orugrad04, (10/10/2007 4:07:07 PM)

Chairman Pearsons, something that is broken at ORU is our leadership's integrity...fix that please.

Tired of Waiting, (10/10/2007 4:14:54 PM)

Please demonstrate that the board is really willing to make change. I was highly disappointed to hear President Roberts announce on Larry King Live that he has already earned the support of the Board of Regents. The board should honor its commitment to truly investigate this issue.

MKL79, Mpls, MN (10/10/2007 4:16:16 PM)

Clean this mess up now. ORU needs regents that demand excellence and accountability. They should not serve at the pleasure of Richard or Lindsay Roberts. Start with getting Lindsay Roberts off the board of regents now. I don't think the people of ORU

need to live in fear of this woman.

Wesley 313 Alum, Washington, DC (10/10/2007 4:26:56 PM)

The world is watching to see if you are a man of integrity Mr. Pearsons. You and your colleagues stand at a crossroads - integrity or cronyism.

I hope and pray that you will choose the path of integrity.

Former Tulsan, (10/10/2007 4:30:58 PM)

Lindsey announced on Larry King that she is not employed by the University. However, that did not stop her from receiving money as a Regent. Also, she runs a television show of her own at the University. Would this be a case of a technicality where she is employed by the "ministry with a University"?

AZALUM, (10/10/2007 4:32:07 PM)

Ok Chairman Pearsons.....wanna truly fix this problem?? Lets start by putting the Presidency of Richard up to a vote by the people it affects most...the Faculty, students and Alumni. That is a great starting point.

0-0=Zero, Tulsa (10/10/2007 4:34:54 PM)

Oh, that is just great, supplant a couple of loonies like richard and loonsay with another creep like billy joe daugherty. What an institution! <Phun Pun Intended.>

More joke's a'com'in on oru...stay tuned to for more looney-ORU-toons.

ORU Grad '05, Broken Arrow (10/10/2007 4:41:02 PM)

AZALUM, well said. Instead allowing just the hand picked Board of Regents to make all the calls. Let the Faculty, Staff, Students and Alumni have some say.

Alum, (10/10/2007 4:44:48 PM)

8, ORU students are informed every year that they have "no vested rights" in University governance. This is part of the Honor Code. You are right! Allowing them to have a voice would make things much better. Rules without rights makes a faulty foundation for any institution.

yabba dabba do, Tulsa (10/10/2007 4:51:09 PM)

Sounds like the "Board of Regents" is decreeing that they will fix things internally...as in...we can fix this ourselves without anyone looking over our shoulder. Smells like Enron to me.

bud coffman, (10/10/2007 4:51:40 PM)

I have been with both dr Swales and dr Brooker and found them men of spirituality and passion for God. I have watched pastor Richard Roberts over the decades and found him also passionate for God. Lets let the board and the courts search it out and give us the best view of the situation. My greatest desire woulod be for all the spiritual participants to gather with spiritual leaders to prayerfully put all of this chaos aside and find the spiritual balance God affords to those who seek Him.After all, isnt the 'Spiritual' the real point? Still praying for you 'all'.

ORU Grad, Tulsa (10/10/2007 5:20:47 PM)

The ORU Board of Regents is not independent of the Roberts family. Never has been. Never will be. Integrity by Richard? I never saw any back when I was a grad student at ORU and I don't see any now.

I've heard more stuff from reliable sources and so has the Tulsa World that has not been reported. We'll leave it at that.

Curious, (10/10/2007 5:25:55 PM)

Do they sell Orange Jumpsuits at Chicos??? Or just the striped ones??

D, Alabama (10/10/2007 5:38:57 PM)

So why did Billy Joe Daugherty leave the board in the first place?

CRAZIES, (10/10/2007 5:42:47 PM)

What are some of you thinking? You're starting to sound looney. There isn't a college around that picks a president by having the students or teachers vote. A president is picked by the trustees or regents of a school. If it wasn't for trustees or regents, there wouldn't be a school anywhere. If you don't like how your school is run, go to another school!

D, Alabama (10/10/2007 5:50:23 PM)

Why did Billy Joe leave the board in the first place?

