Liberty University’s College Democrats club is drafting a new constitution in efforts to regain official status with the school, but as of Monday hadn’t decided whether to apologize for statements made to news media after the university revoked its recognition of the club.
“We’re trying to stay very cordial, very respectful, and hopefully we’ll come to a resolution just as soon as we can,” said club secretary Jan Dervish on Monday evening.
Last month, LU withdrew its recognition of the club because it supported the Democratic Party’s pro-choice platform and candidates.
Dervish said the club now is considering no longer endorsing political candidates and would “encourage our Republican counterparts to do the same.”
The club also is discussing whether to accept funding from Liberty in the future.
“Maybe that would be helpful to donors and parents (if the club did not accept those funds),” Dervish said.
He said he had sent a draft constitution to Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. on Sunday “asking for some feedback,” but that he had not heard back.
Liberty released a statement Monday afternoon which said, “We have received a proposal and we will respond as soon as the sponsor retracts some of the public statements that have been made.”
Last week, Falwell said he expected the club to retract and apologize publicly for statements that accused an LU official of saying that Democrats couldn’t be Christians, and that the school told club members they couldn’t hold meetings.
Club sponsor Maria Childress last week told at least one reporter that she interpreted an e-mail from Mark Hine, LU’s vice president of student affairs, as saying “you can’t be a Christian and a Democrat.”
Hine denied saying that.
Dervish said Monday the club had not decided how to address that disagreement.
“We’re still looking at exactly what was said, where it was said, who it was said to, and when it was said so we can decide,” he said.
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