U.S. evangelical leader Falwell to leave university after personal
scandal
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[August 26, 2020]
By Jan Wolfe, Aram Roston and Katanga Johnson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jerry Falwell Jr, a
towering force in the U.S. evangelical Christian movement whose
endorsement played a key role in President Donald Trump's 2016 victory,
has resigned as president of Liberty University, the school said on
Tuesday.
Falwell's dramatic departure as head of one of the world's largest
Christian universities came a day after Reuters reported that a business
partner of the Falwell family had come forward with a stunning
allegation: that he had been in a years-long sexual relationship
involving Falwell's wife and the evangelical leader.
Falwell, who for over a decade served as president of the university
founded by his father, did not respond to a request for comment.
Tuesday's announcement from the university put an end to a day of
fevered back-and-forth over Falwell's fate. Falwell, 58, had initially
agreed to resign shortly after the Reuters report appeared, but then
changed his mind following media reports about his decision, according
to the university.
Falwell's departure represents a remarkable fall from grace for a man
who has been a potent force in American conservative politics.
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His endorsement in 2016 helped Trump, a thrice-married New York reality
TV star, win evangelical voters in a crowded Republican field that
included more established conservatives such as Senator Ted Cruz.
The revelations about Falwell may have little effect on Trump's chances
in 2020, however. In the years since winning Falwell's backing, Trump
built up his own diehard base of support within the evangelical
movement.
A June survey by the Pew Research Center showed that a strong majority
of white evangelicals - some 72% of them -approved of Trump's handling
of the job, down modestly from 78% in April.
The Reuters report on Monday was the latest in a string of personal
embarrassments for Falwell.
The university chief had taken an indefinite leave of absence from
Liberty earlier in the month. That step, announced in a terse statement
from the school’s board of trustees, came days after Falwell posted,
then deleted, an Instagram photo of himself with his pants unzipped,
standing with his arm around a young woman whose pants were also partly
undone. Falwell later told a local radio station that the picture was
meant as a good-natured joke.
On Monday, Reuters reported the allegations of Giancarlo Granda. Granda
told Reuters he was 20 when he met Jerry and Becki Falwell while working
as a pool attendant at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel in March
2012. Starting that month and continuing into 2018, Granda told Reuters
that the relationship involved him having sex with Becki Falwell while
Jerry Falwell looked on.
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![](../images/082620PIX/news_Q27.jpg)
Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. speaks during the
school's commencement ceremonies in Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S., May
11, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake
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Granda shared with Reuters texts and other material that he said
supported his account of a sexual relationship with the couple.
On Sunday night, as Reuters was preparing to publish the article,
Jerry Falwell issued a statement in which he said Becki Falwell had
had an affair with Granda. Becki Falwell did not respond to
questions from Reuters.
Falwell's statement did not mention Granda's allegation of a love
triangle and he did not address questions from Reuters about the
matter.
The statement also said Granda had been trying to extort money from
the couple over the matter.
Granda denies any such intent, saying he was seeking to negotiate a
buyout from a business arrangement he says he had with the couple.
Falwell's departure leaves a big gap at Liberty, based in Lynchburg,
Virginia. The school has been dominated for decades by Falwell Jr
and, before him, by his late father, who in an earlier era was a
major force in Republican Party politics.
Liberty said Falwell Jr would be paid severance at a level dictated
by his employment agreement - and that the school would not be
adjusting that previously agreed sum. Liberty spokesman Scott Lamb
did not respond to a question about how much money Falwell would
receive in severance pay.
Falwell's son, Jerry Falwell III, known as "Trey," has worked as a
vice president at the school. Lamb did not respond to a request for
comment on whether Trey Falwell remains employed at the school.
Save71, a group of Liberty alumni, students, and faculty that have
called for new leadership, welcomed Falwell's departure.
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The group in a statement said Liberty's board has "abdicated their
moral and fiduciary duties for years" and "permitted Falwell and his
family to run the school like a personal business at the expense of
its faculty and its students."
(Reporting by Katanga Johnson, Jan Wolfe and Aram Roston; Editing by
Scott Malone, Alistair Bell and Rosalba O'Brien)
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