It’s official. After much back-and-forth, Jerry Falwell Jr. permanently resigned as president of Liberty University.
The university’s board of trustees accepted his resignation on Monday.
Earlier on Monday, the university claimed that Falwell had agreed to resign. Falwell said later that day in an interview with Virginia Business that such reports were “completely false” and that he had no intention of leaving the university on a permanent basis.
The university then released a statement detailing that after originally agreeing to resign, Falwell did not actually submit his resignation to the board. Shortly after that statement was released, Falwell did tender in his resignation. Now, both parties are in agreement that Falwell has officially, permanently resigned as the university’s president.
Falwell first got into trouble with the board after posting a photo on Instagram of himself and his wife’s assistant. Both had their pants unzipped. Falwell was holding what appeared to be an alcoholic beverage. He later claimed it was just a soft drink and that the photo was meant to be a joke. The board determined that Falwell would need to take an indefinite leave of absence from the university.
On Sunday, Falwell told the Washington Examiner’s Paul Bedard that his wife, Becki, had an affair and that the object of the affair was trying to blackmail them. A man named Giancarlo Granda told Reuters in a report released on Monday that he had a yearslong sexual relationship with Becki and that Jerry enjoyed watching them. Granda secretly recorded a video call between the three. Reuters saw the video and confirmed that it did, in fact, depict the Falwells. Audio from that call has been released.
In an interview with the News & Advance, Falwell said, “It’s a relief,” adding, “the quote that keeps going through my mind this morning is Martin Luther [King] Jr: ‘Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty I’m free at last.” He expressed hope for what’s to come saying, “I see a role in other areas, I don’t know what it is yet, but I’m not done. This happened for a reason.”
Liberty’s board said that it’s looking forward to what comes next for the university. Dr. Allen McFarland, chairman of the board, said in a statement, “I am so encouraged by the unity of Christ that I saw exemplified by our Board today. Liberty University’s future is very bright and in capable hands of leaders who are committed to being good stewards of what the Lord has entrusted!”
