Nearly a month after Mark DeMoss resigned as chairman of Liberty
University’s executive committee and from the school’s board of
trustees, DeMoss and school leaders have offered more details on the
circumstances that led to the separation. DeMoss’ resignation came less
than two months after he publicly expressed his disapproval of Liberty
president Jerry Falwell Jr.’s endorsement of Republican presidential
candidate Donald Trump.
On the eve of the Liberty board of trustees meeting in April, members
of the executive committee asked DeMoss, a Liberty graduate and former
chief of staff for Liberty founder Jerry Falwell Sr., to resign as chair
of the committee at the evangelical university in Lynchburg, Va. DeMoss
complied, and a few days later he decided to resign also from the board
of trustees, where he had served for some 25 years.
DeMoss recently spoke with me about the split and the meetings that led
to the formal end of his 36-year association with the school.
The turmoil began in late January when Falwell Jr. endorsed Trump days
after the billionaire businessman spoke at a Liberty convocation.
(Several other presidential candidates, including Democratic hopeful
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also have spoken at the school.)
Falwell said his endorsement of Trump was personal and not connected to
his role as the university’s president. Still, some influential Liberty
alumni expressed dismay over Falwell’s public support for Trump and
worried it would reflect poorly on the school.
DeMoss, who also was concerned, said he told Falwell he disagreed with
the endorsement. As Falwell appeared at campaign events with Trump, gave
media interviews, and recorded a robocall for the candidate, DeMoss
told The Washington Post, “Donald Trump is the only candidate who has
dealt almost exclusively in the politics of personal insult.”
In the interview published on March 1, the day of the Super Tuesday
presidential primaries, DeMoss added, “The bullying tactics of personal
insult have no defense—and certainly not for anyone who claims to be a
follower of Christ. That’s what’s disturbing to so many people. It’s not
Christ-like behavior that Liberty has spent 40 years promoting with its
students.”
In response, Falwell told the Post that DeMoss’ comments disappointed him.
DeMoss told me he later apologized to Falwell for disappointing him but
not for criticizing his endorsement. DeMoss said he also agreed to
apologize to the full board if the article had created an awkward
situation for them.
A few weeks later, DeMoss arrived in Lynchburg for two meetings: one
with the executive committee on the evening of April 21 and another with
the full board on April 22. DeMoss said he recused himself from the
executive committee meeting while the members discussed his comments to
the Post.
An hour later, according to DeMoss, the school’s general counsel (who
was in the meeting) told him the committee wanted him to step down as
chairman and to tell the full board the next morning he was resigning
because he wanted a change of committee assignments. DeMoss said he told
the attorney he was open to resigning “but I can’t give the reason
you’re asking me to give because it’s not honest.”
In an email statement, a Liberty spokesman responded, saying, “No one
was requesting that Mark DeMoss lie. The graceful exit suggested by the
executive committee through counsel was that Mr. DeMoss simply report to
the board that he desired to continue his service on the board on
another committee. The executive committee thought it better for Mr.
DeMoss to not have to say he was invited to resign or that he reached
his decision about moving to a different committee because he had lost
the support of the committee he chaired.”
The next morning, DeMoss said he told the board he was resigning from
the committee because the members wanted him to step down, and he
apologized if the Post article had put them in a difficult position. (He
said he also apologized for telling the Post a Liberty graduate had
returned his diploma to DeMoss over Falwell’s Trump endorsement. DeMoss
said since the graduate reached out to him in his capacity as a board
member, he shouldn’t have made the exchange public.) Three days later,
DeMoss resigned from the board as well.
I asked a Liberty official why board members disapproved of DeMoss
publicly disagreeing with Falwell over a public endorsement of Trump. A
spokesman said DeMoss’ comments to the Post “went well beyond
disagreeing about Donald Trump as the best candidate for president. Mark
DeMoss publicly communicated his concerns about Liberty University as
chairman of the board’s executive committee. He shared a negative
evaluation of Jerry Falwell, not as an individual, but concerning his
presidential stewardship … of Liberty University.”
DeMoss said he was surprised at the reaction, given Falwell’s vigorous
public support for Trump: “I didn’t know why that would be OK, but it
would not be OK for a board member to do one interview expressing
disagreement with the endorsement.”
While Falwell emphasizes his support for Trump is personal and not
Liberty-related, Trump hasn’t made that distinction. On Feb. 25, Trump
told supporters, “And as you know Liberty University—do we love Liberty
University? Huh? Jerry Falwell Jr., is an unbelievable guy and he has
been with us from the beginning, and I want to thank Jerry and his
family. It’s been amazing, the relationship.”
Back in Lynchburg, many Liberty students apparently don’t relish Trump.
The results of the GOP primary in Virginia showed Trump came in fourth
in Liberty’s voting precinct—with 8 percent of the vote.
Courtesy: WORLD News Service
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