Are Allegations Against Jerry Falwell Jr True?

Guest Bios Show Transcript Liberty University president, Jerry Falwell Junior, is in hot water after several exposes charging him with nurturing a culture of fear and self-dealing at the evangelical school. But the charges against him were mainly made by anonymous sources. This week on The Roys Report, a former dean at Liberty University who's never before spoken to the press will join me to discuss the allegations. And he’ll be going on the record, as opposed to remaining anonymous. What’s true and what’s not? I really hope you can join us for The Roys Report, this Saturday morning at 11 on AM 1160 Hope for Your Life and on Sunday night at 7 on AM 560 The Answer! Show Transcript Segment 1 JULIE ROYS:  Jerry Falwell, Jr., the president of Liberty University is in hot water, following a series of reports alleging self-dealing, mocking students and staff, and nurturing a culture of fear. But are these reports true? Welcome to The Roys Report. I’m Julie Roys. And if you follow the news, you’ve likely heard a lot about Jerry Falwell and Liberty University lately. Last week, Reuters publishes several emails by Falwell where he speaks disparagingly about those at the college. In one, he calls a student “retarded.” And in another, he calls his police chief a “half-wit.” But earlier last week, Politico published an article with much more serious charges. It alleged that Falwell used Liberty to make deals and loans to enrich his family and friends. For example, Falwell reportedly hired his son, Trey Falwell to manage a shopping center that the school owns. And Liberty loaned a construction company, owned by Falwell’s good friend Robert Moon, a quarter of a million dollars to start his company. Then, according to Politico, Liberty awarded Moon’s company more than 130 million dollars in contracts. Of course, if Liberty were a private business, owned by Falwell, that would be his prerogative. But Liberty is a non-profit university, funded in part by donations. And using a non-profit for personal enrichment is strictly prohibited by the law. The Politico article also alleged that administrators and faculty at Liberty are terrified of speaking out against Falwell. One current high-level employee reportedly called it a dictatorship. Another employee reportedly said “Everybody is scared for their life. Everybody walks around in fear.” But a major problem with the Politico article is that it relied heavily on anonymous sources. The author, Brandon Ambrosino, said he talked to more than two dozen current and former high-ranking Liberty University officials, and close associates of Falwell, yet none went on the record, supposedly because they were all too afraid. Yet that’s a huge problem in an age where there’ve been major scandals involving media outlets inventing stories and sources. That’s not okay. But today, on this program, I have a former Dean at Liberty, who’s going to speak on the record publicly for the very first time. And I should clarify, this former Dean has never before spoken to the press about this issue. So he’s not one of the anonymous sources in the Politico article. His name is Mark Tinsley. He’s currently a pastor at Amelon United Methodist Church in Madison Heights, Virginia. But from 2012 until 2017, he worked at Liberty University—first as a department chair, then as an Associate Dean and finally as the Dean of the College of General Studies. So, Mark, welcome! It’s a pleasure to have you join me. MARK TINSLEY:  Good to be here, Julie. Thank you for having me. JULIE ROYS:  Absolutely. And also joining me today is another former Liberty employee who actually has spoken on the record to the press. His name is Brian Melton. And he is quoted at length in a Washington Post story that published in July called “Inside Liberty University’s Culture of Fear.” Brian taught at Liberty for 15 years as an Associate Professor of History. He also served for a time as the Chair of the Curriculum Committee and Moderator of