Jerry Falwell On Leave From Liberty U. After Unzipped Pants Photo

LYNCHBURG, VA — Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of conservative Liberty University, has agreed to take "an indefinite leave of absence" after he shared a photo of himself with his pants unzipped.

The prominent supporter of President Donald Trump was accused of hypocrisy for posting the photo on Instagram. Students at Liberty University, one of the leading evangelical schools in the world, are required to dress conservatively.

Liberty University issued a statement Friday announcing Falwell's leave of absence.

"The Executive Committee of Liberty University’s Board of Trustees, acting on behalf of the full Board, met today and requested that Jerry Falwell, Jr. take an indefinite leave of absence from his roles as President and Chancellor of Liberty University, to which he has agreed, effective immediately," the university said in the statement.

On Sunday, Houston Chronicle reporter Robert Downen, posted a screenshot of the photo in question on Twitter adding the comment “wut is happening”

In the photo posted on Instagram, Falwell was standing next to a woman as they posed with their pants undone and stomachs exposed while on a yacht. In the caption to the photo, Falwell wrote: "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." Falwell has since deleted the photo.

Falwell, an early and high-profile supporter of President Donald Trump, has served since 2007 as president of the university in Lynchburg founded by his father, the late Rev. Jerry Falwell.

On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Mark Walker (R) of North Carolina, a Southern Baptist minister and former Liberty University instructor, called for Falwell’s resignation, citing several recent scandals.

“Jerry Falwell Jr’s ongoing behavior is appalling,” Walker, vice chairman of the House Republican Caucus, wrote on Twitter. “I’m convinced Falwell should step down."

Falwell’s father was a prominent Southern Baptist pastor who co-founded the Moral Majority, a group that pushed for conservative politics. After his death, his son Jerry Falwell Jr. took over the university, while his son Jonathan Falwell became senior pastor of the church in Lynchburg that his father founded.

On a Lynchburg radio station Falwell said the woman in the photo was his “wife’s assistant” and that the photo was taken "just in good fun" during a costume party on vacation.

“She’s pregnant, so she couldn’t get her pants up,” he said on the radio show. “And I had on a pair of jeans that I hadn’t worn in a long time, so I couldn’t get mine zipped, either. And so I just put my belly out like hers.”

Falwell said the woman in the photo is a "sweetheart" and expressed regret about embarrassing her. He promised to "try to be a good boy" from now on.

Falwell came under intense criticism in the spring for his decision to allow students to return to Liberty University after their spring break.

Lynchburg Mayor Treney Tweedy issued a statement in late March in which he informed city residents that neither he nor the city manager endorsed having the students return to Liberty University's campus or any of the other college campuses in the community.

"I was very surprised and disappointed to later learn of President Falwell's most recent decision to allow students back on campus," Tweedy said. "We are in the midst of a public health crisis. I am concerned for the students, faculty and employees at Liberty University, and I am also very concerned for the residents of the Lynchburg community."

This article originally appeared on the Fredericksburg Patch