Falwell draws ire of alumni

A Trump backer, Liberty University’s chief faces backlash

Since the early days of the 2016 presidential campaign, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. has been a staunch supporter of Donald Trump. For some students and alumni of the evangelical Christian school in Lynchburg, Va., Liberty's perceived alignment with the president has been a source of "shame and anger," a group of graduates wrote last week.

After Trump's equivocation about neo-Nazi groups after the violence in Charlottesville, Falwell once again voiced his unwavering support for the president, tweeting that he was "so proud" of Trump for his "bold truthful" statement on the tragedy.

Falwell appeared on Fox & Friends on Monday morning to reiterate his support for the president.

"President Donald Trump does not have a racist bone in his body. I know him well," Falwell said. "He loves all people. He's worked so hard to help minorities in the inner cities. ... He's doing all the right things to help the people that are in need, the minorities."

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His television appearance earned him a nod from Trump, who tweeted Monday that Falwell had been "fantastic" on the show.

"The Fake News should listen to what he had to say," Trump said on Twitter. "Thanks Jerry!"

In response to Falwell's unwavering support of Trump, Liberty University graduates are calling on fellow alumni to take a stand by returning their diplomas. They are also writing letters to Falwell's office and to the board of trustees, calling for his removal. More than 260 people have joined a Facebook group titled "Return your diploma to LU."

By publicly "revoking all ties, all support present and future," the graduates hope to send a message to the school that "could jeopardize future enrollment, finances and funding," according to the Facebook group. They are urging graduates to return their diplomas to Falwell's office by Sept. 5.

In addition, several alumni have written a letter to university officials calling on Falwell to disavow Trump's statements, National Public Radio reported. In it, the graduates said Falwell's characterization of Trump's remarks were "incompatible with Liberty University's stated values, and incompatible with a Christian witness."

"This sort of sends a wake-up call that you can't just align the entire university with Donald Trump's stance on a whim," Chris Gaumer, a former Student Government Association president and a 2006 graduate, told CNN.

Gaumer wrote on Facebook that Liberty University graduates are "ashamed, embarrassed, horrified." And sending back their diplomas is "the least we like minded can do."

On Instagram, he also wrote, "Many reasons to return LU degree, like a class called Creation Studies, but no reason more important than Falwell Jr. backing Trump backing white supremacists."

Responding to the criticism on ABC's This Week on Sunday, Falwell attempted to clarify his stance and said the students misunderstood him.

Falwell, who attended law school at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, said Trump "left the door open" for the incident to be considered domestic terrorism.

"He has inside information that I don't have," Falwell said. "I don't know if there were historical purists there who were trying to preserve some statues."

Falwell called the Charlottesville clashes "pure evil versus good" and said "there's no good white supremacist."

"I understand how some people could misunderstand his words," Falwell said of Trump. "Yes, he could be more polished and politically correct, but that's the reason I supported him, because he's not."

Most of Trump's evangelical advisers have refrained from criticizing him for his response to Charlottesville. But on Friday, New York City Pastor A.R. Bernard announced that he had stepped down from the unofficial board of evangelical advisers to Trump, The Washington Post reported. Bernard's Brooklyn-based Christian Cultural Center, which claims 37,000 members, has been described by The New York Times as the largest evangelical church in New York City.

A Section on 08/22/2017

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