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    Upheaval at ORU:  Oral is in Shock; Richard Denies Excesses

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    “Like my son says, it was a surprise and sort of a shock, but we have been through some tough experiences in building Oral Roberts University in the 1960s, and we have surprised them all and have built a university that we believe is for the glory of God,” Roberts said,

    Roberts, 89, spoke from his home in California as his son, Richard, and daughter-in-law, Lindsay, sat on King’s set in New York.

    Richard Roberts, the Tulsa, Okla., university’s president, told King he never asked students to work on a mayoral campaign there. The fired professors allege up to 50 students worked for one candidate in what may have been a violation of state and federal law because of the university’s nonprofit status.

    “I didn’t ask or coerce anybody to do that,” Richard Roberts said.

    The younger Roberts also said a Bahamas trip that the professors describe as his daughter’s senior vacation was a business trip, and that his daughter and others accompanied him as part of a university recruiting effort.

    The couple also said many of the remodeling projects on their university-owned home — the professors allege were 11 such projects in 14 years — were because of black mold and hail damage.

    “I have not done anything wrong,” Richard Roberts said. “I can’t say how much this has hurt my family.”

    The elder Roberts founded the 5,300-student school, known for its 60-foot-tall bronze sculpture of praying hands, in 1963. He famously told viewers in 1987 that God told him to raise $8 million for the university or he would be “called home.”

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    You can read the actual lawsuit here...

    Oral Roberts was blind-sided by allegations that the university he founded was being exploited by his son and daughter-in-law, the aging televangelist said Tuesday in his first public comments on the case. Roberts phoned CNN's "Larry King Live" to weigh in on the accusations leveled in a lawsuit by three professors who claim they were fired from Oral Roberts University for questioning the school's spending and students' involvement in a political campaign.

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    1. Danny Daniels on Wed, October 10, 2007

      It is very important that we as a body of believers in Jesus Christ be cautious about jumping on the accusation bandwagon.  It is our responsibility to be stewards over only that which God has entrusted us to manage. The Roberts family and ORU needs prayer right now. That is our highest priority and primary responsibility. Christian need to cover one another spiritually during times of trial and even failure. What does God expect us to do here? Pray. Love. Help. As Christians we can pour water or gasoline on the fires of accusation. It is easy to criticize the Roberts family but that doesn’t make it ok.


      -Danny

    2. Derek on Wed, October 10, 2007

      I am an ORU alumnus and I have been concerned by the allegations, but I was pleased to hear Roberts response on Larry King last night. I agree with Danny D that we don’t need to jump to conclusions, because there are always too sides to the story.


      Here is what I heard last night:


      On supporting a political campaign…Roberts says that he did not ask any university employee to work on a political campaign. Many ORU government students work on political campaigns in order to get “laboratory” experience in real life politics, which is normal for government majors and legal.


      On using the University’s plane to fund a Senior Trip for his daughters and their friends…Roberts says that it was a preaching and recruiting trip in both Orlando and the Bahamas and he was asked to bring ORU students to both locations as they were recruiting students to come to ORU. Roberts also noted that the university does not own the plane. It is a leased plane.


      On the documentation of financial impropriety…Roberts says that the computer which held the documents cited in the suit was owned by his sister-in-law who made notes of rumors that were swirling around. These documents were short notes about rumors written by his sister-in-law and could easily be confused to be documentation of actual events. He says he heard of some of these rumors three years ago and did not act on them, because they seemed ridiculous.


      On 11 remodeling projects in 14 years…Lindsay and Richard point out that they had hail damage and black mold in their home (which is owned by the University) and many of the so-called remodeling projects where to take care of those problems. So the University did not pay to work on the Roberts’ home, the University paid to work on its own home.


      On text messages sent to “underage boys” during early morning hours…Richard and Lindsay responded that often their girls use Lindsay’s phone, they do send txt messages to ensure that their children and their children’s friends have arrived home (or wherever they are going) safely, and the Roberts have reached out to trouble kids and have often talked to them late at night.


      On a side note, Lindsay made a good point that she is not an employee of the University and neither are her kids, yet they were brought into a wrongful termination suit. Obviously, Lindsay has a leadership role in the University, but she had nothing to do with the administration of the school and the termination of these professors. (To be clear, one professor was terminated, one did not have their contract renewed and one resigned.)


      Richard was clear: “I have not done anything wrong. I can’t say how much this has hurt my family.”

    3. Tye Male on Mon, October 15, 2007

      High profile, wealth and prosperity preachers, have been caught lavishing riches on themselves at the expense of the body of Christ. Sad, but true.


      So, today’s high profile preachers and leaders are under much greater scrutiny and I think this is a good thing.


      Roberts’ actions speak for themselves (quote from article above):


      He [Roberts] famously told viewers in 1987 that God told him to raise $8 million for the university or he would be “called home.”


      Enough said.

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