. We have a casedemic.
There is a difference between dying OF covid, and dying WITH covid, but this year they’ve been dumped in the same pot. Covid now is a huge umbrella that covers just about anything that used to be called a cold, flu, allergies, bronchitus, pnuemonia…
I am sad that people have died, having tested positive for the thing they call covid-19, and no doubt it was the final straw for some. But in general, we have had a “magic” trick played on us. The prince of the power of the air is having a hey-day, and I’m wondering when the believers in Christ are going to do some common sense thinking and get back a sound mind.
Since when are we deemed “infected” with a disease when we have no symptoms, told we have to isolate for days on end, and not go to work? I’ll tell you. Since a highly politicized 2020. Unprecedented, and unthinking.
The guidance of the CDC, and all the various covid operation plans are not based on common sense or legitimate science..they are simply trusting the “experts” (like Fauci) and their lawyers. Its about liability, and a few people making a lot of money while the frontliners are used and abused.
Please look up what these PCR tests are; make a reasonable search, ask the Lord to show you the truth. And lets all stop talking about covid as if it is a god, and start letting people live, breath, and play again.
I agree. Covid was politicized and now being used as a fear mongering weapon to control people. Science and common sense seems to have left us.
Yes, many have died with or from covid; I’m truly sorry but many more have recovered.
By the way, I watched a clip of the snowball fight…it looked like a bunch of kids having an amazingly good time.
We’re never going to get normal lives back, are we? It’s just going to be terror and restrictions and masks and never singing with your friends until we all shoot ourselves.
Maybe not. I’m praying for a 3rd Great Awakening! Which will LIBERATE us from fear.
To EW66, sorry for your loss. I just want to say that your response was awesome. I am going to share that often. God Bless You. Loved it all but especially the last line, too busy living life to heed the advice!! Amen and Amen
I lost my 21 year old son to cancer four years ago, Ewing’s Sarcoma to be exact. It was an aggressive, painful cancer that resulted in a full femur replacement before it spread to his lungs, spine, and eventually his brain. Forgive me if I don’t have the same reaction to a snowball fight that those living in fear have. If my kids were on the Liberty U campus, or any campus for that matter, I would have applauded and encouraged them in their efforts to engage with students and to have fun. My daughter is fully remote in her non-existent learning in college so the only fun she has in school is turning her webcam off so no one else can see her. Oh, and to the nurse that left comments in this thread, my daughter is in nursing school. She works at the local hospital where she sees people in the same conditions that you do so I have perspective in my response.
We were all assigned a day to be born and a day to die. There’s no getting around it unless you can strike a deal like King Hezekiah. Personally, I’ll take covid to the ravages of cancer, ALS, alzheimers, etc.
My favorite two verses in the Bible are 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, of love, and self control. Galatians 5:1 “It’s for freedom that Christ set us free.” Remember just a year ago when people actually lived, visited relatives, smiled at one another, and enjoyed life? I do. I’m still living that life and I can tell you it’s much better than the alternative of living each day like I’m afraid to die. When death comes for me I probably won’t be ready. Who is? But, my treasure is in heaven and I absolutely can’t wait to get there. This world is not my home. The most precious thing we have on earth is time with loved ones and friends, and the hope of heaven. Have the snowball fight, invite friends into your home, love each other. Don’t condemn me for my choice to live and I won’t condemn you for your choice to stay locked in your house and wear a mask.
I could ramble for days but I’m going outside to have a snowball fight with my kids….and I’m not wearing a mask. For good measure, I might just go outside with wet hair, too. Anyone want to condemn me for “catching my death” by not wearing a proper hat, gloves, and having wet hair? Afterwards, I’ll be prepping snacks and cooking all day for tomorrow’s Super Bowl party I’m hosting. If any of the thought police want to throw me shade, don’t bother. I’m too busy living to heed your advice.
Brilliantly stated, and poignant, I am sorry for your loss. How tragic.
Well said.
Awesome response! May you and your family be healthy and blessed!
