Fifty pastors who are alumni of Liberty University are urging the school to make Jerry Falwell Jr.’s recent “indefinite leave of absence” permanent and remove him as president of the institution that his father founded.
According to Faithwire, the ministers from churches nationwide sent the letter to the school’s board of trustees and acting University President Dr. Jerry Prevo on Thursday.
“It is because of our deep love for Liberty University and our great optimism for its future that we write to you today to urge you, the Board of Trustees, to permanently remove Mr. Falwell as president and chancellor and replace him with a new leader,” the letter says. “We do not write out of any personal vendetta against Mr. Falwell. We recognize that under his leadership, since his father’s death in 2007, the school has experienced significant financial and institutional growth and added important programs that are poised to shape a generation of Christian leaders in nearly every field of study.”
The pastors’ letter comes weeks after Falwell was ousted, at least temporarily, after posting an inappropriate photo of himself on Instagram. They also took umbrage with other things Falwell has recently done on social media, such as mocking Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s mask-wearing mandate by posting a picture of a mask depicting Northam either in blackface or a Klan hood.
Falwell, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, also deleted a tweet that urged Pastor David Platt of McLean Bible Church in Vienna, Virginia, to “grow a pair” after he acknowledged the “hurt” some in his congregation experienced when he prayed over the president last June.
“The racially insensitive comments earlier this spring and the recent posting of the inappropriate picture on social media have brought embarrassment to the school,” the pastors wrote. “It has also embarrassed the many alumni that work hard in our community to not only uphold the reputation of the university but to uphold a positive witness for the name of Christ.”
Prominent conservatives question Jerry Falwell Jr. vacation photo https://t.co/4MnkQKtrhR pic.twitter.com/mx0dkcJcvh
— The Hill (@thehill) August 4, 2020
As The Daily Wire reported on Aug. 7:
Liberty University announced […] that its Board of Trustees asked Jerry Falwell Jr. to take “an indefinite leave of absence” as president and chancellor after a photo circulated of him with his pants unzipped, his underpants showing, and his stomach protruding.
“The Executive Committee of Liberty University’s Board of Trustees, acting on behalf of the full Board, met today and requested that Jerry Falwell, Jr. take an indefinite leave of absence from his roles as President and Chancellor of Liberty University, to which he has agreed, effective immediately,” the school announced in a statement.
The unflattering photo, which Falwell himself shared on Instagram before deleting it, shows him on a yacht with his arm around his wife’s assistant. Many criticized the photo as inappropriate, especially for the leader of one of the nation’s largest Christian universities, which maintains a strict code of conduct for its students, including a dress code.
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