Official says Falwell leaving Liberty; Falwell says he’s not

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Jerry Falwell Jr.’s future at evangelical Liberty University was unclear late Monday, with a senior school official saying he had resigned from his leadership post but Falwell telling at least one news outlet that he does not plan to leave permanently.

A formal announcement from the school was expected later Monday, according to the school official, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter. The disclosure of Falwell’s resignation followed the publication of news stories about his wife’s sexual encounters with a much younger business partner.

Late Monday, attorneys for Falwell and the school were negotiating the details of a possible departure, according to a person close to the school’s board of trustees who also spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss it.

But Virginia Business reported that Falwell, who was already on an indefinite leave of absence, said in a phone interview he has not agreed to leave the post permanently, nor does he plan to.

Falwell did not return a call from the AP seeking comment.

The
uncertainty developed a day after Falwell issued a statement to The
Washington Examiner publicly disclosing that his wife had an
extramarital affair and saying the man involved had been threatening to
reveal the relationship “to deliberately embarrass my wife, family, and
Liberty University unless we agreed to pay him substantial monies.”

Falwell
said he was seeking mental health counseling after dealing with fallout
from the affair, which he said he had no role in.

“Over the
course of the last few months this person’s behavior has reached a level
that we have decided the only way to stop this predatory behavior is to
go public,” the statement said.

But hours before the school
official confirmed Falwell’s resignation, Reuters reported that he knew
of his wife’s affair and participated in some of the liaisons as a
voyeur. The news agency based the information on an interview with
Giancarlo Granda, whom they identified as the man involved in the
affair.

Falwell, an early and ardent supporter of President Donald
Trump, began a leave of absence from the university on Aug. 7 after an
uproar sparked by a photo he posted on social media showing him with his
pants unzipped, stomach exposed and arm high around the waist of his
wife’s pregnant assistant. Falwell has said the photo was taken at a
costume party during a family vacation.

Critics of the photo said
it was evidence of hypocritical behavior from the leader of a
university where students must follow a strict code of conduct that
includes modest dress and a ban on alcohol consumption and premarital
sex.

The possible break with Falwell came amid growing calls for
an overhaul of leadership at the school, where alumni recently launched a
campaign urging him to step aside.

“I really think the board of
directors should have done this a long time ago, and if there’s anybody
who needs to go next, it needs to be them,” said Maina Mwaura, a Liberty
graduate who helped organize a June letter from Black alumni
criticizing Falwell.

“This school has become the laughingstock of
the country,” Mwaura added, noting that the board could have prevented
the current furor had it acted more quickly to rein in Falwell. The
founder’s son was given a long leash for poor behavior, Mwaura said,
“because he was the rainmaker” who brought in significant financial
resources.

Falwell’s work to shore up Liberty’s finances after taking over as president in 2007 bolstered his already significant goodwill among the school’s board members, several of whom were close to his late father. But as the younger Falwell’s propensity toward divisive public behavior grew — and particularly after his endorsement of Trump in early 2016 — dissatisfaction built up with what some critics saw as a shift toward being conservative first and Christian second.

Schor reported from New York.