After a long absence, we’ll examine all the recent news surrounding the lawsuit, George Pearson’s comments on the current state of ORU, and just who is Stephanie Cantees?

The story from the Tulsa World tells us what insiders have known all along, the bylaws governing ORU’s Board of Regents give the Roberts family a huge voice in university decisions. The Tulsa World article also offers up an interesting quote from George Pearsons from May of this year:

“I am standing here today because the Lord clearly spoke to me and said, ‘Do whatever Richard Roberts asks you to do,’ “

- George Pearsons, Speech to the ORU Board of Regents, May 2007

Hopefully Mart Green’s financial audit and requirements for his 70 million dollar donation will help bring the university to more safer ground from a financial as well as a leadership standpoint.

ORU’s assets will enable the university “to restructure and recover from this temporary setback.”

Regent “stands ready” to offer assistance if needed in the 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.

ORU Gets a ‘Divorce’ from ORM and 70 Million Dollars

The ORU Board of Regents officially voted to ‘accept’ Richard Roberts resignation and to legally and financially separate the university from Oral Roberts Ministries.

A short while later they received a financial pledge of 70 million dollars from Mart Green , whose family started the Hobby Lobby chain of stores.

However, the gift comes with a catch. ORU will receive 8 million in immediate funds, but must demonstrate “good governance” before the remaining 62 million can be given. The gift will effectively wipe out ORU’s 55 million dollar debt.

Is ORU saved? Mission accomplished? We hope so.

Questions still linger as to the results of the regent’s audit of the allegations surrounding Richard and Lindsay Roberts. ORU is a private university and is not required to publicize the findings of their committees or the details of their two day meeting. Either way, the university has proved it doesn’t need Richard anymore.

Stay tuned to SaveORU.com for more news and analysis.

Richard Roberts resignation is effective immediately.

“I love ORU with all my heart. I love the students, faculty, staff and administration and I want to see God’s best for all of them.”

- Statement from Richard Roberts

The final straw might have been a new wrongful termination lawsuit filed by Trent Huddleston, a former senior accountant for ORU. He claims that he was directed “against his will” to falsely list items as expenses rather than assets in order to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and other agencies.

Stay tuned to SaveORU.com for more news and analysis.

It’s time for the ORU Board of Regents to wake up and smell the coffee.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of last week’s faculty poll which shows an overwhelming majority of faculty (almost 80%) do not want Richard Roberts to return as president.

In addition, “90 percent of the faculty thought the school’s current procedures for financial disclosure and accountability were inadequate and more than 74 percent of those polled did not believe that alumni would continue to support ORU if Richard Roberts remains as president.” (AP)

Read the story here.

Phil Cooke is an ORU graduate and one of the leading authorities on religion and the media.

Richard recently commented that his troubles were ‘foretold’ to him in a prophecy from another minister, Phil asks the proverbial question: If he knew, then why didn’t he do something about it?

He wisely comments that “supporters of ORU need to know the President has integrity, is a solid thinker, can embrace a wide swath of evangelical America, and has a bold vision for the future … to the non-believing world, this just makes him sound weird - not the solid leader he needs to be in people’s minds.”

Read his complete commentary here.

Richard Roberts has released a statement containing rebuttals to the allegations against him and his wife Lindsay.

We think Richard needs to stay quiet for the time being and let the board of regents complete their investigation. Some of his rebuttals are merely statements of university/ministry policy. Anyone who has worked in a corporate culture or family-controlled environment knows that “policies” aren’t always evenly applied.  At this point, no one should blindly accept statements that aren’t backed by hard evidence.

If the regents accept Richard’s explanations without a detailed investigation and allow him to return to his post as President, they will lose the confidence of ORU’s faculty, the Provost and put the accreditation process in jeopardy. The alumni stand ready and willing to help bring the university out of debt if Richard steps out of the picture (even for a few years) and let the leadership deliver clear results.

Amazingly, Richard is finally starting to own up to his mistakes, stating that ORU needs a “culture change”.

All this leaves us wondering… Why did it take 14 years and a national scandal to finally bring about change? Is this a case of too little too late?

Read about Richard’s rebuttal here.

Read his offer of financial transparency here.