Back in October of 2007, we called for ORU to join the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
We are happy to report that this is now a reality. Positive changes continue to happen at the university every day. We can only hope that this will foster a growing trend of transparency among faith based non-profits. Read the announcement here.
Remember that independent audit that the former Board of Regents ordered last year? All evidence points to the fact that the audit was delivered ORALLY and NEVER delivered in writing. No really, we’re not kidding.
Please note that this was the audit delivered to the FORMER governing body of the school, which has since been replaced.
Normally we would write on this, but this time we’ll let you read another person’s excellent take on the matter. You won’t be disappointed.
Click here to read the analysis.
“You could buy everyone a plasma-screen TV for their rooms, it doesn’t matter, you have to treat everyone like adults.” – Andrew Saah, Sophmore, ORU (Accepted to University of Maryland as a transfer student)
Ouch – one could have seen this coming. It’s something that should have happened long ago, after years of struggling with a crushing debt and a corporate culture of fear, Oral Roberts University has another major hurdle to overcome. Since its beginnings, ORU has taken on the role of a “surrogate parent/guardian” for its students. Whether you were 18 or 40 –if you lived in the dorms –you had a curfew and an RA telling you to clean your room. Adding insult to injury, it cost you a pretty penny too, and up until 2001, you had to wear business attire to attend classes.
With tuition costs soaring and more students footing the bill for their own education, they want to be in control of their college experience. ORU has improved over the years with the adoption of more customer-service oriented approaches, but the recent scandal has made many of the most forgiving students and parents take a step back and ask “what am I really getting for my money?”
Many of the former regents presided over “feeder” churches (ones that actively recruited its high-school graduates to attend ORU.) This could partially explain the drop in enrollment. In addition, the current economic pullback is probably driving many students to stay closer to home or attend community college for the first two years. (Many of ORU’s students come from out of state.)
ORU has a lot of ground to cover and must reinvent itself to survive. Vanguard University of Southern California (affiliated with the Assemblies of God) successfully reinvented itself back in 1999. Almost a decade later Vanguard is thriving. ORU can accomplish the same.
We’re not saying that ORU isn’t a worthwhile education. In fact, it’s fantastic in many ways. With no fraternities, students actually attend class, are just as competitive (mentally, physically and academically) with students from other colleges and are adequately prepared for the workplace.
Look for our new article on “What ORU Must Do” in the near future.
The current news being reported is that Pat Robertson, founder of CBN, The 700 Club and Regent University is interested in “options” for ties between the two universities. ORU is widely regarded as a feeder school for Regent’s graduate programs.
Pat Robertson and Oral Roberts University have a long-standing relationship. ORU’s O.W. Coburn School of Law closed in 1986 and its law library, faculty and students were transferred to Regent University (which was then called CBN University). ORU had trouble attaining accreditation from the American Bar Association, which Regent eventually did receive in 1996.
As a media pioneer, Pat Robertson started the Family Channel in 1977 as an alternative to secular programming. It was later sold to Fox in 1997 for $1.9 billion dollars. In 2001, it changed hands again and was sold to Disney. It now bears the moniker of the ABC Family Channel. Regardless of ownership, The 700 Club must air three times a day though a perpetually inherited contract agreement.
Robertson has numerous businesses, including a mining operation in Liberia and an oil refinery company. Regent University reportedly carries an endowment of around $267 million.
The letter is signed by nine members of the ORU Vice Presidents council.
“…Our core values and principles have not changed from what God called them to be. That’s because these values are not just words or ideas in the eyes of the administration. They are a part of our inner being—a part of our life that cannot be separated…”
Our viewpoint: Ummm… Is nepotism for it’s own sake one of those core values and principles?
Read the letter here on ORU’s website.
On a side note, we’d like to point out that SaveORU.com is completely independent and is NOT afilliated with any of the lawyers, plaintiffs or defendants involved with this case.
Commentary:
With the recent controversy surrounding the university, many wounds from the past are being reopened for students and alumni. No one wants to see their alma mater dragged through the mud.
It is our belief that if any Christian ministry or organization insists, (through action, word or deed), that their financial and internal dealings are strictly private matters – people should send their support elsewhere. A failure to display transparency demonstrates a lack of accountability.
Oral Roberts University is not owned by the Roberts family. It was made possible through the contributions of hard-working men and women of faith. In our opinion, the university and has an obligation to assure the public that it operates in a upstanding manner.
We contend that the best way to dispel the current cloud of rumors and allegations is for the ORU Board of Regents to:
The regents owe all students, alumni, faculty, employees and donors a point-by-point response to the allegations. The eyes of the world and the media are watching, and it’s a great opportunity to make the ORU community proud.
We live in the information age, and many tools exist to evaluate non-profits today. The following websites are a great place to start:
The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) has seven standards by which all members must comply, visit their website at www.ecfa.org to learn more.
Keep visiting Save ORU for more news, analysis and information.
Here’s a satirical look at our questions regarding the recent full-page ad in the Tulsa World. Click on the image below to see a larger view.
