'It's been an embarrassment to Liberty'; Falwell says he backs renaming Lynchburg

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — Liberty University President Jerry Falwell said he's in support of changing the name of Lynchburg.

In the wake of an online petition last month calling for changing the name of the City of Lynchburg, where the majority of Liberty University's campus is located, Falwell said he backs the petition in a statement released Friday, July 10.

The City of Lynchburg is named after founder John Lynch. John Lynch was a Quaker described as progressive for his time in the 1780s, according to Chief Public History Officer Ted Delaney.

"He believed in emancipating slaves," Delaney said. "He had slaves but he freed all of his. He's supporting recolonization, which is sending slaves back to Africa. He did not believe in perpetuating the institution of slavery in this country."

Falwell said he still supports the move even though the city's name is not derived from the act of lynching.

“I personally support changing the name of the city of Lynchburg. It’s been an embarrassment to Liberty University ever since we started,” Falwell said. “That was one of the reasons Liberty’s original name was changed from Lynchburg Baptist College to Liberty Baptist College in 1976.”

He said people don't know the city was named after John Lynch, but automatically think the name has a negative connotation. He said the change would permanently eliminate any stigma.

“So many people from Liberty have told me that when they travel and tell people where they’re from, they’re often asked, ‘Why in the world would you want to live in a racist place like that?’ It’s because people take ‘lynch’ and they think it means there were lynchings here, when the truth is it was named after a Quaker.”

Falwell said he is indifferent to any new names that have been suggested for the city.

The petition was started by Daisy Howard, who grew up in Lynchburg. Howard believes that it is possible to honor the city's founder without using his last name.

“The name of a city should not have such violent, racist, and horrifying connotations,” Howard writes in the petition’s description. “I understand it was named after a man named John Lynch, but why do we insist on explaining that when people react to its name poorly (understandably so)? Why do we insist on defending it? We understand the power in the word. We need to erase the power that word holds over the connotation to our city.”

The petition has garnered over 5,300 signatures, and Falwell said he plans to sign it as soon as possible.

A counter petition has also been created to stop the first petition to change Lynchburg's name. There are more signatures on the second petition.