Northfield Mount Hermon School Alumni Don't Want Liberty University To Get Free Campus

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Religion News Service

(RNS) Rankled at the prospect that "extremist" Liberty University might soon own the campus where they spent their prep school years, alumni of Northfield Mount Hermon School are petitioning to stop it.

In a letter posted Monday (March 5), more than 570 NMH graduates are calling on Mark Chardack, chair of the NMH board of trustees, to help ensure that when the 217-acre property is given away by a wealthy Christian family, it doesn't end up in the hands of a "homophobic and intellectually narrow institution."

"We consider the institutional presence of Liberty University on the Northfield campus fundamentally incompatible with the spiritual breadth, academic depth and community diversity we know and cherish at Northfield Mount Hermon," the letter says.

Neither Chardack nor Northfield Mount Hermon -- that currently operates on a separate nearby campus -- responded immediately to requests for comment.

The petition comes as the Green family of Oklahoma City reviews proposals from about a dozen institutions, including Liberty, that have expressed interest in the campus. The Greens bought the 43-building campus in 2009 for $100,000, invested $5 million in improvements and aim to give it away -- free of charge -- to one or more orthodox Christian institutions.

Until recently, the Greens had planned to give the property to the Redlands, Calif.-based C.S. Lewis Foundation, which aimed to establish a new C.S. Lewis College on the site. But those plans collapsed when the foundation fell far short of its target to raise $5 million by the end of 2011.

Since early January, the Greens have been soliciting proposals from hand-picked institutions that are believed to have enough financial strength to run the campus. Liberty, with 80,000 students online and on its Lynchburg, Va. campus, quickly emerged as a leading contender.

"We suggested maybe several schools could work together to jointly use the property for different programs and put together a proposal along those lines," said Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. He said the school is interested in operating a satellite campus, not proselytizing in the largely secular hills of western New England.

Evangelical schools are especially drawn to the campus, which was founded in 1879 by famed evangelist D.L. Moody. But alumni say NMH would "fail to honor D.L. Moody's true legacy" if the school were to stand by silently and let Liberty move in.

"We had reconciled ourselves to the possible arrival of a new college created by the C.S. Lewis Foundation, believing it a relatively compatible intellectual fit," the petitioners wrote.

But they object to a school founded by the late Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell, whose "legacy is the policies handed down to the Christian far right today. ... These ideas (are) divisive and hateful."

Comments

[Russell Chaffee Bixby]

09:36 AM on 09/23/2012

I am a resident living in the nearby town of Bernardston. Spiritually, I am closer to the present student body of Northfield Mount Hermon than that of the leadership of Grand Canyon University (GCU). It does strike me that the trustees of NMH had a responsibility to assure the future course of events when they approved the sale of the Northfield campus. I believe the whole proposition of development through the C.S. Lewis foundation was a highly doubtful from the outset. The Trustees approval pre-ordained the passage of the facility into the hands of the Christian right.
This being America, it would seem that the Green family can transfer the property, as they see fit. Perhaps the petitioners should consider the possible value of competing societal view points to ameliorate their fears of the future. They should accept the possibility that a GCU future is in keeping with the original ministry of their founder D.L. Moody.

[ThinkCreeps]

10:30 AM on 03/09/2012

"homophobic and intellectually narrow institution."

Intellectually narrow. It's intellectually zero.

[indolawson]

12:35 PM on 03/07/2012

Quoting from Northfield's webpage. "Northfield Mount Hermon was different from other private schools from the beginning, and we carry on our distinctions and traditions with pride. Founded by celebrated 19th-century evangelist Dwight Lyman Moody.... Moody hoped to create generations of committed Christians who would continue his evangelical efforts."

Sounds like what Northfield has become of late is not what was intended by its founder. An objective weighing of principles would allow one to see Liberty's use of the campus as being more compatible with Northfield's founding principles than whatever they see themselves as being today.

[warpedandwired]

09:18 AM on 03/08/2012

The evangelism of D.L. Moody was rooted in the tradition of Christian people working for active social movements such as Abolition, educating the poor and women, and refusal to participate in war.

"Now there are a great many that have got love and they hold the truth. I should have said they have got truth, but they don't hold it in love, and they are very unsuccessful in working for God. They are very harsh, and God cannot use them. Now let us hold the truth, but let us hold it in love." D.L. Moody

Falwell's evangelism is rooted in the tradition of using the Bible to justify denying people the very things D.L. Moody worked to provide.

In speaking of the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling, Falwell said, in 1958:

"If Chief Justice Warren and his associates had known God's word and had desired to do the Lord's will, I am quite confident that the 1954 decision would never had been made. The facilities should be separate. When God has drawn a line of distinction, we should not attempt to cross that line."

Not all evangelism is created equal.

Sandra Haynes
NMH Class of 84

[indolawson]

04:33 PM on 03/08/2012

Sandra, Well said. It is always optimum when love and truth are evident and in tandem. I've read much about Moody and his circle of friends; A.B. Simpson, A.J. Gordon to mention two of the more prominent. BTW: why do so many churchmen in the 19th century use their two initials instead of their given names? I concur that 53 years ago the senior Fawell made statements that were consistent with Bible-belt sentiments but not consistent with the teachings of Jesus. I know somewhat the current climate at Liberty and know that 2012 is not the same as 1958. I don't know the racial diversity figures at either Northfield or Liberty but I'd surprised if there was much difference.

I posit that Liberty leans right as Northfield left. Being on the same 'campus' might do each a service of seeing how they can in tandem show love and truth. It would be a challenge but one worth making, and I think one that would have Mr. Moody smiling.

[Melissa Totten]

07:35 PM on 03/06/2012

The alumni who are pressing the school to take a position on this great moral giveaway are happy that the writer is following the story. Liberty University could turn NMH into Falwellsville.