LYNCHBURG, Va. (WRIC) — Jerry Falwell Jr. has officially resigned as President of Liberty University, amid a sex scandal involving his wife and a business partner.
8News spoke with a Liberty University alumni member who believes Falwell abused his power as president. Some add that the controversy swirling around in his personal life has overshadowed his role as a faith-based leader.
“Falwell took the school in a direction that I didn’t feel was aligned with the message of Christ and it wasn’t something I wanted to be associated with,” said Dustin Wahl.
The latter graduated from Liberty University in 2018. He is the co-founder of SAVE71, a group of alumni, current students and faculty members who’ve been fighting for change at Liberty University.
The group believes Falwell took the school in a direction that did not reflect well on the institution.
“The Board of Trustees at Liberty has been kind of missing in action and falling asleep at the wheel for the past several years allowing Falwell to do what he wants with the university to make a name for himself, to make money for himself at the expense of students, faculty, and alumni,” Wahl said.
He told 8News he is relieved to see Falwell has stepped down.
“He’s probably having a really hard time with this news of the last several day. We want what’s best for the Falwells, we want what’s best for Liberty, and for that to happen, major changes are in order,” Wahl said.
As for the next steps, SAVE71 is calling for an independent legal inquiry into the past several years of Falwell’s leadership. The alumni organization hopes Liberty can move forward in a positive direction.
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