**********We received this news/info from Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Virginia, late Friday evening.**********
Important Announcement Regarding LU/Liberty University Leadership
August 7, 2020 : Liberty University
Lynchburg, VA — 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.
A Message from Dr. Jerry Prevo
In the 13 years that Jerry Falwell, Jr. has served as president of Liberty University, Liberty has experienced unprecedented success, not only academically and financially, with a world-class campus, but also spiritually. As we enter our 50th Anniversary year, we have been blessed to grow to a record 120,000 students, both residential and online, and continue to fulfill our founder’s mission to Train Champions for Christ across the world.
Unfortunately, with this success and the burdens of leading a large and growing organization comes substantial pressure. Today, my colleagues and I on the Liberty University Board of Trustees and Jerry mutually agreed that it would be good for him to take an indefinite leave of absence. This was a decision that was not made lightly, and which factored the interests and concerns of everyone in the LU community, including students, parents, alumni, faculty, staff, leaders of the Church, as well as the Falwell family.
To support Jerry through this period, we ask that our entire community lift him up in prayer so he may be able to fulfill God’s purpose for him and for Liberty University.
Dr. Jerry Prevo
Board of Trustees Chairman
Here is the breakdown on the story/release from YahooNews/www.yahoo.com:
Liberty U’s Falwell takes leave after social media uproar
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RICHMOND, Va. — Jerry Falwell Jr. agreed Friday to take an indefinite leave of absence as the leader of Liberty University, one of the nation’s top evangelical Christian colleges, days after apologizing for a social media post that caused an uproar even among fellow conservatives.
**********(On Thursday, Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Walker of North Carolina, a pastor who has previously taught at Liberty, called Falwell’s behavior “appalling” and said he should resign.)**********
The private university in Lynchburg, Virginia, gave no reason for Falwell’s departure in a one-sentence announcement late Friday afternoon. But it came after Falwell’s apology earlier this week for a since-deleted photo he posted online that showed him with his pants unzipped, stomach exposed and his arm around a young woman in a similar pose.
The statement said the Executive Committee of Liberty’s board of trustees, acting on behalf of the full board, met Friday and requested that Falwell take leave as president and chancellor, “to which he has agreed, effective immediately.”
An early and high-profile supporter of President Donald Trump, Falwell has served since 2007 as president of the university founded by his evangelist father, the late Rev. Jerry Falwell.
He did not immediately return a call seeking comment. University spokesman Scott Lamb said he had no further comment.
In an interview this week with Lynchburg radio station WLNI, Falwell said the woman in the photo was his wife’s assistant and that the picture had been taken during a “costume party” while on vacation.
“Lots of good friends visited us on the yacht,” the caption of the photo said, in part. “I promise that’s just black water in my glass. It was a prop only.”
He said the woman — who also had her midriff exposed — was pregnant, couldn’t get her pants zipped and he imitated her, saying it was all in “good fun.”
“I’ve apologized to everybody, and I’ve promised my kids … I’m going to try to be a good boy from here on out,” he said in the interview.
On Thursday, Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Walker of North Carolina, a pastor who has previously taught at Liberty, called Falwell’s behavior “appalling” and said he should resign.
In addition to Walker, some pastors who graduated from Liberty spoke out earlier this week calling for a change in leadership at the school. Mark Davis, a Texas-based pastor, tweeted that “the name of Christ and the reputation of Liberty will continue to be dishonored” without action against Falwell by the board. Colby Garman, a pastor who has served on the executive board of the Southern Baptist Convention of Virginia, tweeted on Monday that it was “bewildering” to see Falwell maintain the board of trustees’ support. He responded to Friday’s news with appreciation.
“How is this Jerry Falwell Jr. photo even real?” tweeted conservative TV personality Meghan McCain, daughter of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain. “Also if you’re running the largest Christian university in America maybe don’t put photos of yourself on social media with your pants undone on a yacht — with random women in bad wigs. So gross, so hypocritical.”
The late Falwell founded Liberty in 1971 with just 154 students. Under the leadership of Falwell Jr., who is an attorney and not a minister, Liberty has grown into a leading evangelical university, with an immaculate campus and a significant endowment. Students must follow a strict code of conduct that includes modest dress and a ban on alcohol consumption.
In recent years, Liberty has served as a regular speaking spot for ambitious Republicans looking to court the young evangelical vote. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz kicked off a presidential campaign there in 2015.
Falwell was among the earliest Christian conservatives to endorse Trump’s previous election campaign. In late 2016 he told The Associated Press that Trump had offered him the job of education secretary but that he turned it down for personal reasons.
The vacation photo was the most recent in a string of controversies Falwell has faced in recent years, in both his role at Liberty and his personal life.
Last year, he settled a federal lawsuit in Florida over a real estate venture that involved a young Miami pool attendant, a case that drew national attention.
He more recently sparred with Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and local officials in Lynchburg over his handling of coronavirus restrictions. He also faced stinging criticism from a group of Black alumni who said he should step down after he mocked Virginia’s mask-wearing requirement in a tweet by invoking a blackface scandal that engulfed Northam last year. He later apologized.
++++++++++GreensboroSports.com note:“It is time for Jerry Falwell Jr. to grow up and start acting like a responsible adult.”++++++++++
Jerry Falwell has explained who the woman is and why his pants were undone.
But he did not address the myriad other issues/concerns that have been voiced since the picture went viral. #Liberty #Falwell https://t.co/bAteLkPwcF
— Robert Downen (@RobertDownen_) August 5, 2020