Liberty University, once accused of being reckless for reopening during pandemic, finishes semester — with 0 coronavirus cases

Liberty University, once criticized for choosing to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic, finished its spring semester without a single confirmed case, The College Fix reported Tuesday.

In March, the Christian university came under heavy fire for its decision to resume classes.

What are the details?

In the early days of the pandemic, college President Jerry Falwell Jr. announced that the school would reopen for students with a necessity to remain in campus housing.

In a year-end note to students, Falwell wrote, "We are thankful to God that nobody who lived in a campus residence hall or who worked in a campus office tested positive for the virus. No positive COVID-19 test anywhere in our region was linked to Liberty students who returned to their dorms after Spring Break."

Falwell pointed out that the only COVID-19 cases that the university community saw were as a result of employees working from home.

"[T]heir infections were all traced to contacts in the local community with persons infected with COVID who were not related to Liberty," he added.

Falwell opted to reopen the campus amid the pandemic and criticized an "overreaction" to the disease.

"We think it's irresponsible for so many universities to just say 'Closed, you can't come back,' push the problem off on other communities and sit there in their ivory towers," Falwell said in March. "We're conservative, we're Christian, and therefore we're being attacked."

What else?

Falwell made similar statements about the overall health of the Virginia campus in May.

Falwell hit out at media misinformation following a contentious New York Times report that alleged "nearly a dozen" college students were "sick with symptoms that suggested COVID-19."

In an interview with Glenn Beck, Falwell insisted that there were just a "couple of off-campus cases, like bus drivers."

The university plans to reopen at full capacity for its fall semester.