Liberty University welcomes Dr. Allen McFarland to serve as Interim Board Chairman

Liberty University welcomed the appointment of Vice Chairman Dr. Allen McFarland (D.D., D.Min.), as Interim Chairman of the Board of Trustees, who will serve in this role while Chairman Jerry Prevo serves as the Acting President and Jerry Falwell, Jr. is on an indefinite leave of absence.

“I’m excited about this role,” said Dr. McFarland. “During this interim period, the spiritual health and wellness of our leadership is critical to fulfilling the mission set forth in 1971.”

For over two decades, Dr. McFarland has served residential undergraduate and graduate students as an adjunct professor in the School of Divinity. “The students at Liberty University are our greatest assets and we must make them proud with the work we are called to as leaders.”

“We are so fortunate at Liberty University to have Dr. Allen McFarland become our Interim Chairman, a man of great faith who follows God’s calling wherever it takes him,” said Acting President Jerry Prevo. “This is a historic appointment at Liberty as Dr. McFarland is a distinguished national leader who will be particularly impactful as we continue to broaden our outreach to the African American community to join our mission in Training Champions for Christ.”

With this appointment, Dr. McFarland becomes the first African American to chair the Board of Trustees at Liberty University. Dr. McFarland has served as the Pastor of Calvary Evangelical Baptist Church in Portsmouth, Va., since 1982 and has served on the Liberty University Board of Trustees since 1991. He is the President of the Southern Baptist Convention of Virginia and was honored among the Nation’s 70 Most Influential Black Christian History Makers who are living today by the Black Christian News Network. Dr. McFarland also serves on the board of directors of Kids Across America, Baptist Fellowship Association, and the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (ABWE).