ORU Board Will Have Final Say

Oct 25, 12:52 PM

Current Headlines: By Tony Thornton, The Oklahoman

Oct. 25--TULSA -- Televangelist Oral Roberts may have created the university that bears his name, but he won't decide whether his son returns as school president, ORU regents Chairman George Pearsons said Wednesday.

The regents will make that call, even if it conflicts with Oral Roberts' wishes, Pearsons told The Oklahoman.

"We'll have quite a discussion that day," if the regents and Oral Roberts disagree about whether new leadership is needed, Pearsons said.

"We may have some serious decisions to make. But the buck stops with the board," Pearsons said.

In a separate interview Wednesday, Pearsons told the Associated Press that ORU is $55 million in debt, mainly because of ongoing maintenance costs and low financial support from donors. University spokesman Jeremy Burton said Wednesday evening the actual debt figure is $52.5 million.

President under investigation Richard Roberts stepped aside as president Oct. 17, two weeks after three former professors filed a wrongful-termination lawsuit against him and the school.

Attached to the lawsuit is a report alleging the Roberts family lavishly used the school's money and assets for themselves and that Lindsay Roberts had an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old male.

Pearsons told The Associated Press that he's seen no evidence of an opulent lifestyle by the Roberts family.

"We're not talking about walls of gold and all that," he said.

Regents have hired a Washington, D.C., law firm to oversee an independent investigation and audit. Pearsons wouldn't name the law firm, saying he hadn't obtained the attorneys' permission.

That report, not Oral Roberts' loyalty to his son, will dictate whether Richard Roberts returns to ORU, Pearsons said.

His comments came two days after Oral Roberts returned to Tulsa from his California home and during a chapel service proclaimed as false every allegation that was outlined in the lawsuit.

"This will be over and behind us, and my son will be back and president of Oral Roberts University," Oral Roberts said.

Pearsons said he interpreted those comments as a father standing up for his son.

"I think he's just expressing what he believes in his heart. And it may be that all of these things are false, but my job is a little different. My job is to maintain an objective view," the regents chairman said.

Founder's role increases Oral Roberts, 89, is listed as one of three lifetime spiritual regents for the university he created in 1963. The other two are his son, Richard Roberts, and his son's wife, Lindsay Roberts.

But none of them are voting members of the board of regents.

"He is the founder. He is a great icon," Pearsons said of the school founder.

"And of course, he has his own opinions as to what should be done, but the bottom line is, it's going to come down to the board," he said.

When Richard Roberts took a leave of absence, the school announced that Oral Roberts would play a larger role. He and Regent Billy Joe Daugherty, who pastors Victory Christian Center across the street from ORU, now have the titles of co-president.

Daugherty quit as a regent in June after a dispute with Richard Roberts but returned recently after the allegations surfaced, Pearsons confirmed.

Pearsons said Oral Roberts will remain involved in spiritual and policy matters but not in the school's daily operations.

Meanwhile, the regents board remains intact. Pearsons said none of the 23 "business" regents have quit over the scandal.

The board of composed largely of other televangelists, including Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Jesse Duplantis, Marilyn Hickey, Charles Green and John C. Hagee.

Pearsons, who is Copeland's son-in-law, is the pastor of a church in Newark, Texas.

The regents board's televangelists subscribe to faith healing and/or to prosperity gospel, or the belief that God wants His people to be wealthy.

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