Defying a

, Liberty University's president Jerry Falwell Junior told students Friday that the school would continue to hold face-to-face classes on campus amid concerns about the global Coronavirus pandemic.

Spring break will be held next week for Liberty's residential population of 15,000 students. When they return to campus March 23, Falwell said modifications will be made on campus but classes will resume as normal.

"Unless everything changes in the next week, I don't see us doing what other schools have done," Falwell told Liberty's senior vice president for spiritual development, David Nasser, during a recorded interview that was made available online.

The interview was aired during the school's thrice-weekly convocation, a required event for students that is normally held in the school's Vines Center. Friday's ceremony was live-streamed from a television studio and students watched the broadcast in smaller groups around campus.

During his interview with Nasser, Falwell said the school's decision to continue a normal class schedule was made after hearing requests from students.

"You wouldn't believe all the messages that Becki and I have received from students saying please don't cancel classes and put us home, online," Falwell told Nasser. "You guys paid to be here, you wanted to be on campus. I want to give you what you paid for."

Falwell challenged the decision of schools that have chosen to cancel face-to-face classes and move instruction online due to Coronavirus concerns.

"When they say they're going online, they really mean some hybrid of online that's really more of a Skype lecture and emails between the professor and the student," Falwell said. "It's really not the same quality of education that we provide online and that we provide here on campus."

Referring directly to the Coronavirus, Falwell said "you have to wonder if there's a political motivation behind it."

"In 2009 17,000 people died from H1N1 flu." Falwell said. "You didn't see the hype in the press 24/7 like we're seeing now."

Falwell said he's "hopeful" that Coronavirus concerns are "overhyped."

"It's mainly elderly folks with preexisting conditions," said Falwell. "I urge the students when you go home, even if you don't think you are infected don't spend a lot of time around people who are at high risk."

During his conversation with Falwell, Nasser explained to students that large events would be avoided on campus for the foreseeable future and that convocation will be broadcast remotely for the remainder of the semester.

"We're going to leverage the moment to have convocations live-stream, online." Nasser said. "We don't want to have large gatherings when the nation isn't really having them."

In response to the decision to keep classes face-to-face, people are signing a

to encourage the university to reconsider.

The petition has attracted thousands of supporters to urge the university to move classes online and help combat the spreading virus.