Thursday, October 25, 2007
In the midst of accusations of wrongdoing, the Oral Roberts University (ORU) Board of Regents Chairman George Pearsons said the school owes over $55 million in debt. According to IRS records, ORU had about $76 million in revenue in 2005, and its operating budget for 2007-2008 was over $82 million. One former regent member said that the endowment approached $60 million at its peak, but a university spokesman said the current endowment exceeds $34 million.
In September Richard Roberts, who served as president since 1993, was accused of wrong-doing and stepped down temporarily last week. His father Oral Roberts returned to serve as a temporary president last week. On Monday night alumni, clergy from around the U.S., and the people fired held a rally at Morningstar Baptist Church asking for Richard to permantly resign. They say Robert’s temporary leave of absence “isn’t enough.”