Liberty is Number 1

The debate team at Liberty College, Jerry Fallwell's fundamentalist Baptist college, is currently ranked #1 in the nation in debate, ahead of "...Harvard (14th) and all the other big names." From an article in Newsweek by Susannah Meadows, "Cut, Thrust and Christ. Why evangelicals are mastering the art of college debate":

Falwell and the religious right figure that if they can raise a generation that knows how to argue, they can stem the tide of sin in the country. Seventy-five percent of Liberty's debaters go on to be lawyers with an eye toward transforming society. Debaters are the new missionaries, having realized they can save a lot more souls from a seat at the top - perhaps even on the highest court in the land. Falwell's school, in Lynchburg, Va., pours a half million dollars into the debate program every year, with the goal of eventually flooding the system with "thousands" of conservative Christian lawyers. "We are training debaters who can perform a salt ministry, meaning becoming the conscience of the culture," says Falwell, who is also hoping the team will elevate the humble academic reputation of Liberty itself. "So while we have the preaching of the Gospel on the one side - certainly a priority - we have the confronting of the culture on moral default on the other side." Karl Rove was impressed enough by the squad that he tapped Liberty coach Brett O'Donnell to prep George W. Bush for all three presidential debates in 2004. O'Donnell briefed the president on his nonverbal tics. "They didn't listen to me until after the debacle," says O'Donnell, of Bush's awkward first debate performance. O'Donnell, who recently started his own consulting business, has already been contacted by two potential Republican candidates about the 2008 race. If all goes well, maybe he'll get some business down the road from some ex-students.