Vermont senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spoke Monday at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, the conservative Christian campus founded by Jerry Falwell and now headed by his son Jerry Falwell Jr. Ten thousand students filled the arena, because their attendance is essentially mandatory for all university convocations twice a week — they are allowed one absence each semester only — and their applause was largely polite rather than passionate.

Tucked into the hills and river valleys of southern Virginia, Liberty University has a bucolic setting in early autumn. And for a reporter from New York, the school is an exotic scene: students with eyes closed in rapturous prayer singing along to the Christian rock band that opened for the Democratic presidential candidate; students that answer every question with a “sir” at the end; many students wearing suits and dresses rather than jeans.

Sanders modified his stump speech with quotations from the Bible cited by chapter and verse — Matthew 7:12, “do to others what you would have them do to you” and the more obscure Amos 5:24, “let justice roll like a river, righteousness like a never-ending stream” — but otherwise stuck to his core issues of fighting economic inequality after bluntly acknowledging his pro-choice and pro-gay marriage positions.

But what was striking wasn’t the majority of students who lacked enthusiasm for this most liberal candidate in the presidential race, but the few among them who came wearing Bernie T-shirts and brandishing handmade signs. For Liberty University, like most schools, is composed of a self-selected student body and faculty. It’s unlikely that many high school seniors who consider themselves liberal or leftist would apply.

Sarah Payne, class of 2011, said, “I didn’t think it was acceptable to be very open on campus if you were pro-choice or pro-gay marriage. People would be shocked. There’s lots of pressure to conform.”

Bethany Walker, who graduated in 2007 and has stayed in Lynchburg working for a non-profit, said, “I came here when I was 18. I was still figuring things out – I came from a very conservative family — but as I got older, and I started working in mental health, I realized that what conservatives are asking people to do is impossible. We’re a very small minority, but there is a place for progressive liberal ideology in faith-based communities.”

Bethany Dupree, who finished a masters in professional counseling at Liberty earlier this year, said, “It’s difficult to go through the program not agreeing; they are definitely Biblical, but I’m more scientifically based. It made me think more deeply. Bernie being here will pave the way to being more open minded.”

Ideally, college is supposed to be a time to challenge conventional wisdom and interrogate previously held beliefs as well as to acquire knowledge and skills. At a school like Liberty, that means that the culture wars take center stage at the intersection of education and identity.

But there was also Evan Powell, a 19-year old sophomore who waved a cardboard sign that read “(heart) Bernie From Evan” and explained his incongruity simply. “I lived in Europe for a while” and “I got a scholarship.”

Indeed, Liberty University has expanded tremendously in the last decade, with assets worth over $1 billion. With the cash to endow scholarships, build modern facilities and increase enrollment, the student body is inevitably becoming more diverse.

Sanders was astute in centering his speech on the potential common ground that he might have with a Christian audience, namely, combating economic inequality and racism. Caleb Taylor, a senior majoring in youth ministry, said, “I don’t agree with him on abortion. A fetus inside the womb has a voice. But I do agree that it’s immoral that we have tax cuts for the 1 percent. The middle class is shrinking, non-existent. And it’s self-centered and arrogant to only focus on abortion and gay rights.”

It would be hard to believe that Bernie Sanders won many votes after his speech, but his very appearance seems to have made a difference. It legitimized the more liberal or progressive minority on campus — certainly to themselves and possibly to the University at large. It was a catalyst to come out into the open. Dylan Childers, a political science major with a “Bernie 2016” sign, said, “Over 90 percent right-wing here, but they are more open to opinions than you imagine. “

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Later that night, Sanders returned to more familiar ground, speaking for an hour to a rally of 8,000 people at the Prince William County Fairgrounds in Manassas. Reflecting the increasing diversity of the Washington suburbs, the crowd ranged from tattooed and pierced hipsters to soccer moms and dads to African-American workers. Sanders knew that Liberty University was going to be a tough house; he prepared his text ahead of time and stuck to it. In Manassas he reverted to the extended version of his speech that he knows from memory.

The sections on racial justice, added after the brouhahas earlier this summer over whether he had paid the issue enough attention, inspired the spontaneous chanting of “Black lives matter! Black lives matter!” from the audience in support.

Afterward, the senator spent 25 minutes shaking hands and having his photograph taken. Not something that happened at Liberty U.

Bernie Sanders received a lot of admiration for going to Liberty University, and the school a lot of credit for inviting him. It’s reminiscent of President Barack Obama’s remarks in Des Moines, Iowa, also on Monday, when he said, “I don’t agree that you, when you become students at colleges, have to be coddled and protected from different points of view. I think you should be able to — anybody who comes to speak to you and you disagree with, you should have an argument with them.”