LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) – Students at the country’s largest evangelical Christian university have started an independent news site where articles won’t have to be approved by school officials. The Lynchburg News & Advance reports that a group of students at Liberty University have started the Lynchburg Torch. The new site was spearheaded by student Jack Panyard. He was ousted earlier this year as editor-in-chief of the school’s official newspaper, the Liberty Champion.
Liberty President Jerry Falwell Jr. vetoed a student’s column focusing on vulgar comments made by Donald Trump from running in the Champion during the 2016 presidential campaign. Falwell is a strong supporter of President Trump and said he pulled the article because it was “redundant” with a medical student’s pro-Hillary Clinton letter to the editor on the opinion page.