Controversial Liberty president Jerry Falwell Jr. taking indefinite leave
By Mike Luciano
Jerry Falwell Jr. is on indefinite leave from Liberty.
Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. is an incredibly divisive figure that engenders a lot of disagreement across the political spectrum. While some claim that he is someone who stands for traditional Christian values, some point the figure at his controversial, sometimes offensive statements and actions as evidence he shouldn’t be involved in education.
Falwell’s influence on the university could be extinguished now that he has taken an indefinite leave of absence, which might be laying the groundwork for a regime change.
Jerry Falwell has been extremely controversial since being appointed as Liberty president in 2007.
Falwell, who was put in charge of the Evangelical Christian school in 2007 following the death of his father, has come under fire for his controversial comments about Muslims, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Liberty didn’t give a reason for his departure, many assumed that him posting a picture on a yacht, fly unzipped, holding a woman that is not his wife was the catalyst for Falwell to be removed. Conservative politicians claim that Falwell’s actions run antithetical to the mission statement of the university.
The Liberty football team struggled under Turner Gill for years, but they established themselves as a legit D-I program after hiring disgraced former Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze. Led by wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden, Liberty defeated Georgia Southern 23-16 in the Cure Bowl. Their basketball team was robbed of a chance to make a deep March run after going 30-4 in the regular season.
Even though Liberty is slowly becoming a relevant program both on the gridiron and on the hardwood, the actions of men like Falwell in their administration have earned them a great deal of scrutiny. The first step in rectifying that could be getting Falwell out of there.