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Title: Scandal brewing at Oral Roberts U.
Source:
AP
URL Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071006 ... t=As5HmMltcQSueuVbYfTHIIas0NUE
Published: Oct 5, 2007
Author: JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS
Post Date: 2007-10-05 23:11:07 by kiki
Keywords: None
Views: 1113
Comments: 37
TULSA, Okla. - 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 and later provided a copy to one of the professors. 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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#21. To: kiki (#0)
When I was about 8 years old a friend of my mother's took me to an Oral Roberts revival in the largest tent I've ever seen. Oral brought a black woman on stage who described her terminal throat cancer in a weak, raspy voice and after he laid his hands on and prayed for her, she broke out in a high pitched, incredibly powerful, glass shattering gospel voice and she was miraculously healed! As luck would have it, the mike was perfectly adjusted for her voice and the PA system, and it was the most professional healing I'd ever see. My fellow Virginians were generous as always when the hat came around shortly after G_d made his endorsement of Oral Roberts known. Even as a kid I saw that it was a scam. I never believed it for an instant and I never had any use for him after that. Child evangelist turned actor Marjoe Gortner confirmed the scams in his tell all 1972 documentary entitled, MARJOE. And, unlike Mother Theresa who walked everywhere and dedicated her life to feeding the hungry and caring for the sick, in the South the various Babtists all seem to think that G_d shows his love with material compensation, and the more money and cars and stuff you have the more he loves you!
I remember seeing MARJOE in a theater. it was pretty shocking at the time. hey, I also grew up in Virginia, but I never went to a revival. what a weird place to take a kid, unless as an object lesson in how not to get scammed.
#23. To: kiki (#22)
ORU official denies claims in lawsuit ................................ he breach of contract lawsuit was filed Tuesday against the university, Roberts, provost Mark Lewandowski, associate provost Jeff Ogle and dean Wendy Shirk by three professors who said they were fired or resigned under pressure. The plaintiffs are John Swails, former chairman of the history, humanities and government department; Tim Brooker, who coordinated the government program; and Brooker's wife, Paulita, who taught in the humanities and lifelong education departments. The defendants, who received a copy of the lawsuit on Wednesday, have 20 days to respond. Tim Brooker joined ORU in 2001. He was recruited by the Republican National Committee to develop a program to further the political group's efforts. Over several years, the program had success in political races, all outside of Oklahoma, and financed either by the RNC or individual campaign committees, the lawsuit said. In December 2005, Tim Brooker was summoned to meet with Richard Roberts and Roberts' sister-in-law Stephanie Cantese, community and governmental liaison for the ministries, the lawsuit stated. Brooker was instructed by Roberts to use his talent and his students in local political races, specifically that of Randi Miller, seeking the Republican nomination for Tulsa mayor, according to the lawsuit. Miller is now a county commissioner. The lawsuit states Roberts was told that such action was in violation of the tax code, but he "remained adamant” and directed Brooker to become involved in a partisan political campaign. In May 2006, the IRS contacted ORU about its involvement in the Miller campaign. Brooker said he was instructed to write a report and "fall on the sword” while taking "full and total blame,” covering up the directives made by Roberts, according to the lawsuit. The first two drafts of Brooker's report were rejected by ORU officials, the lawsuit states. Ralph Fagin, then the provost, wrote his own "sanitized and inaccurate” narrative for a sworn affidavit to respond to the IRS, the lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit states the plaintiffs were targeted after they turned over a report developed by Cantese. Tulsa attorney Gary Richardson's firm is representing the professors. "This suit has been filed by an attorney who has over the years filed many suits against Oral Roberts University for more than, well, multimillions of dollars,” Richard Roberts said Wednesday. "And he has lost every suit that he has filed against the university. I have been down this road with him before.” Richardson said he was involved in only one past lawsuit involving ORU, involving its hospital building, but that case never went to trial. "I hate to call him a liar, but he's a liar,” Richardson said. Contributing: The Associated Press
hey, I also grew up in Virginia, but I never went to a revival. what a weird place to take a kid, unless as an object lesson in how not to get scammed. I couldn't believe that other tent show evangelists allowed Marjoe's film crew to document their revealing chats about the swindle. He said that whenever anyone got suspicious he simply said, "Hey brother, I'm washed in the blood, same as you!" He said that they'd drop their wimmen at a hotel on the edge of town, go in and do the show, divvy up the cash and pick up the girls and some likka on the way out of town and drink and ho' all the way to the next one! I was about 31 yrs old when I was asked to join a Christian rock group who had a whole tour of colleges lined up to "win kidz to Christ with rock music". I was a little older than the 24 to 28 yrs old band members and I questioned if I'd fit in on a college tour circuit but they didn't care. I suspect that no self respecting rock lead guitarist with any talent would take the gig and they weren't in any position to argue! I was only curious because I suspected that I coulda screwed a whole lot of college chix blue in the name of The Lord (I kept thinking about MARJOE, and with a rock theme how could it be otherwise?) But, I didn't go. Oh, and I was married!
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#22. To: HOUNDDAWG (#21)
Replies to Comment # 22.
#25. To: kiki (#22)
(Edited)
I remember seeing MARJOE in a theater. it was pretty shocking at the time.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 22.