Liberty University graduates angered by Jerry Falwell Jr.’s continued loyalty to Donald Trump say they will return their diplomas to the evangelical Christian school he oversees as president.
Falwell, on the other hand, has dismissed the high-profile Facebook campaign.
“It’s a joke. It’s grandstanding, that’s all it is,” Falwell told Fox News.
But for that small-but-growing group of determined LU alumni, the situation is anything but funny. They say their alma mater and their college memories are being hijacked by partisan politics.
Their “Return your diploma to LU” Facebook group is growing daily, standing around 600 with 100 more pending as of Tuesday afternoon.
Their beef is with Falwell, the president of Liberty, and his enthusiastic and unapologetic support of Trump before — and especially after — the white supremacist-induced violence in Charlottesville, Va.
“Falwell has shown himself to be unabashedly in service of money and power, at the expense of others, not of the message of the gospel he claims,” the group said in a social media message addressed to journalists.
As to the claim the graduates are grandstanding, some of those interviewed by Baptist News Global said they doubted the diploma return, and a jointly signed letter to Liberty trustees, would convince Falwell to dial back his support of Trump. But they want the university and the world to know that Liberty students and alumni are not in uniform support of Falwell’s actions.
Robert Gauthier
“It doesn’t change the situation, the campaign,” said Robert Gauthier, a 2003 liberty graduate and executive director of development for the Campolo Center for Ministry at Eastern University.
Gauthier said he was part of a very small group of Liberty graduates who criticized Falwell’s continuing to support Trump after the fall 2016 release of the candidate’s notorious lewd sex-talk video.
“We asked that we no longer be listed as alumni,” he said.
The feelings then continue now and have been intensified after Charlottesville.
“It’s definitely struck a chord with a lot of folks,” Gauthier said. “A lot of people went to Liberty and either left early because they were frustrated or graduated and moved on — all ashamed and angered and embarrassed by the way Falwell is leading the university.”
‘No mass exodus’
But there are some Liberty grads, equally offended by Falwell’s actions, who say they will not return their diplomas.
“The point of protest is to effect change, but I can’t imagine the Liberty diploma protest being effective in any way,” said Jonathan Merritt, a 2004 Liberty graduate and Religion News Service columnist.
Jonathan Merritt
More drastic consequences must occur to get the university’s or Falwell’s attention.
“There is no mass exodus of students or financial support. Dissenting faculty are intimidated and afraid to speak up. And angry alumni have already paid their dues,” Merritt told BNG in an email.
But the pain is real, he said. It is a sad and concerning situation when a university president doesn’t speak and act for a diverse student body.
“Many black, Hispanic, female, and LGBT students have felt maligned by this nation’s president and their college’s president. I hurt for them,” he said.
The challenge isn’t coming just from Falwell but also from other conservative Christians who endorse Trump.
“The problem with evangelical leaders’ support is that it is imbalanced,” Merritt said. “They are offering advice, which is a good thing, but they are not offering critique, which is a necessary thing. People who claim to care about the truth are failing to speak it to power. The emperor has no clothes.”
While he’s not going to return his Liberty diploma, Merritt said he will protest in another way — “through my writing.”
Falwell actions hard to fathom
But for others, the diploma route is the way to go.
“It’s a symbolic act to demonstrate how grieved I am by Jerry Falwell Jr.’s continued efforts to act as a spokesperson for President Trump even after his profound lack of moral leadership following the events in Charlottesville,” Iowa City resident and Liberty graduate Rebekah Tilley told BNG in emailed comments.
Tilley described herself as a model student at Liberty. She was a part of the honors program and graduated summa cum laude in 2002. She cares deeply about the institution’s reputation.
“I’m also a person of deep personal faith who is grieved to see a Christian leader act in this way,” she said. “I am bewildered that anyone from Liberty could be so outspoken in support of President Trump for a list of reasons that only continues to grow longer.”
She’s returning her diploma to protest Falwell’s support for a president who has demonstrated a lack of moral leadership.
“At this point I truly wonder: what would President Trump have to say that would ever cause Jerry Falwell Jr. to stop being his mouthpiece?”