Good morning, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) sports fans.
If you haven’t read it, I’ve already called once for Virginia Tech to cancel its series with Liberty.
Let’s get right to it: My proposal to replace Liberty with NDSU wasn’t as well received – so I’ll just cut that part out. I call once again for Virginia Tech to drop Liberty from future schedules (it will be too hard to drop them this year – but maybe we can work that out in future years).
Let’s get into why I think this series needs to end:
Here’s the President of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell, Jr., who is now on a leave absence:
wut is happening pic.twitter.com/8iEOr9EeRQ
— Robert Downen (@RobDownenChron) August 3, 2020
According to the Atlantic, here is why they took action on the above incident:
What finally pushed Liberty’s leaders to act was their belief that Falwell had openly flaunted immoral behavior: He posted, and then deleted, an image of himself on a yacht, his arm around the waist of a young woman who was not his wife. Both of their pants were partially unzipped, and a glass of what looked like alcohol—which he called “black water” in his caption—was in Falwell’s hand. Later, in an interview with a local radio station in Lynchburg, Virginia, where Liberty is located, Falwell explained that the woman works as an assistant to his wife. He laughed the incident off: “I promised my kids I’m going to try to be a good boy from here on out,” he said. But alumni and staff who had previously expressed their concerns about Falwell in private began openly calling for his resignation, including Representative Mark Walker of North Carolina; many of them noted that any number of Falwell’s actions would have gotten a Liberty student written up.
Politico Magazine also describes a culture of fear at Liberty University:
“Everybody is scared for their life. Everybody walks around in fear,” said a current university employee who agreed to speak for this article only after purchasing a burner phone, fearing that Falwell was monitoring their communications. The fear is not limited to Liberty’s campus. Several people who lack any tie to Liberty but live in the school’s hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia, refused to go on the record for this story, fearing Falwell would take revenge upon them and their families. “Fear is probably his most powerful weapon,” a former senior university official said.
The News Advance mentions that “Liberty is unique among universities in that nearly all faculty members teach under one-year contracts, which come up for renewal every spring. Only professors at the university’s law school are eligible for tenure under a requirement by the American Bar Association.” So the university educators live like they are walking on pine needles from year to year.
A large group of African American Alumni have called for Falwell, Jr. to step down from his position (that’s much farther than just a leave of absence).
A May 2020 graduate of Liberty University, who is now a school teacher in Tennessee, basically says that Falwell, Jr.’s zipper has been down for years.
Surprisingly, I actually think this part is true:
Anyone who thinks Jerry Falwell Jr just got “fired” doesn’t understand how Liberty University (or white evangelicalism, for that matter) operates. He’ll be back.
— Jonathan Merritt (@JonathanMerritt) August 7, 2020
It doesn’t have to be for Virginia Tech in that shouldn’t allow Liberty to be “back” on the football schedule. Virginia Tech should find a way for both parties to cancel this football series.
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