ABC News(WASHINGTON) — President Trump will deliver the commencement address at Liberty University Saturday – his first such speech to graduating students since his election in November.
Located in Lynchburg, Virginia, Liberty is a Christian university founded in 1971 by pastor and conservative activist Jerry Falwell. Following Falwell’s death in 2007, his son, Jerry Falwell Jr., took over as university president. Falwell endorsed Trump’s run for the presidency in January of 2016.
Speaking from the White House briefing room on March 22, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that Trump is “proud to call Liberty’s president, Jerry Falwell, his wife Becki and their entire family his friends, and looks forward to celebrating the success of this amazing graduating class on such a momentous occasion.”
The president previously visited Liberty in the midst of his Republican primary campaign in January 2016.
“[Trump] is greatly looking forward to visiting with Liberty students and faculty who gave him such a warm welcome last year,” Spicer said on Friday. “He can be expected to note to the graduates his own change in status since they were last together.”
Prior Liberty commencement speakers include two of Trump’s primary rivals: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who addressed graduates in 2015 and 2014, respectively; and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who spoke in 2012.
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