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Reporting the Truth.
Restoring the Church.

Liberty Trustees Hold Special Meeting, but Don’t Decide Whether to Remove Jerry Falwell Jr.

By Julie Roys
Jerry Falwell Jr
Former Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. speaks before a convocation at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. on Nov. 28, 2018.

The Liberty University Board of Trustees held a special meeting today but did not decide whether or not to remove embattled President Jerry Falwell, Jr.

In a statement, the evangelical school said the board ratified terms of Falwell’s indefinite leave of absence and Acting President Jerry Prevo’s employment, but it did not decide Falwell’s fate.

Liberty said this included directives that Falwell “may not act as President, use any powers of the University president, and may not communicate with employees to manage, direct, or interfere with the operations of the University.” The school added that Prevo may call on Falwell “for consultation and background information.”

The board’s executive committee asked Falwell to take an indefinite leave of absence on Aug. 7, following an uproar over a racy picture and video Falwell posted, and then removed, from Instagram.

Since then, another bizarre video of Falwell’s has come to light, as well as Falwell’s habit of “liking” posts of Liberty students in bikinis. Also, an article in Politico yesterday questioned Falwell’s practice of using a yacht owned by NASCAR mogul Rick Hendrick for family vacations after the university committed to a lucrative sponsorship deal with Hendrick.

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This is in addition to prior allegations concerning Falwell of self-dealing, questionable business deals, and a dictatorial style of leadership.

Liberty and its board said they have “decided to not publicly comment on the various rumors and claims about Falwell at this time. Instead, the Board intends to use this time of leave to look into them as part of the process of determining what is in the best interest of Liberty University.”

Also today, the board unanimously ratified the executive committee’s decision to vest all the powers of the university president in Prevo. The board also reported asked Prevo to use his time of leadership “to reset the spiritual focus and emphasis at the University and expressed support for the spiritual revival plans Prevo announced.”

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9 Responses

  1. Good reporting. Even-handed reporting of important and relevant facts of this situation. If Jerry Prevo announced spiritual revival plans where are they?

    1. Ed, that is exactly what I have been trying to find! It would be great to hear that Jonathan Falwell would be having more input into the spiritual aspects of LU.

  2. So far the board’s comments sound reasonable and mature. Every major decision takes time to process. We should just pray for spiritual clarity and moral courage for each of the decision-makers. May the whole community hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, while silencing the noise of the world with all its temptations and calculations.

  3. I expect this to take at least another month. Boards always move slowly because a) there are a lot of members, and b) none of them are FT employees of the institution. Plus they will want to make sure there are no legal issues with their decision, which means lawyers get involved, slowing the process even more. I would expect anything until late September at the earliest.

  4. Apparently. JFJr has wanted for some time to be fired from his job. No other explanation makes sense except maybe a brain tumor.

  5. Sarcasm alert-Why do anything? Why does the President of a Christian college need to present a Christian example to anyone? The Board IMO will do nothing of substance to him in my opinion.

  6. They’re scared to can him. If any other faculty member had behaved like Falwell has on multiple occasions over the past few years, they would have shown him the door immediately. It’s his name and the fact that the board are Falwell’s people that’s keeping them from firing him.

  7. Does anyone know if Falwell Jr. is on paid or unpaid leave? Regarding Rick Hendrick, he’s a good decent guy I’ve heard and of course would offer or agree to have one of his race team sponsors use his yacht. I kinda wondered though if Liberty itself benefitted much from that NASCAR relationship which no doubt is a pricey one. Any idea on the cost of that sponsorship?

  8. What does this guy have to do to get fired – have sex on the podium?!? He should have been removed long ago. What a disgrace to the Lord!

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