LYNCHBURG, Va. – We now know who will be leading Liberty University for the time being.
Liberty Board Chairman Dr. Jerry Prevo accepted the appointment by the Executive Committee of the Board to serve as acting president, the university announced on Monday evening.
This decision comes after the university announced Friday that President Jerry Falwell Jr. would be taking an indefinite leave of absence.
Falwell Jr.‘s leave of absence comes just days after he posted, then deleted a photo of himself and a woman both in unzipped pants. The photo has since gone viral.
The caption on the now-deleted post reads, “More vacation shots. Lots of good friends visited us on the yacht. I promise that’s just black water in my glass. It was a prop only.”
The decision to appoint Prevo was made unanimously at Monday’s Board of Trustees meeting.
“I want to thank my fellow board members for having confidence that I could be entrusted with the responsibility of serving as the Acting President during this time of Jerry Falwell, Jr’s indefinite leave of absence,” said Prevo.
Prevo has served on the Liberty University Board of Trustees since 1996 and has been the Board Chairman since 2003.
He recently retired as the Senior Pastor of Anchorage Baptist Temple in Anchorage, Alaska, after serving that community for 47 years. During his stewardship of Anchorage Baptist Temple, it became one of the largest churches in Alaska and had the largest school in Alaska, as well.
He will begin his new role immediately and expects to work from the Lynchburg campus starting on Monday, August 17.
He has also stepped aside from his role as Chairman of the Liberty University Board of Trustees for the duration of his service as Acting President of the University.