Jerry Falwell Jr. resigns from Liberty University. Again.
Jerry Falwell Jr. speaks at the 2nd Annual Turning Point USA Winter Gala at the Mar-A-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Dec. 18, 2019. Photo by Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons
(RNS) — Jerry Falwell Jr., the embattled president of Liberty University and one of President Donald Trump's earliest and most vocal supporters, has resigned from the evangelical Christian university founded by his father.
On Monday (Aug. 24), the first day of the fall semester at Liberty, Religion News Service learned from multiple sources close to the proceedings that Falwell had resigned.
Later that evening, a statement from Liberty confirmed Falwell had agreed to resign as president and from the university's board of directors, then withdrew his resignation after media reports about it.
Monday evening, however, Falwell told the Wall Street Journal that he had, in fact, sent his letter of resignation to the board.
Falwell already was on an indefinite leave of absence from his roles as president and chancellor of the university following controversial posts on social media.
"Since that time, additional matters came to light that made it clear that it would not be in the best interest of the University for him to return from leave and serve as President," according to the statement from Liberty.
His resignation came within hours of the publication of a news story that alleged he and his wife, Becki Falwell, had a years-long sexual relationship with a business associate.
Falwell had agreed to to resign immediately after a meeting by the board's executive committee, according to the statement, but then "instructed his attorneys not to tender the letter for immediate resignation."
A spokesman for Liberty previously told RNS the board leadership has "been in discussion with Jerry Falwell and expect to be able to make a statement on Tuesday."
After news of his resignation first broke, Falwell told a Virginia business publication that he did not plan to leave the school. He also claimed his leave from the school was his idea, more of a sabbatical than a leave of absence.
“I don’t care what you call it. I’ve been at this for so many years and under so much stress, I decided I needed a three-month break."
Falwell had agreed to an indefinite leave earlier this month after posting, then deleting, a provocative Instagram photo of him posing with his arm around a woman at a party with their zippers down and midriffs showing.
After that post, Liberty University alumni and former teaching faculty at the school called for his permanent ouster, citing a long list of offensive statements by Falwell, who has been one of President Trump's staunchest allies.
Jerry Falwell Jr., right, answers a student’s question, along with his wife, Becki, at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, on Nov. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Earlier Monday, Reuters published a story saying Falwell’s onetime business partner, Giancarlo Granda, a former pool attendant at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel, had a six-year relationship that involved sex with Becki Falwell while Jerry Falwell looked on.
“Becki and I developed an intimate relationship and Jerry enjoyed watching from the corner of the room,” Granda said in the Reuters story.
The Falwells and Granda later became business partners and offered Granda a share in a Miami youth hostel.
Colby Garman, pastor of the Pillar Church in Dumfries, Virginia, and a Liberty alumnus, last week published a letter signed by 50 Liberty alumni calling on Falwell's permanent removal, saying his behavior has embarrassed the school and its reputation. He reiterated today his call for Falwell's removal.
Commenting on Twitter, he said that the allegations about the Falwells are sad and, if true, would be "a reminder of just how deeply entangling sin can become."
Falwell, who since his father's death in 2007 has been president of Liberty University, one of the nation’s largest Christian schools, has greatly expanded the school and its offerings during his tenure.
Just last week, the board of trustees at the school met and decided to delay any decision about whether Falwell would be reinstated after his leave.
The Reuters story comes one day after the Washington Examiner published a story in which Falwell said he was suffering from depression because his wife had an affair with a family friend and that friend has been threatening to expose it.
"Over the course of the last few months, this person's behavior has reached a level that we have decided the only way to stop this predatory behavior is to go public," Falwell said in a statement published by the Examiner.
"We have categorically rejected this person’s demands while dealing with him and this particular member of the media who seemed just as obsessed with the prurient, untrue aspects of this story, however fantastic."
Falwell did not name the friend in the Examiner story. He also said he was "not involved" in his wife and Granda's affair.
Reached by phone earlier Monday, Falwell told RNS he already had given his statement to the Washington Examiner and wouldn’t comment further.
The allegations of a sexual threesome have been swirling for some time. Last year, Falwell allegedly sought out President Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen to help prevent the release of some racy personal photos, according to published reports. Falwell then denied Cohen’s account that he flew to Florida around 2015 and got the person with the Falwell photos to agree to destroy them.
Those who study U.S. evangelicals said that while churches and other institutions may look the other way when it comes to race, money or politics, sexual sins are not tolerated within that subculture. Many Christian schools, such as Liberty University, have honor codes that spell out what they consider to be Christian standards for sexual conduct.
"I don’t see how Falwell survives this," John Fea, a professor of American history at Messiah University and a frequent commentator on evangelicalism, said before news of Falwell's resignation broke. "He's done."
A group of students and alumni blamed the crisis in leadership on the school's board, saying it had been "derelict" in its duties in allowing Falwell to damage the spiritual vitality, academic quality and national reputation of the school. The group, called "Save71," suggested the school begin by removing the "beneficiaries of Falwell's inappropriate nepotism." It also proposed an independent investigation of claims of financial corruption.
Falwell also made headlines when photos of Falwell and members of his family partying at a Miami Beach nightclub in 2014 surfaced.
More recently, he apologized after tweeting images of a politician in blackface and Ku Klux Klan imagery.
(This story has been updated with additional statements from Falwell and Liberty.)
