Gingrich Assails 'Radical Secularism'

But Gingrich devoted much of his speech to recalling the virtues of the school's founder, whose death cast a pall over the 34th graduation ceremonies.

Jerry Falwell Jr., who took over as chancellor this week, tearfully told graduates: "All is well at Liberty. We've prepared for this time for 15 years. No one can replace Dad, but there's a team here that's ready."

The younger Falwell also later told reporters that his father was "very excited when he heard that Newt was even considering running for president."

In his speech, Gingrich praised the elder Falwell's efforts to build Liberty University, which was founded in 1971 and now has 28,000 undergraduate students. It also has a law school, a divinity school and a business school. An engineering school and a medical school are scheduled to open in the coming years.

"Jerry Falwell put his trust in the Lord. Despite all obstacles, he persevered and was not discouraged," Gingrich said. "If you seek a monument to that perseverance, look around you."

And Gingrich hailed the connection Falwell made between religion and politics, becoming for decades a new kind of evangelist in the political arena as much as in the Christian one.

"Anybody on the left who hopes that when people like Reverend Falwell disappear, that the opportunity to convert all of America has gone with him fundamentally misunderstands why institutions like this were created," Gingrich told reporters.

Falwell's influence in the political process -- at its height when he headed the Moral Majority and led a new army of politically active Christians -- waned in recent years. But Gingrich noted that Liberty University has graduated 120,000 students.

"Jerry Falwell has spread 120,000 seeds of Christianity across the country to go out and take up the life of the Lord," Gingrich said. "I have every reason to believe that many of those . . . are going to provide the kind of leadership we want."