Liberty University in Virginia announced Aug. 10 that its board had chosen an interim president to lead the school days after Jerry Falwell Jr. began an indefinite leave of absence after one of his posts on social media created an uproar.
Falwell’s departure came after he posted a photo on social media showing him posing with his pants unbuttoned, stomach exposed and his arm around a young woman who was not his wife. Falwell apologized for the photo, which he said was taken during a costume party while he was on vacation.
He said in an interview with Lynchburg radio station WLNI that the woman, whom he identified as his wife’s assistant, was pregnant and couldn’t get her pants zipped, and that he was imitating her. He said 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,” Falwell told WLNI.
‘Pray for us’
Jerry Prevo, who has served as chairman of the school’s board of trustees since 2003 and recently retired as the senior pastor of a Baptist church in Alaska, will assume the role of acting president immediately, Liberty said in a news release.
“Please pray for us as well as the Falwell family as we embark on our academic year and so we may continue to be united in our common purpose and our faith in Christ,” Prevo said in the news release.
The photo, which was deleted after being widely spread online, sparked criticism from liberals, conservatives and evangelicals alike. Many said the behavior was unbecoming and possibly hypocritical from the leader of a university that requires its students to follow a strict code of conduct that includes no alcohol.
Prevo said in a statement last week that Liberty has experienced “unprecedented success” academically and financially under Falwell’s leadership.
“Unfortunately, with this success and the burdens of leading a large and growing organization comes substantial pressure,” his statement said.
Falwell has led the private evangelical university founded by his evangelist father, the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, for 13 years. (AP)
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