A Sea Of Red

Contracts to donors is different than contracts to board members.

Not every case is equal. LU does have some unique history. A few of the BOT members were employees when times were really dire financially and went for long stretches of times without a paycheck and never got paid much to start with. Entrepreneurial endeavors to help oneself out during that time was encouraged. Doc made some long-term, legit agreements to honor those who stuck with him during those times. Junior honored some and some he didn't.

I’ve always been interested in the Westover connection. Not in a bad way. Just something I’m curious about

The entire BOT should be let go and start new. They are yes men/women and let this behavior continue.

Agreed. There are so many things about Jr known by so many people it is impossible to give them much credibility when they claim ignorance to it all. Even if they didn't know (which is not likely), it just shows a total lack of competence on their part.

Sadly, I doubt such a move is made.

and that is why Liberty will not ever be what it should be. This is the time to clean house and make a true impact.

bigsmooth wrote: ↑September 18th, 2020, 12:59 pm The entire BOT should be let go and start new. They are yes men/women and let this behavior continue.

If you were around more you’d know SOMEONE has been saying that from day 1.....

Respectfully, I disagree. SOME BOT, didn't really know. When it became evident, they immediately took corrective action. I can understand some of them not thinking that a tight rein was required for Jr. based on the many years with Sr.
However, there were some board members, who were 100% in the know, or told about the problem, and did nothing. Those guys should all be fired immediately.
Unfortunately, several years ago, it was necessary to have men of financial means on the BOT. That is no longer a necessity and needs to change.
All imho of course.

Isn't there a case for negligence to be made against those board members who didn't know? Negligence isn't always intentional, but it's still a condemnable offense.

@flameshaw i get that way of thinking but if they didn't know then it shows they aren't involved enough in the University to warrant being part of the board. This also goes back to the board being so large. Making things like this, even easier to get away with.

thepostman wrote: ↑September 18th, 2020, 5:06 pm @flameshaw i get that way of thinking but if they didn't know then it shows they aren't involved enough in the University to warrant being part of the board. This also goes back to the board being so large. Making things like this, even easier to get away with.

Some of the BOT not being more aware/involved was by design. Typically, the bored meetings were led by Jr. for a few minutes, with a rah rah session, and then would break up into their committee meetings.
I agree 1000% that the bored was waaaaaay too big and should be much smaller in the future.
I talked to one bored member personally, who did not know of the alcohol problem. (It would probably be the last person you would expect). He told me there were others that genuinely didn't know and some that absolutely knew (for years), and admitted it at the time they made him go on a LOA.
Finally, Jr. does have some good people trying to help him. However, as someone else mentioned, if/until he wants help, it will do no good. Very sad situation.

Jonathan Carone wrote: ↑September 18th, 2020, 4:49 pm Isn't there a case for negligence to be made against those board members who didn't know? Negligence isn't always intentional, but it's still a condemnable offense.

Good question. Don't know the answer. But I can certainly understand the concern.

If it’s true that Bedford Sheriff officers were over there regularly, there’s no excuse for the board not knowing

And if it was rumored enough for people on this message board to hear about it, it’s negligence for the board to not investigate it, imo.

That is the thing that gets me, this has been discussed on here for years now so how is it a bunch of random people on a message board know more than the board? It just doesn't make any sense to me!

thepostman wrote: ↑September 18th, 2020, 9:58 pm That is the thing that gets me, this has been discussed on here for years now so how is it a bunch of random people on a message board know more than the board? It just doesn't make any sense to me!

Some were told and chose not to do anything about it. I suspect they wanted to remain on the bored, so they kept it quiet. Jr. wasn't one to let anyone who disagreed with him, much latitude. One of the ones who knew, and did nothing, was a person who was a highly paid/positioned staff member.
For his personal well-being, I hope Jr. can seek/accept some help.

It might shock some people who on the BOT did know and didn't say anything and who didn't that you might would expect they knew. The former a long-time friend and contemporary of Sr's and the latter who had a front row seat watching Jr grow up and later working with him. The difference? The former had a son who had his own issues who knew Jr. The other saw what only Jr. wanted him to see. Alcoholics are often masters of deception. But what was known of Jr was his lack of any church attendance, his crude talk towards other Christians, students and parents. For this silence, the BOT is complicit IMO.

