The embattled president of Oral Roberts University asked for a second chance during an emergency meeting with the same faculty members who only days earlier gave him a vote of no confidence.
Richard Roberts told professors Wednesday that if he stepped down now, the public would think he was admitting to wrongdoing, said Donald Vance, a professor of biblical languages and literature, who attended the meeting.
Roberts, son of school founder and televangelist Oral Roberts, has been on temporary leave from the evangelical university, fighting accusations that he misspent university funds to bankroll a lavish lifestyle. He became the school’s president in 1993.
Oral Roberts, who recently returned from semiretirement in California to the 5,700-student school he founded, called Wednesday’s meeting.
The “no confidence” resolution, passed Monday, stated that the faculty approved the motion “without regard to the outcome of the current lawsuit against the university.” The faculty plan to distribute the nonbinding document to the school’s Board of Regents and the faculty assembly at an upcoming meeting.
AP
The vote has not effect on Richard and Lindsay Roberts leadership of Oral Roberts Ministries. The Higher Learning Commission which gives the university accreditation says they will recommend ORU keep it’s accreditation.
The full story of the lawsuit, the attached documents causing an uproar, the university response, the Roberts reactions and legal documents can be found at the go to place for this unfolding story - Tulsa World
One of the professor plaintiffs has asked for his job back:
Published 1 year agoOne of the three professors suing Oral Roberts University asked for his job back in court filings on Friday.
John Swails, one of the plaintiffs, asked to be reinstated as history, humanities and government department chairman and tenured history professor, asked that his firing be removed from his record and requested back pay, benefits, eligibility for promotion and the restoration of the department to its previous state.
Also on Friday, the professors filed an application with the court to file a fourth version of their lawsuit, which would add Oral Roberts Ministries and its board and Lindsay Roberts, ORU President Richard Roberts’ wife, as defendants.
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Yet another fake, money grubbing loser gets what he deserves! How dare these scam artists take peoples money in the name of god, and to top it off, bring other members of his family into it, to further cash in on peoples ( usually older, who can least afford it) faith in God!
Media ministries such as OREM are under no obligation to honour their public trust.
ORU is under no obligation to clean up it’s finances.
They will either settle their civil suit or go to court.
I haven’t had an opportunty to catch up on what Swail is thinking.
3 of the six businesses that have been asked to supply the Senate committee with relevant financial statments sit on the ORU board.
That it is an issue of public trust is of no consequence to them.
Kenneth Copeland is openly defiant, Creflo Dollar is attempting to say he is standing up for the little churches.
From Achievable Ends:
“They will hide behind the First Amendment and try to draw legitimate ministries into the fray on their behalf with worries of government interference in the life of the Church - in direct contravention of the First Amendment. The separation of church and state card has been well played by these folk before. It’s being played again.”
Fine.
Then let churches, individuals, government and the courts step forward and review tax codes and laws to address ministry business excess and fraud.
I’s hard to be brief - The cynicism in these comments should be offset by some facts. I spent a number of years as the frontman for a ministry - and from my experience, there is much less risk of impropriety than you imply. It is not little old ladies who keep these ministries going - it is businessmen and professionals who provide the bulk of the finances. We had many older friends with bigger hearts than bank accounts - after the first few bounced checks we didn’t bother to deposit them - the bank charges were more than the donations. Those who provide the bulk of the income for these ministries are not hoodwinked, not gullible, but astute businessmen and professionals.
Many businessmen and others are totally committed to these ministries because of intervention and support provided by these ministries in their time of need. Illness, alcoholism, drugs had robbed many of their fortunes and dignity, but their lifes were changed by the power of God through these ministries. Their ongoing support is their way of showing their gratitude.
You insinuate that these ministries are in some way immoral or unethical by refusal to submit to these audits (harrasment) - an witch hunt that is totally illegal. There is no legislation that requires them to do so, and they (as a group) have broken no laws.
There may be individual personal ethics issues, but until laws are broken, keep the govt. out, and the diatribe a little more restrained.
Here’s a link to two messages on the issue:
http://www.kcc.net/All/Other/Hear-our-Sermons.html
Lets at least be fair
Paul: re ORU.
If you are comfortable having tuition fees go to finance a founders family lifestyle, if you are comfortable having leaders none compliant with tax law on the goverance board, if your are comfortable with croynism, if you are comfortable with age old con artist tricks to bilk people out of their money, be it a widow’s pittance or a businessman’s fortune, that’s fine.
If you are an apologist for long time systemic personal ethics issues in an organization, fine.
Scolding others because they aren’t slides closely tantamount to saying you agree with mismangement and deceit. Many people invoved in ‘diatribes’ have seen others deeply hurt by loose cannon ‘ministries.’
If the ministry you worked for was ethical in it’s dealings, great.
Let’s not be niave and assume all are just because they call themselves ministries. Religion is a con artists haven.
re: Grassley request:
The Word of Faith/prosperity individuals being asked to provide to the senate committee are being asked to do so under US tax law. The Evangelical finance accountability organization was set up several years ago precisely because there would be charlatans who think they are above everyone else, and it was done to prevent government scrutiny.
None asked for statements are willing to be accountable to their own, or the government. Crying victim and blaming others or whining about one watchdog group ‘out to get them’ is disengenous, either they are compliant with the tax code or they aren’t.
Few people are going to waste any angst on organizations that that are unilling to manage their organizations with integrity, responsibility and appropriate public transparency.
I completely agree. Let’s be fair.
Identify the bad apples and assist them to desist law breaking shortcomings, and let healthy responsible ministry organizations carry on.