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Televangelist's Son Resigns Oral Roberts University Post

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By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS, The Associated Press

Published: November 24, 2007

TULSA, Okla. - The president of Oral Roberts University facing accusations he misspent school funds to support a lavish lifestyle resigned on Friday, officials said.

Richard Roberts' resignation is effective immediately, according to a statement e-mailed from George Pearsons, chairman of the school's Board of Regents.

Roberts and the university have come under fire since a lawsuit was filed by three former professors last month.

The lawsuit includes allegations of a $39,000 shopping tab at one store for Richard Roberts' wife, Lindsay, a $29,411 Bahamas senior trip on the university jet for one of Roberts' daughters, and a stable of horses for the Roberts children.

Roberts, son of school founder and televangelist Oral Roberts, had been on temporary leave from the evangelical university, fighting the accusations against him. In a recent interview, the couple denied wrongdoing.

Roberts has said the lawsuit amounted to "intimidation, blackmail and extortion."

On Friday, he said in the statement that he loved the university. He became president in 1993. "I love ORU with all my heart," he said in the statement. "I love the students, faculty, staff and administration and I want to see God's best for all of them."

ORU spokesman Jeremy Burton said the school would not provide additional comment until next week. A message left for Roberts' personal attorney wasn't immediately returned.

Gary Richardson, the attorney for the three professors, said, "those who have seen what we have seen won't have any surprise about the fact that Richard has stepped down." He later said, "There was no option, period."

One of the plaintiffs, John Swails, said Roberts "could have spared the university and the students by going ahead and stepping down and admitting his wrongdoing."

The professors also alleged in their lawsuit that Richard Roberts required students in a government class to work on 2006 mayoral candidate Randi Miller's campaign.

Roberts publicly endorsed Miller, but said then that he was doing so as a private citizen and not as an ORU representative. He has denied the lawsuit's claims that he ordered students to work on Miller's campaign.

Professor Tim Brooker, one of the lawsuit plaintiffs, accused the school of forcing him to quit after he warned Roberts that requiring students to work on Miller's campaign jeopardized ORU's tax-exempt status.

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