Just John wrote: ↑September 19th, 2020, 12:09 am It might shock some people who on the BOT did know and didn't say anything and who didn't that you might would expect they knew. The former a long-time friend and contemporary of Sr's and the latter who had a front row seat watching Jr grow up and later working with him. The difference? The former had a son who had his own issues who knew Jr. The other saw what only Jr. wanted him to see. Alcoholics are often masters of deception. But what was known of Jr was his lack of any church attendance, his crude talk towards other Christians, students and parents. For this silence, the BOT is complicit IMO.

The board has a couple of roles.... Mainly raising money, employing the president and working on strategies to preserve the organization well into the future. In some ways, Liberty's model hasn't needed a board. They don't worry about money because they are selling these neat diplomas that students are borrowing for and paying way more than they should. The only people that he would talk down to were the people on campus and the only reason resident students exist is to provide the veneer of a real school, living in and using facilities that excess money builds. I really think that the board could probably be challenged not only on the actions of Jerry, but also the lack of input on the role of the campus and the long term future of the online program, which is the only source of income that has been sustainable. Covid showed that when it came time to transition and provide the average college student with a reasonable online experience, they were unable to do it. Now the risk of others providing a much better product that is really thoughtfully designed for a college age person is not a near future thing...it is here.

I trust Flameshaw's comments that some of the BOT did not know. how that can be is beyond me, especially since a lot of what jerry was doing was in the media, but Flameshaw is always well informed.

Speaking from experience, those with addictions of any kind are truly professional “hiders”. I don’t directly blame the BOT for not knowing. Monday morning QB’ing on this is easy from our vantage point. But, if I put myself in their shoes objectively, it’s not far-get he’s to see the assumptions that could’ve been made about things being okay. And JJ designed the BOT to best hide his transgressions. So the best move in hindsight is to redesign the BOT to disallow this in the future.

We all have to come to objective terms eventually. This is that moment for the BOT. I’m more concerned with where we go from here (which includes analysis of past so we aren’t doomed for a repeat). And I’m not throwing the baby out with the bath water by saying because the BOT made mistakes that the entire BOT has to go.

Purple Haize wrote: ↑September 18th, 2020, 3:28 pm

bigsmooth wrote: ↑September 18th, 2020, 12:59 pm The entire BOT should be let go and start new. They are yes men/women and let this behavior continue.

If you were around more you’d know SOMEONE has been saying that from day 1.....

that's why we are friends bro! we view things very similarly. honestly i can only stomach bits and pieces of the forums which i why i show up every now and then. too many jagoffs

So what's the deal with the investigation? Do we know who's doing it? Do we know if it will be released? Do we know if the board controls the release? Do we know if it's just limited to Jerry? Do we know if the 3rd party is under fiduciary control by the board?

I know none of you know the answers. Just thought I'd remind everyone what a farce this most likely turned into.

It was discussed earlier that it wasn't going much deeper than Jerry but I don't know for sure. Those are all legit questions and ones I'd love to know the answers to but I doubt we will anytime soon.

So here is my take. The BOT may have not known about the alcohol issues but what about the other public outbursts from Jerry? What about the articles from the last 4 years highlighting the issues with his leadership? What about the issues that were known of folks at the VP level doing shady things like hiding personal expenditures in their annual budgets? Why hasn't anyone gone through the HR files to see complaints that are still being lodged against Jerry's lackeys due to a continuation of the fearful and deceptive leadership environment?

I grew up with a verbal and physically abusive alcoholic for a father. He got sober but what we didn't know is he switched to pot for his addiction. I didn't find out for 15 years so I do understand what it is like to be around someone like that.

I will end this to say that someone such as Prevo has been on the board since 1996. Junior took over in 2007. How has none of this made its way back to someone who has been in this organization for so long? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Kelvin Edwards has been let go. Anyone privy to why?

My uninformed guess is because he was a PR coverup by Jerry to get ahead of the racism claims. He was being paid a lot of money to do that position to. It's highly unlikely it's anything Edwards did, but more so a casualty of Jerry.