(CP) Former Liberty College President Jerry Falwell Jr visited the campus for the primary time since reaching an settlement with college officers over the controversy surrounding his resignation in 2020.
Falwell and his spouse, Becki, attended a soccer sport Saturday on the Lynchburg, Va.-based evangelical establishment based by his father, and had beforehand been banned from the campus throughout the lawsuit.
“It's superb that after spending the higher a part of 40 years inventing and constructing what's right here, I've been in a position to get pleasure from it with out all of the accountability on my shoulders,” Falwell informed WSET Information.
Falwell was banned from campus following his resignation in 2020 amid allegations of extramarital sexual abuse towards him and his spouse. Falwell's ban from the campus, the place his brother Jonathan now serves as chancellor, was lifted final month.
The Falwells had been greeted by dozens of attendees at a house soccer sport towards the College of Texas at El Paso, in keeping with WSET, together with hugs and the occasional selfie.
“We see them round city; they arrive up and discuss to us and need to get photos, and that's been occurring on a regular basis. I'm wanting ahead to seeing all the scholars once more,” he mentioned.
Jerry Falwell Jr, son of Liberty College founder and outstanding conservative spiritual political activist Rev Jerry Falwell, grew to become head of the college after his father's demise in 2007.
Falwell Jr gained nationwide media consideration throughout the 2016 presidential election cycle when he grew to become one of many first outstanding evangelical leaders to endorse former President Donald Trump's presidential marketing campaign.
In August 2020, the Liberty Board of Trustees introduced that it had accepted Falwell's speedy resignation as chancellor, president, and board member.
The resignation got here after revelations emerged that Falwell's spouse had an affair with a 29-year-old man named Giancarlo Granda that started a number of years earlier.
Granda later tried to blackmail the couple, telling Reuters the Liberty president was conscious of the extramarital affair and even “preferred to observe from the nook of the room.”
Whereas Falwell admitted in his assertion that his spouse “had an inappropriate private relationship with” Granda, he denied any involvement within the affair.
Later, in 2020, Falwell sued Liberty's administration, claiming they accepted inaccurate claims towards his ethical character with none correct analysis and compelled him to resign.
“Whereas I’ve nothing however love and appreciation for the Liberty group and hoped to keep away from a lawsuit, I need to take the required steps to revive my status and hopefully restore the injury to Liberty College's model within the course of,” Falwell mentioned. in an announcement in 2020.
As of 2020, Falwell and the college have filed numerous lawsuits towards one another.
In July, Falwell and Liberty introduced that they’d reached a settlement, noting that it could resolve “all excellent disputes, each authorized and private.”
“This settlement is predicated on a robust dedication to guard and protect Liberty's unique mission of growing Christ-centered women and men with the values, data and expertise essential to impression the world,” they mentioned.
“It’s primarily based on a mutual settlement relating to the quantity Liberty College pays its former president in eligible retirement and severance pay underneath the assorted disputed agreements and in accordance with legislation; and the circumstances underneath which the college will use Dr. Jerry Falwell Sr. title, picture, and likeness.”
Each side mentioned they “remorse the prolonged and painful authorized course of”, with either side taking “accountability for his or her position within the disputes”.
“Falwell acknowledges and apologizes for the errors of judgment and errors he made throughout his management. The board additionally acknowledges and apologizes for the errors and errors made on their half,” they added.
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