Liberty University and Falwell: A bond that's hard to break
RICHMOND, Va. — Jerry Falwell Jr. has been toppled, at least temporarily, from the presidency of evangelical Liberty University, but whether he will break permanently with the Christian institution that is synonymous with his family name is another matter.
Falwell apologized after posting a vacation photo that showed him with his pants unzipped and his arm high around the waist of his wife's pregnant assistant. The image was enough to push the 58-year-old attorney with a tendency toward divisive behavior into an indefinite leave of absence.
Critics of Falwell's leadership say Liberty needs a new direction, but many who know the school well have a hard time envisioning its governing board saying goodbye to the heir who played a major role in transforming it into a conservative Christian mainstay.
“When it comes to white evangelicalism, the only force more powerful than moral is mis nepotism,” said Liberty alumnus Jonathan Merritt, a religion writer and commentator whose father, a former Southern Baptist Convention president, served on the school's board of trustees.
While the board recognizes that Falwell “made a serious mistake, most say they feel a duty and loyalty to his late father who wanted his son in that role,” Merritt added. “If the board was going to fire him, they would have also done so. It's almost certain that he'll be back.”
Falwell' s father founded the school in Lynchburg with hopes of building Liberty into an evangelical equivalent of the University of Notre Dame, a Roman Catholic bastion in Indiana.
Falwell, who did not follow the Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr. into the ministry, took over as president following his father' s death in 2007. The son worked to shore up Liberty's finances, overhauling the campus with over $1 billion in construction projects, growing its endowment and increasing its online enrollment. Liberty's net assets topped $2.3 billion according to its most recently available tax filings, up from less than $220,000 in 2008.
Even the vacation photo, with a caption that said “good friends visited us on the yacht,” underscored Falwell's deal- making on behalf of t he university. The luxury boat belonged to NASCAR team owner and Hall of Fame member Rick Hendrick, according to a spokesman for Hendrick Motorsports.