The attorneys and parties involved in the Oral Roberts University lawsuit can no longer talk about the case outside of court.

Tulsa County District Judge Rebecca Brett Nightingale issued a gag order in the case’s first court hearing on Friday morning.

She also ordered the former professors who are suing the school for wrongful termination to file a fifth version of their lawsuit by Jan. 25. After that, she will address further issues in the case that attorneys have raised.

Nightingale announced at the start of the hearing that the defendants — ORU, former President Richard Roberts, three administrators and others — had withdrawn their request to disqualify the professors’ attorney, Gary Richardson. Tulsa World

A stranger part of this on-going saga is that one of three professors who originally signed onto the lawsuit back in November wanted to be re-instated to Oral Roberts University.

And he has gotten what he wanted. John Swails has been re-instated to his former position at the university. The details of the settlement which came after a day of mandatory negotiations will not be released. Here is what he requested in November:

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.

There is no gag order on media.  
Lawyers for the university requested a gag order in September.
Media is focusing on the resignations of Benny Hinn and Regent I.V. Hilliard, co-founder of New Light Christian Center Church in Texas from the university’s Board of Regents.

According to ORU’s bylaws, the board must consist of 18 to 44 members. The board of business regents must have between 11 and 37 members. Business regents serve one-, two- and three-year terms, and new members are elected each year to replace those whose terms have expired, the bylaws say.

Also Thursday, ORU announced that its board will meet Monday and Tuesday to look at “organizational activities” and to evaluate “strategic opportunities,” the press release says.

“Throughout this ongoing process, the board will seek out opportunities that advance the long-term financial viability of the university as well as ensure that the university will stay true to its founding vision,” the release says.

What a mess.
An internal audit will not be released, there remains outstanding lawsuits and now a gag order, the Roberts family keeps control over the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association, Pat Robertson’s people have been offering to help, (last time they did, they walked away with the ORU law library) a professor who sues receives a secret settlement to return to an environment where I can’t see how he is possibly going to be received well. Swails was escorted out of ORU, locked out of his office, and banned. 
ORU is structurally sick and all the PR cosmetics and money in the world is not going to change that. Swails has been with ORU 14 years. ORU statement:

Oral Roberts University has reinstated Dr. John Swails as a faculty member. As a result of mediation, Swails will dismiss his lawsuit against ORU and the other defendants. The reinstatement of Dr. Swails is effective for the spring 2008 semester, during which time he will be teaching courses on the Islamic Middle East and the Rise of Modern Israel.

“We are pleased that this matter has been resolved and would like to welcome Dr. Swails back to the university family,” said George Pearsons, chairman of the ORU Board of Regents.

Encouraged by the direction the university has taken over the last few months, Swails said, “I look forward to being back where I believe God has called me.”

Both parties would like to thank former Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Daniel Boudreau for his exceptional efforts in this successful mediation.

Swails has not been placed back on the faculty listing at the ORU website yet.  
I’m sorry,  as much as this man may be immersed in the word of faith culture, he has to be smart enough to understand projecting where he thinks God wants him or spiritualizing isn’t going to change much of anything except give him a steady pay cheque again. The Provost who ordered him escorted off grounds calls the environment at the school “a culture of fear that had been at ORU for years.”
Swails was Chair of the Department of History, Humanities, and Government.

Why go back?