The rector and rector of the Evangelical Freedom University will take an “indefinite” license, he said in a statement.
The director of the Conservative Evangelical Freedom University was forced to take an “indefinite permit” after sharing a photo of him with his unbuttoned trousers to expose his underwear.
Jerry Falwell Jr., a prominent supporter of Donald Trump and one of America’s toughest evangelical leaders, accused of hypocrisy after posting the photo on Instagram this week.
Liberty University, Virginia, has strict regulations on the dress code and social activities.
On a Friday, the university said:
“The executive committee of Liberty University’s Board of Directors, acting on behalf of the entire board, met and asked Jerry Falwell Jr to take an indefinite license from his duties as president and rector of Liberty University, which he accepted, with immediate effect.”
The resolution represents a normal drop for Falwell, who has been president of the ultraconservative university since 2007. Liberty University was founded through Falwell’s father, and the young Falwell has become a leader after his death.
In the criminal photo, Falwell is dressed in a black T-shirt and dark pants. The pants open on the fly and open to reveal Falwell’s belly button, abdomen and upper crotch. Falwell’s underwear, which looks grey, is visible.
The attire contrasts with the strict regulations of the Liberty University dress code, a favorite of evangelical Republicans.
College regulations state that skirts should not be shorter than two inches above the knee and prohibit male students from wearing shorts in class.
Falwell deleted the image, which he said had been taken on a yacht, but shared it through a Houston Chronicle reporter on Twitter.
Freedom University’s request for Falwell to be absent suggests that his case did not help through a chaotic, improvised radio interview Wednesday on the Morningline Virginia radio screen.
“I’ve apologized to everybody,” Falwell told the radio show.
“And I promised my children that from now on I would go out. I’m going out to be a kid.”
Falwell gave the impression of being a woman in the photo, who also had his pants unbuttoned. In the radio interview, she claimed that she had influenced her decision to dress.
“She’s pregnant, so she couldn’t catch him … he couldn’t pull up his pants,” Falwell said, adding that the woman is his wife’s assistant.
“And I’m looking to love, well, I dressed up in jeans that I hadn’t worn in a long time, so I couldn’t close mine either. So I just put my abs on, just put my abs like yours.
Falwell has faced questions about his behavior in the past, adding after being photographed partying at a Miami nightclub.
At Liberty University, academics attending a dance face a $20 fine and are also prohibited from “visiting alone with the opposite sex in an off-campus residence,” according to the Washington Post. The university also considers outdoor sex, marriage and same-sex relationships to be “prohibited.”
Falwell had raised his eyebrows earlier after he and his wife became friends with Giancarlo Granda, a 21-year-old former hotel pool assistant. Falwell then contributed $1.8 million to Granda’s acquisition of a Miami hostel that the New York Times was “gay-friendly” and that Politico was a “sewer”.
Falwell did not respond to a request for comment.