Jerry Falwell Jr. and Liberty University announced Friday they had reached a settlement, nearly four years after Falwell resigned as president of the influential Christian school amid personal scandals.
In a remarkable turnaround, Liberty, a private university in Virginia that has national political and evangelical clout, announced it had reached an agreement with Falwell on “all outstanding disputes on both legal and personal matters.”
Falwell resigned in 2020 from the school his father, a pastor and prominent televangelist, co-founded.
Falwell, a lawyer and real estate developer, transformed the school over the years of his leadership, lifting it out of debt, dramatically increasing its enrollment and building a beautiful campus in Lynchburg, Va., that became a powerful center for conservative Christians. In 2016, Falwell was one of the first prominent evangelical leaders to endorse Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
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He also generated considerable controversy, with some alumni, students and others concerned that the school had strayed too far from its mission of “Training Champions for Christ.”
In the summer of 2020, Falwell was suspended with pay after posting on social media — then deleting — a photo of himself with his wife’s young assistant with their zippers partially unzipped. Soon afterward, a young man, Giancarlo Granda, publicly claimed he had had an affair with Falwell’s wife and that Falwell sometimes watched them have sex. Becki Falwell acknowledged the affair, but both she and her husband denied that Falwell was involved.
Falwell resigned from Liberty in August 2020, and told The Washington Post at the time that his contract entitled him to a $10.5 million severance package, in part because he left without being formally accused of, or admitting to, wrongdoing.
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He sued the university that fall, claiming Liberty had damaged his reputation, and while he later dropped that suit, in 2023 he accused the school of misappropriating his father’s image for promotion.
After years of bitter contention, Liberty announced Friday that it had reached an agreement with Falwell on an undisclosed amount it will pay him in retirement and severance payments, and on the conditions under which the school will use the name, image and likeness of his father, Jerry Falwell Sr.
Liberty released a statement Friday expressing “appreciation” of Falwell, and said he was instrumental in building the school “into the world-class Christian institution it is today.”
Falwell apologized for errors in judgment and mistakes made during his time of leadership, according to the school. “The Board of Trustees acknowledge and apologize for the errors and mistakes made on their part as well,” Liberty added.
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Both parties expressed regret for the litigation, “and each take responsibility for their part in the disputes,” according to the university.
Falwell said Friday he could not comment on the settlement.
But, he said, “It’s an extremely happy day for everyone.”
Save71, an alumni group that has called for a restoration of the school’s Christian mission, wrote on X that the settlement announcement “is an extremely rare occurrence of Liberty formally apologizing for something, and an even rarer implication that Falwell wants to apologize.”
Dustin Wahl, a founder of Save71, said a Christian approach to the “catastrophe” of Jerry Falwell Jr.’s tenure would be repentance backed up by transparent action. “But this is an attempt to bury the past,” he said.
A spokesman for the university did not immediately respond to request for comment Friday.
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In 2023, retired Maj. Gen. Dondi E. Costin became president of Liberty. In an email to the campus community Friday, he wrote, “Every thought, word, and deed should flow through the grid of how we believe Jesus might respond in similar circumstances. That’s easier said than done, of course, and we don’t always get it right,” but he urged people to strive to live at peace with everyone.
He also advised employees that a previous restriction on communication with Falwell and his wife about Liberty business and operations had been lifted.
“The time has come,” he wrote, “for our former president and his wife to be welcomed back to our campus.”
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