| Резюме: |  REUTERS/Jonathan Drake
- Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University and a close ally of President Donald Trump, is keeping campus open as the school's 5,000 students return from spring break.
- While classes are moving to online instruction, Falwell Jr. is still encouraging students to return to campus and is ordering faculty "without a valid health exemption" to report to work.
- Falwell Jr. has publicly downplayed the threat of coronavirus in recent weeks, despite criticism from concerned parents.
- A staunch conservative and Trump supporter, he has also downplayed the severity of the crisis and argued that the media coverage of the virus is a plot to undermine Trump's presidency.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University and a close ally of President Donald Trump, is keeping campus open as students return from spring break, despite hundreds of colleges across America moving online and sending students home for the rest of the semester.
This week, approximately 5,000 Liberty students return to campus in Lynchburg, Virginia. While classes are moving to online instruction, Falwell Jr. is still encouraging students to come back to campus. He's also ordering faculty "without a valid health exemption" to report to work on campus and continue to hold in-person office hours, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported on Tuesday. See the rest of the story at Business Insider NOW WATCH: A law professor weighs in on how Trump could beat impeachment See Also: SEE ALSO: Trump's 15-day plan to slow the coronavirus' spread is too short, experts say. Flattening the curve could take at least several more weeks.  |