The fall of Falwell: A timeline of the ups, downs and scandals of his Liberty University presidency
August 25, 2020
Emily McFarlan Miller
Jack Jenkins
(RNS) — News that Jerry Falwell Jr. resigned as president of Liberty University, which came on the heels of reports that he and his wife, Becki, were involved in a sexual tryst with a younger man, may have caught some by surprise: How could the successful scion of a renowned evangelical preacher abandon his post at the school his father founded?
But Falwell’s resignation is but the resolution of years of smaller scandals, some of which are directly connected to the circumstances surrounding his decision to step down as Liberty’s president.
Religion News Service takes a look back at some of these controversies, chronicling the rise and fall of Falwell’s career as president of Liberty University.
May 2007 — Jerry Falwell Jr. takes over
Falwell becomes president and chancellor of Liberty University after his father, the Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr., dies at his desk. The elder Falwell, a prominent televangelist and political figure, had founded the evangelical Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia.
2012 — The Falwells meet Granda
Jerry Falwell Jr. and Becki Falwell reportedly meet Giancarlo Granda, then a 21-year-old pool attendant and Florida International University student, while vacationing in Miami. The Falwells go into business with Granda, purchasing a South Beach youth hostel.
September 2013 — Growth at Liberty
Spurred in part by a shift to online education, Falwell steadily builds up Liberty’s financial prowess, eventually accumulating an endowment of more than $1 billion. Largely due to massive enrollment in the online program, the school eventually claims the mantle of the largest Christian university in the country until it was dethroned by Grand Canyon University in 2018.
2015 — Liberty becomes a popular conservative speaking spot
Liberty emerges as a popular spot for conservative speakers and presidential hopefuls in 2015, beginning when Texas Sen. Ted Cruz launches his White House bid from the school’s campus. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks a few months later at Liberty’s commencement, and Trump makes a stop early the following year. The trend continues into Trump’s first term, with the president speaking at the school multiple times. Although Democratic candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders also addresses at the school in 2015, some students grow frustrated with the mostly Republican slate of speakers.
December 2015 — ‘End those Muslims’
After the San Bernardino, California, shootings, Falwell sparks one of his first national controversies after encouraging students to carry concealed weapons during the school’s weekly Convocation and expressing anti-Muslim sentiments. “I’ve always thought if more good people had concealed carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walked in,” he says.
January 2016 — Trump endorsement
Falwell becomes one of Donald Trump’s earliest and most outspoken evangelical supporters when he endorses Trump’s presidential campaign. The endorsement comes a week after Trump’s appearance at Liberty, during which Falwell compared him to his father, saying both were men who spoke their minds, often in fearlessly brash ways. A longtime Liberty board member resigns over the endorsement and a number of students publish a statement expressing their disappointment — foreshadowing future departures and statements from Liberty students, staff and alumni.
2016 — Athletic center deal
Falwell reportedly signs a deal selling an 18-acre athletic center on Liberty property to the Falwells’ personal fitness trainer, Benjamin Crosswhite. The Falwells reportedly had had personal training sessions with Crosswhite since 2011, when he was a 23-year-old Liberty graduate. The deal raises some eyebrows, according to Reuters, because Liberty adjusted the price and financed the purchase for Crosswhite, which it has defended as beneficial to the university.
April 2019 — Protests and censorship
Opposition to Falwell’s affiliation with Trump grows so fevered that an evangelical author, Jonathan Martin, calls for a prayer protest of Liberty University and Falwell. When Martin is arrested at Liberty and removed by campus police while visiting a band, evangelicals host a “Red Letter Revival” demonstration in Lynchburg, Virginia. Liberty student journalists attempt to cover the rally but say they are personally censored by Falwell, preventing them from doing so. News of the censorship reportedly results in Liberty officials taking full control of the student newspaper.
May 2019 — Michael Cohen and photos
Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen claims he was asked by Falwell to help him destroy racy photos described as images typically kept “between husband and wife.” The photos were reportedly kept by a third party who destroyed them after Cohen intervened on Falwell’s behalf. However, Cohen is recorded saying he kept one of the images. Falwell denies such compromising photos exist
.
October 2019 — Settlement with Bello
Falwell reportedly settles a lawsuit with Gordon Bello, who claimed the Falwells promised him and a family member a stake in a Miami hostel business venture that the Liberty president and his wife purchased in 2013. Also involved in the hostel was Granda, and the lawsuit reportedly devolved into a debate over compromising photographs that could be used as leverage against the Falwells.
May 2020 — Blackface/Northam tweet and fallout
Falwell tweets an image of a mask emblazoned with a picture of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam in blackface. Several African American faculty members and student athletes leave in protest, citing what they describe as the school’s long-standing issues with race and sexuality. Falwell later apologizes.
Aug. 7, 2020 — Instagram scandal(s)
Falwell agrees to an indefinite leave of absence from his roles as president and chancellor of Liberty after posting — and then quickly deleting — a photo on Instagram with his arm around a woman who was not his wife, pants unzipped, midriffs and underwear visible, glass of what he described as “black water” in hand. Falwell says the photo was “meant in good fun,” but it isn’t his only controversial activity on social media. Instances of him “liking” Instagram photos of women in bikinis come to light over the following days. He also previously called a Liberty parent a “dummy” in a tweet. Demands for him to resign or be removed intensify.
Aug. 24, 2020 — Falwell resigns. Eventually.
Falwell resigns after a bombshell report in Reuters alleges a past sexual relationship involving Falwell, Becki Falwell and Granda. The day before, Jerry Falwell had released a statement to the Washington Examiner claiming Becki Falwell had an affair with Granda “in which I was not involved.” In a daylong tug of war with the university, Falwell withdraws his resignation before submitting it again late that night.
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