Category: Liberty University

In this seemingly never ending story, Falwell told the WSJ that he did indeed submit his resignation. He doesn’t sound contrite though referring to self-righteous people who put pressure on the board.

Amazing.

8/25/20 – You just knew this was going get worse.

……………………….

In a day full of surprises, Liberty University just issued this press release:

Jerry Falwell, Jr. agrees to resign as Liberty University’s president then reverses course

August 24, 2020 : By Office of Communications & Public Engagement

Lynchburg, VA—On the first day of classes of Liberty University’s fall term, Jerry Falwell, Jr., agreed to resign as its President and from its Board of Directors, but following media reports about the resignation, withdrew it.

The Executive Committee’s Board of Trustees asked Falwell to go on indefinite leave of absence on August 7, to which he agreed. 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. The Executive Committee met this morning and a conference call gathering of the full Board was planned for tomorrow.

Falwell responded by agreeing to resign immediately as President of Liberty University today but then instructed his attorneys to not tender the letter for immediate resignation. The Executive Committee will go forward with its meeting in the morning followed by the full Board.

Acting President Jerry Prevo said, “I call upon the University community and supporters to be in prayer for the University and for all its leadership, past, present and future, as we walk with the Lord through this stormy time of transition.”

Over the past several days, Falwell claimed his wife had a brief affair with Giancarlo Granda, also known as “the pool boy.” Then today, Granda told Reuters that Falwell knew of the affair and seemed to encourage it.

There may be other sordid details, but one loose end has implications beyond Liberty University and the Falwell family. Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen was involved in helping Jerry Falwell bury racy photos of Falwell’s wife. We now have an idea who might have been the source of those photos. Is it possible that Cohen and Trump used the kompromat on the Falwells to get an early endorsement from him?

The fall out from Falwell’s endorsement cost him a high profile board member in Mark Demoss. It still seems quite surprising that Falwell went all in for Trump not long after he declined to endorse anyone. Given the bizarre twists and turns of this story, I think it is reasonable to wonder if Cohen and this story are related.

To go back where this story started, read Brandon Ambrosino’s article on the real estate deal involving Giancarlo Granda.

For a summary of the Giancarlo Granda connection, see the Miami New Times explainer.

In Liberty University news, the fallout from Jerry Falwell’s racist tweet continues.

After having a come to Jesus moment with African American board members, Jerry apologized one of those apologies that says sorry if you got upset. WaPo has the story. They also report that another African American staffer –Keyvon Scott– has resigned over the matter.

In a sign that more resignations may be coming, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported yesterday that Liberty’s former Director of Diversity Retention, LeeQuan McLaurin not only resigned but has started something he calls LUnderground Railroad to help current African American staff at Liberty to leave.

LUnderground Railroad is a gofundme page designed to raise $2000 to give to 15 Liberty employees to help them leave the school. Dissent is not allowed there so they must remain silent. LeeQuan hopes these funds will help them get out of what they believe is a toxic environment.

And that may be all they have to look forward to. Nothing will change on campus if the board chair’s response is any indication. From the Chronicle:

Jerry Prevo, chairman of Liberty’s Board of Trustees, said the board met with Falwell last week to discuss his recent tweets and that the executive committee is satisfied with his response to the furor the tweets caused.

“We understand these images have been hurtful for a number of our friends to see,” Prevo said. “We also know him and know him not to be a racist. Nor do we believe that he has been running Liberty University in a way that discriminates against African Americans.”

Apparently, Mr. Prevo isn’t doing exit interviews with the people who leaving and want to leave.

The petition from African American alums now has nearly 38,000 signers and is still taking signatures here.

Follow me on Twitter!

Liberty University continues to be a community is disarray following Jerry Falwell’s racially insensitive COVID mask tweet (please see this post for context). An adjunct professor resigned immediately after the tweet came to light and now the school Director of Diversity Retention, Quan McLaurin has resigned. I suspect Mr. Falwell made his job very difficult.

Here is the Twitter announcement:

Yesterday I tendered my letter of resignation. As of July 2, 2020, I will no longer serve as the Director of Diversity Retention at Liberty University.

— Brown Skin Boy (@Quan2994) June 3, 2020

On another front, a small student group –Liberty Students for Change– is calling for Falwell to be fired.

In September we called for more accountability in the Falwell administration.
After Falwell’s racist tweets & unapologetic, divisive behavior, we are calling for him to step down. It is time to #FireFalwell pic.twitter.com/g9pTcGrcst

— Liberty Students For Change (@lu4change) June 4, 2020

That group is small; a much larger group is touting a petition on Change.org. This petition –now with over 32,000 signers– specifically targets the racist tweet and calls on Falwell to change or resign. If this doesn’t happen, the signers pledge not to recommend the school. Several key athletes are signers which could hurt Liberty’s recruiting for Division 1 sports programs. The petition can be read and signed here.

More on LU:

Liberty Student Sickened by Jerry Falwell’s Blackface/KKK Mask

Today, thirty-five African-American pastors, alums, and former athletes from Liberty University started a Change.org petition calling on Jerry Falwell, Jr. to change his ways, delete his racist blackface/KKK mask tweet, and apologize (see this post describing the mask).

Apparently, anyone can sign it and it is addressed to Falwell. The petition acknowledges that the Board of Directors isn’t going to remove him. Take that in for a minute. Nearly any other college president in the land would be removed from office for the behavior cited in this letter, but these writers have already bypassed that as an objective.

The letter writers make explicit what I believed would begin happening soon:

 Lastly, we leave you with this. Because of your callous rhetoric, we can no longer in good faith encourage students to attend our alma mater or accept athletic scholarships. There are many Christians of color who worship in our churches and communities; we will not recommend their attendance at L.U. as long as you continue the unChristlike rhetoric. We will no longer donate funds to the university. We will also actively encourage Christian leaders to decline the invitation to speak at Liberty if you continue to insist on making unChristlike and inappropriate statements that are misrepresentative of Biblical Christianity.

Go read the whole thing here.

Thus far, an online professor has resigned, and a student has written an open letter of protest over Falwell’s actions.  Falwell’s response has been defiant and unapologetic.

Eric Green is a former Pittsburgh Steeler standout and Liberty U. alum who signed the petition. There are 3 other former NFL players who signed and one current player (Walt Aikens). If these NFL players don’t help Liberty recruit and in fact discourage black student-athletes from attending LU, this could present Falwell with a problem I feel sure he didn’t anticipate.

At 5:45pm, 2100 had signed. The server was down a good part of the day and the total went up 25 in the time it took me to type this. At 11pm, over 8100 have signed on.