So you don’t wear a mask but do you wear a seatbelt when you’re in the car? Both seem like reasonable precautions to me.
I’d be more afraid of losing an eye than getting covid.
This illustrates well the complete lack of fear of the Lord from many professing Christians I have noticed. It is not true that we have “nothing to fear but fear itself.” We have God to fear, who has always taken credit for pandemics. Fearing Him means in very practical terms limiting any and all unnecessary activities where we might become part of the problem. I do not fear the virus, I fear the God who created it and unleashed it on a world in rebellion.
What I see from many professing Christians is an attitude of who cares if I get sick and who cares if I pass it on to someone else? They might get long Covid? They might have permanent health problems? They might die? Who the F cares? I love my freedom and I am not going to let a little thing like the wrath of God get in the way! I do not care if you all die! I fear neither God nor man like the wicked judge Jesus spoke of in Luke 18. What I worship is my absolute freedom and not a God that curtails that because He actually cares about others while I do not.
There is a thin line between a bad fear and presumption. What I am witnessing is a wicked and over the top presumption based on pure selfishness. There is no love in this, therefore it is not Christian behavior but really pagan rebellious behavior.
I politely disagree…Yes there’s a thin line between fear and presumption. And there are those who make an idol out selfish freedom, but there are also those who decide not to live under the fear of an illegitimate deceptive lie. The virus is real, it has killed. But there’s a lot of lies and “spin” about it.
Fear distorts the truth. God Is sovereign, and I think he has use this pandemic to wake up many people to the true state of things going on around us. And to refine us.
I know multiple people who have gotten the virus already. Christians actually. Somehow got it more than once and were sick at different levels. But they move on, they live, they do not live in fear. Motivated by love, not rebellion. That’s what I’m seeing by me.
If you are in healthcare, or know someone who died, or know a vulnerable person, I get why you’d want to be more careful. That’s fine.
I hold to that the Holy Spirit can help us discern the truth among all the lies and fear. The Holy Spirit will show you how to act and listen. And live.
A prayer, however cheeky it may seem.
Hi, stupid virus.
We don’t need you anymore in our land or in any of our nations. The enemy has been trying to use you to create evil judgment and fear. Get out In Jesus name!
But we bind you, in Jesus name. We bind the spirit of judgment you create and the spirit of infirmity. And the spirit of fear in Jesus name.
We repent of hating our neighbors, judging our neighbors And letting this virus create a lack of unity among your church oh Lord. Please forgive us. May your Holy Spirit awaken us and us new ways to love our neighbor and live and not fall prey to fear. For perfect love casts out fear.
Expose all lies related to this virus. Release the wisdom and a cure to help heal people, protect people from getting sick from this virus.
You are sovereign, he will show us how to live right now and this hour and I’m asking you to liberate us from our fears and pour your Holy Spirit upon us know because we need your love in guidance in this our Lord. Amen.
The real problem here is not that we feel strongly one way or the other on how to respond to this virus. The problem is when we trick ourselves into thinking there is a single “biblical” or “christian” response to something as complex and multi-dimensional. Then charge anyone we dont agree with as not being Christian one way or the other. Stop being stupid – we are all in this together and blaming your neighbor for not “loving” theirs is kind of missing the point entirely.
Really? Being outside is in violation of covid rules? I cannot believe some are making this such a big news item. Must have nothing else to do. we must be politically correct outside too? Waste of time publishing this.
C.S. Lewis had written something that I think is of some value to our age and it is compactly summarized here:
https://www.godreports.com/2020/05/c-s-lewis-on-facing-fears-of-the-a-bomb-and-pandemics/
The international embarrassment is not that Liberty had a snow ball fight, but rather that so many churches and institutions fail to be “as harmless as doves but as wise as serpents” in seeing the deception behind the so called pandemic. Research who is funding and who benefits from this event. Btw – the “testing” swabs contain technological evil in them, and the “vaccine” is legally not a vaccine, but rather a gene modification.
https://odysee.com/@TruthHertz:2/onceweretheliving:9