GOP congressman calls for Falwell’s resignation

Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), a minister with ties to Liberty University, on Thursday called for the school’s president, Jerry Falwell Jr., to resign. 

“Jerry Falwell Jr’s ongoing behavior is appalling. As a Music Faculty Advisory Board Member and former instructor @LibertyU, I’m convinced Falwell should step down,” Walker tweeted.

“None of us are perfect, but students, faculty, alumni and @LUPraise deserve better,” he wrote.

Jerry Falwell Jr’s ongoing behavior is appalling.

As a Music Faculty Advisory Board Member and former instructor @LibertyU, I’m convinced Falwell should step down.

None of us are perfect, but students, faculty, alumni and @LUPraise deserve better.

— Rep. Mark Walker (@RepMarkWalker) August 6, 2020

Falwell made headlines this week after he posted a picture on Instagram with his arm around a woman on a yacht, both with their pants apparently unzipped. After backlash, the post was deleted.

Falwell has apologized for the photo but said it was “just in good fun.”

However, the university president has faced several other controversies this year.

In June, Falwell tweeted that he would only wear a face mask if it featured a picture from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s (D) yearbook depicting a man in blackface and a man in Ku Klux Klan regalia.

Falwell later apologized after several Black football players and faculty at the school condemned the tweet. Even after the apology, players Tayvion Land and Kei’Trel Clark both announced their intention to transfer to other schools.

In April, an anonymous student filed a class-action lawsuit against the university over its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The university was slow to move all of its classes online after the pandemic hit the United States full-force in late-February. The school only made the transition 11 days after the governor of Virginia declared a state of emergency. 

However, the university did not mandate students vacate campus, allowing them to remain in dorms and use the dining halls. 

“Liberty’s decision to tell its students that they could remain on campus to continue to use their housing, meal plans, parking, and the benefits of the services and activities for which their fees paid, was not only illusory and empty — because there were no more on-campus classes — but it was also extremely dangerous and irresponsible,” the lawsuit states.