Weeks later, a new scandal emerged when a former Miami pool attendant said he had had regular sexual liaisons with Mr. Falwell’s wife, Becki, while Mr. Falwell looked on. The man,
The couple and Mr. Granda later entered into an unusual business relationship, with the Falwells making Mr. Granda a partner when they invested in a Miami youth hostel. Mr. Falwell, who had issued a statement characterizing the relationship as an affair between Mr. Granda and Ms. Falwell, resigned on Aug. 25.
The statement from Liberty’s board on Monday suggested that last week’s revelations came as a surprise. “It’s certainly fair to say that there were questionable comments made, worrying behavior and inappropriate social media posts, but all the signs were not there until the start of last week,” the board said. “While we still didn’t know the full scope of the matter, we have learned enough about the past to know that we had no choice but to take the leadership of Liberty University in a new direction.”
Mr. Falwell’s father, the pastor and political activist Jerry Falwell Sr., founded Liberty in 1971 as a small Baptist college. Under Jerry Falwell Jr.’s leadership it has grown into one of the country’s most prominent evangelical institutions, with an endowment of $1.6 billion and a sprawling campus.
But Mr. Falwell has also been a divisive figure, even within conservative evangelicalism. He is known for his crude language and his enthusiastic support for President Trump. And he has been accused of blurring the lines between his family finances and the school’s, with family members allegedly benefiting from campus construction contracts, for example.
