Jeb Bush to speak at Liberty University

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a likely 2016 Republican presidential candidate, will deliver the commencement address at Liberty University on May 9.

It’s an opportunity for Bush to address more than 6,500 evangelical students and their parents at a school that bills itself as the largest Christian university in the world.

“Liberty University is honored to welcome Gov. Jeb Bush to campus for our 42nd commencement exercises,” President Jerry Falwell Jr. said, according to The Liberty Champion, the school’s student newspaper. 

{mosads}“Throughout his years of public service, Gov. Bush has been a champion for excellence in education and so many other issues of vital importance to our university community,” Falwell added.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) became the first major 2016 contender when he declared his White House bid last month at the Lynchburg, Va., school.

Bush was raised Episcopalian and converted to Catholicism, the religion of his wife Columba, in the 1990s. 

After attending Mass near his home in Florida, Bush told The New York Times in a story last month, “It gives me a serenity, and allows me to think clearer.”

Bush has given a few public speeches since announcing that he is weighing a White House bid in December, but has been focused in recent weeks on fundraising.

In addition to Cruz, Republican Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) have also declared 2016 presidential bids, as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side.

This story was updated at 12:37 p.m.