http://www.examiner.com/a-973805~Scandal_Brewing_at_Oral_Roberts_U_.html

Scandal Brewing at Oral Roberts U.

Oct 5, 2007

By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS, AP

TULSA, Okla.
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Twenty years ago, televangelist Oral Roberts said he was reading a
spy novel when God appeared to him and told him to raise $8 million
for Roberts' university, or else he would be "called home."

Now, his son, Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts,
says God is speaking again, telling him to deny lurid allegations in a
lawsuit that threatens to engulf this 44-year-old Bible Belt college in
scandal.

Richard Roberts is accused of illegal involvement in a local political
campaign and lavish spending at donors' expense, including
numerous home remodeling projects, use of the university jet for
his daughter's senior trip to the Bahamas, and a red Mercedes
convertible and a Lexus SUV for his wife, Lindsay.

She is accused of dropping tens of thousands of dollars on clothes,
awarding nonacademic scholarships to friends of her children and
sending scores of text messages on university-issued cell phones
to people described in the lawsuit as "underage males."

At a chapel service this week on the 5,300-student campus known
for its 60-foot-tall bronze sculpture of praying hands, Roberts said
God told him: "We live in a litigious society. Anyone can get mad and
file a lawsuit against another person whether they have a legitimate
case or not. This lawsuit ... is about intimidation, blackmail and
extortion."

San Antonio televangelist John Hagee, a member of the ORU board
of regents, said the university's executive board "is conducting a full
and thorough investigation."

Colleagues fear for the reputation of the university and the future of
the Roberts' ministry, which grew from Southern tent revivals to one
of the most successful evangelical empires in the country, hauling
in tens of millions of dollars in contributions a year. The university
reported nearly $76 million in revenue in 2005, according to the IRS.

Oral Roberts is 89 and lives in California. He holds the title of
chancellor, but the university describes him as semi-retired, and his
son presides over day-to-day operations on the campus, which had
a modern, space-age design when it was built in the early 1960s but
now looks dated, like Disney's Tomorrowland.

Cornell Cross II, a senior from Burlington, Vt., said he is looking to
transfer to another school because the scandal has "severely
devalued and hurt the reputation of my degree."

"We have asked and asked and asked to see the finances of our
school and what they're doing with our money, and we've been told
no" said, Cross who is majoring in government. "Now we know why.
As a student, I'm not going to stand for it any longer."

The allegations are contained in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by three
former professors. They sued ORU and Roberts, alleging they were
wrongfully dismissed after reporting the school's involvement in a
local political race.

Richard Roberts, according to the suit, asked a professor in 2005 to
use his students and university resources to aid a county
commissioner's bid for Tulsa mayor. Such involvement would violate
state and federal law because of the university's nonprofit status. Up
to 50 students are alleged to have worked on the campaign.

The professors also said their dismissals came after they turned
over to the board of regents a copy of a report documenting moral
and ethical lapses on the part of Roberts and his family. The internal
document was prepared by Stephanie Cantese, Richard Roberts'
sister-in-law, according to the lawsuit.

An ORU student repairing Cantese's laptop discovered the
document. It details dozens of alleged instances of misconduct.
Among them:

- A longtime maintenance employee was fired so that an underage
male friend of Mrs. Roberts could have his position.

- Mrs. Roberts - who is a member of the board of regents and is
referred to as ORU's "first lady" on the university's Web site -
frequently had cell-phone bills of more than $800 per month, with
hundreds of text messages sent between 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. to
"underage males who had been provided phones at university
expense."

- The university jet was used to take one daughter and several
friends on a senior trip to Orlando, Fla., and the Bahamas. The
$29,411 trip was billed to the ministry as an "evangelistic function of
the president."

- Mrs. Roberts spent more than $39,000 at one Chico's clothing store
alone in less than a year, and had other accounts in Texas and
California. She also repeatedly said, "As long as I wear it once on TV,
we can charge it off." The document cites inconsistencies in
clothing purchases and actual usage on TV.

- Mrs. Roberts was given a white Lexus SUV and a red Mercedes
convertible by ministry donors.

- University and ministry employees are regularly summoned to the
Roberts' home to do the daughters' homework.

- The university and ministry maintain a stable of horses for
exclusive use by the Roberts' children.

- The Roberts' home has been remodeled 11 times in the past
14 years.

Tim Brooker, one of the professors who sued, said he fears for the
university's survival if certain changes aren't made.

"All over that campus, there are signs up that say, 'And God said,
build me a university, build it on my authority, and build it on the Holy
Spirit,'" Brooker said. "Unfortunately, ownership has shifted."




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