Liberty University has added a new institution to its ever-expanding campus: a think tank.
The school announced Saturday the launch of the Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty, which aims to shape government policies, national institutions and American culture around Judeo-Christian principles.
The center is the brainchild of Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. and Charlie Kirk, the founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, a conservative youth organization with close ties to U.S. President Donald Trump.
The nonprofit Falkirk Center, which is named after its co-founders, will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty University and will be based in Lynchburg. The center is funded by the university, which boasts an endowment of nearly $1.5 billion, according to a financial audit released by the school. A director has not yet been named.
Erika Lane Frantzve, a former Miss Arizona USA winner; Josh Allen Murray, a former contestant on “The Bachelorette;” Antonia Okafor Cover, the spokesperson for Gun Owners of America; David J. Harris Jr., a conservative author; and Jaco Booyens, a conservative filmmaker, have all been named as the center’s first fellows.
In addition to the fellows, more than 60 “ambassadors” have joined the project to educate high school and college-age students about the “inseparable intersection of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and American first freedoms and liberties” through social media, Kirk said in an interview Tuesday.
A number of think tanks in the US are housed within colleges and universities, although only a handful advocate for policies from a conservative religious position.