Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. on Wednesday said any money his university gets from the CARES Act will be given to resident students.
“I’ve already told my top administrators that if we receive any money through the CARES Act, that every penny will be given back to our resident students whose semester was interrupted. They had to convert from classrooms to a different type of learning. It’s not what they expected,” he told Sean Spicer during an appearance on Newsmax TV’s “Spicer & Co.”
“Their lives really have been interrupted and if any money goes anywhere, it should go to them. Liberty is prosperous, we’re doing well. We wouldn’t take the money if they dropped it on our doorsteps. Every penny will go back to the students.”
His comments follow reports Harvard University would pay back $8.7 million in federal funds allocated to the university under the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund after President Donald Trump and other critics slammed the Ivy League school.
“Harvard is going to pay back the money. They shouldn’t be taking it,” Trump said during his daily press briefing on Tuesday. “I’m not going to mention any other names, but when I saw Harvard — they have one of the largest endowments anywhere in the country, maybe in the world. They’re going to pay back the money.”
Harvard’s $40 billion endowment is the largest of any academic institution in the world. The Harvard Crimson first reported that the Ivy League university was receiving almost $9 million in funding.
"The intense focus by politicians and others on Harvard in connection with this program may undermine participation in a relief effort that Congress created and the President signed into law for the purpose of helping students and institutions whose financial challenges in the coming months may be most severe," the university said in a statement posted to Twitter.
"As a result of this, and the evolving guidance being issued around use of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, Harvard has decided not to seek or accept the funds allocated to it by statute" the statement added, making it clear that the university would be asking the Department of Education to accept the return of their funds.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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