Liberty Christian Academy

Coordinates: 37°21′38″N 79°10′22″W / 37.3605°N 79.1727°W / 37.3605; -79.1727 Liberty Christian Academy (LCA, founded as Lynchburg Christian Academy) is a Christian school in Lynchburg, Virginia. Founded in 1967 by Baptist preacher Jerry Falwell as a ministry of Thomas Road Baptist Church, the school is recognized as an educational facility by the Commonwealth of Virginia through the Virginia State Board of Education,[1] Southern Association of Colleges and Schools,[2] and the Association of Christian Schools International.[3]

History

During the 1950s and 1960s, Falwell spoke and campaigned against the U.S. civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. and the desegregation of public school systems by the U.S. federal government.[4][5]

Described in 1966 by the Lynchburg News as "a private school for white students," the school opened in 1967 as a segregation academy.[4][6]

Baptist preacher Jerry Falwell founded the school as Lynchburg Christian Academy and developed it as a ministry of Thomas Road Baptist Church.[7] Unlike many similar segregation academies in the southern United States, the school became racially integrated two years after its opening.[4]

Heritage Foundation co-founder Paul Weyrich stated that Falwell launched the Moral Majority political action committee during 1979 to aid the Catholic public protest against legal abortion in the United States in response to U.S. President Jimmy Carter's "intervention against Christian schools" (the IRS intervention actually began in 1975 during the Ford Administration) by "...trying to deny them tax-exempt status on the basis of so-called de facto segregation".[8]

In 2005, the Lynchburg Christian Academy was moved next to Liberty University and renamed Liberty Christian Academy.

Athletics

Coached by Frank Rocco since 2004, LCA's football team under Rocco has an 85-6 record, winning four state championships and eight conference championships.[9] Among the team's former members are Rashad Jennings (Pittsburgh-Liberty-Jacksonville Jaguars),[10] and Bobby Massie (Ole Miss-Arizona Cardinals).

References

  1. ↑ http://77241.inspyred.com/images/2012-11-14%20State%20Recognized.pdf
  2. ↑ http://www.advanc-ed.org/oasis2/u/par/accreditation/summary?institutionId=33686
  3. ↑ http://www.acsiglobal.org/member-search
  4. 1 2 3 Seth Dowland (2007). Defending Manhood: Gender, Social Order and the Rise of the Christian Right in the South, 1965-1995. ProQuest. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-549-71783-6. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
  5. ↑ http://www.thenation.com/article/agent-intolerance# "Agent of Intolerance". The Nation.
  6. ↑ http://www.thenation.com/article/agent-intolerance# "Agent of Intolerance". The Nation.
  7. ↑ http://www.lcabulldogs.com/index.cfm?PID=19523
  8. ↑ Republican Gomorrah: Inside The Movement That Shattered The Party. p. 25. Nation Books, 2009.
  9. ↑ http://www.lcabulldogs.com/media/9910/athletics/athletics/Frank%20Bio.pdf
  10. ↑ http://www.nfl.com/player/rashadjennings/71345/profile

External links


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