Carl Robbins, San Jose (10/10/2007 5:52:34 PM)

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Watch the legal case, if the three don't drop it for a big bucks settlement, discovery and depositions could turn into a sensational Chinese water torture with great impact on donors as the media grab every morsel of ENRON, charismatic style, redux.

-style wrongdoing.

Watch the IRS. They're the real issue and threat to those who treat tex-free -- or even corporate money -- as their own piggy bank.

Koslowski -- he who charged Tyco for a trip to Sardinia, complete with champagne flowing from an ice figure's penis.

Bernie Ebber a "gee whiz" Southern boy who, awe shucks, just did what others said was okay.

The Rigas family -- founders of Adelphia -- who's old man considered corporate money his own piggy bank. His son followed suit and both followed each other to NY state prison.

And we're talking about money their companies earned -- not about tax-free donated money handed them.

It's getting nasty out there, folks.

Watch for indications of reduced student intake, decreased donations, PR fallout.

Watch what the politburo DOES, not what they say. "Saying" is their busuiness, after all. If the commisars' defensiveness grows, if the push for money gets a little more frenetic than normal for the Roberts, if a message of "you're either with us or against us" gets out --- then look out.

IF it appears inevitable ORU is going under the Roberts will, in my opinion, pull the plug themselves, saying an "attack of satan brought it down, raising big, "poor you sympathy" donations from the gullible flock.

Prediction: This will become the relgious "ENRON" of our day in the minds of the American people outside the self-congratulatory evangelical bubble.

If you have the chance to disassociate yourself from the relgious ENRON you might want to do it, for the sake of your own career and money/time investment.

All this is opinion on my part, of course, but I walked away from two (count'em, two) corruptly run, personality-based, "I am God" bible-thumping Christian institutions just in time.

(I can pick'em can't I? Actually, they were all I could afford at the time.)

As a student I got out just before they collapsed in scandals and tainted everyone who loyally stuck with them.

Opinions based on having been through this twice is what this is. Everything may be fin, and the sunmay rise in the West-- but you don't want to bet your careers on it.

Again, watch out for that, "are you for us or against us" message, spoken or implied.

Incredulous in Michigan, Troy (10/10/2007 6:02:25 PM)

Pearsons is Kenneth Copeland's son in law! Wake up people!

Q, (10/10/2007 6:08:31 PM)

Let it play out in court. The fact is that prosperity and word of faith teachings are leading many astray and these scandals are just a small fruit of the overall impact of these erroneous doctrines.

G, (10/10/2007 6:12:09 PM)

Carl, do you work for a living? You spend 24/7 trying to close ORU on every article that's put out.

Incredulous in Michigan, Troy (10/10/2007 6:20:59 PM)

Where else would a Pastor of a small town church be Chairman of the Board of a University? Oh, I forgot, when his father in law is mega bucks TV preacher Kenneth Copeland, whose own ministries that financed Pearson's church rated an F in financial transparency by Ministry Watch.

ORU Alum, very dispointed, Tulsa (10/10/2007 6:24:26 PM)

Great. The Board of Regents [religious and lifestyle peers of RR and LR] are investigating. The BOR will condone all that they see for it is [probably] synonymous with their own lifestyle. You know, the one that they deserve because they serve God. What about the rest of us??

I am sure that the BOR will find no errors. Why? Because if they do, their organization will be evaluated next and I am sure none of them want that to happen. This reeks!

formerorustudent, (10/10/2007 6:24:31 PM)

Alabama, I'm not sure why Billy Joe left the board in June, but he just announced today in chapel that they have asked him to come back on and he's accepted.

Incredulous in Michigan, Troy (10/10/2007 6:29:03 PM)

ORU Alum, absolutely right. How many people know the Chairman of the Board of OCU's father in law has 21 vehicles for his personal use, plus a mansion, and a 20 milliion dollar jet. Where else would anyone who is bankrolling his church who rates an F get to be on a Board ANYWHERE? It's a big JOKE. The Copelands make the Roberts look frugal.

ORU Alum, disgusted, Tulsa (10/10/2007 6:30:25 PM)

I heard that Billy Joe and RR had a falling out, which is why he left the Board of Regents. Not sure if that is true.

It is suspicious for him to be "asked back" in light of all this litigation. The same thing happened with Marilyn Hickey recently. Are they going for the strength in numbers approach or do birds of a Charismatic feather flock together?

Any thoughts?