Education 2024: MAJ. GEN. DONDI E. COSTIN (U.S.  AIR FORCE, RET.)

Costin, a retired 32-year Air Force veteran who went on to serve five years as president of Charleston Southern University, became president of Liberty in July 2023 during a time of turmoil.

The private evangelical university was rocked by the 2020 ouster of former President and Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr., the late founder’s son, and in 2021, 22 former students and employees claimed in a federal lawsuit — now partly settled — that Liberty officials discouraged them from reporting sexual assaults to authorities.

In March, the U.S. Department of Education settled with Liberty over violations of the federal Clery Act, which requires all universities that accept federal financial assistance to publicly report criminal incidents on campus. The $14 million penalty was nearly $10 million more than the second highest Clery Act fine assessed against Michigan State University.

In July, Liberty and Falwell Jr. came to a global agreement, ending three lawsuits stemming from Falwell’s forced resignation, for an undisclosed amount.

A decorated combat veteran who finished his military career as Air Force chief of chaplains, Costin holds five master’s degrees, including two from Liberty, along with a doctor of ministry degree and a Ph.D. in organizational leadership.