Read the latest stories about the ORU lawsuit, view the lawsuit and other documents and watch slide shows and video.

Some uncertain after resignation

Uncertainty remained Saturday about what effect Richard Roberts' resignation as president will have on Oral Roberts University, but some observers said it was a step toward improvement.

"I think people are going to be waiting and watching: OK, can it survive without a Roberts at the helm?" said Donald R. Vance, professor of biblical languages and literature.

Vance said he thinks alumni need to support ORU as it undergoes this transition, after being led for 42 years by a Roberts. ORU professors are committed to the school's evangelical Christian mission, but that might not be obvious without a TV minister as president, he said. Christian colleges across the country are led by non-ministers -- "it will just be different for us."

ORU leaders have not addressed what role, if any, Roberts will have at the university. He is a "lifetime spiritual regent" on its board and is the chairman and CEO of Oral Roberts Ministries, through which he and his wife, Lindsay, each host TV shows and raise money for ORU. He and his family live in a house, built with ministry donations, adjacent to campus.

Some have suggested the ministries be separated from the university, but Roberts and ORU founder Oral Roberts

ORU interim Co-President Billy Joe Daugherty and ORU regents Chairman George Pearsons declined, through an ORU spokesman, to be interviewed. Roberts' attorneys did not return phone calls Saturday.

Also unresolved is a lawsuit that some think kick-started the events that led up to Roberts' resignation. Three former professors sued ORU, Roberts, ORU Provost Mark Lewandowski and two other administrators, saying they had been wrongfully terminated. Their lawsuit included allegations that the Roberts family misspent ORU and ministries money.

ORU fired John Swails, one of the former professors suing ORU, without following procedures, Vance alleged.

"It was the last straw in the mishandling of faculty," Vance said. ". . . The tenured faculty had finally had enough."

Now, Lewandowski has spoken out in favor of faculty being more involved in decision-making, and professors have voted against Roberts continuing as president.

Lewandowski, who earlier told the board of regents that he couldn't continue in his job if Roberts remained as president, said he thinks ORU will remain stable during the transition to new leadership. The board is scheduled to decide on a presidential search process during meetings Monday and Tuesday.

An ORU president must have "solid academic credentials, leadership skills and a strong Christian faith," the ORU provost said.

"It may not be a very easy job to get one to come to ORU in a time of challenge like we're facing now," he said.

Young universities are often built on the shoulders of dynamic leaders, Lewandowski said.

"As the university matures, it becomes a solid organization that doesn't require the same amount of charismatic leadership because the mission of the university is held and guarded and sustained by its faculty and its administration and its alumni," he said.

Lewandowski said he thinks ORU's primary focus needs to be increasing revenue. Last month, the university reported it was $52.5 million in debt.

Fiscal accountability could help rebuild trust among alumni and the community, Lewandowski said.

ORU's academic programs remain strong, and faculty have begun increasing their role in running the university, taking a step toward establishing trust within the academic community, he said.

Student recruitment for next year's freshman class is going well, he said. More parents than usual came to a recruitment event recently, and more students are taking a "wait-and-see" approach. Lewandowski thinks "decisive moves by the board of regents . . . will alleviate any of their concerns and fears."

Alumni board member and 2003 graduate Joey Odom suggested alumni get involved with the university in any way they can because they, along with students and faculty, make up ORU's identity. Odom already has started talking with others about how to encourage donations to ORU.

"The challenge is going to be reinstilling confidence in the university," he said.

Alumni he talked to wanted Roberts to step down, and Odom thinks this will give ORU a new beginning.

Roberts "came into a tough situation," he said. His father turned farmland into a university and became a world-renowned minister. "Those were huge shoes to step into" when Richard Roberts became the school's second president in 1993.

Still, "it will be very weird that Richard isn't the president anymore," Odom said.

Fast facts

Oral Roberts University

• Evangelistic, charismatic Christian university.
• Started in 1965.
• Oral Roberts, founder and first president.
• His son Richard Roberts, second president, starting in 1993.
• Board of regents, led by the Rev. George Pearsons.
• 4,010 students this fall.
• $52.5 million in debt.

Campus voice

What ORU students are saying about Richard Roberts resigning his position as university president:

“I’m surprised. I thought he would stick it out . . . I admire and trust him. For five years I’ve been under his preaching and teaching. I think he’s innocent.”
Art Haddaway, ORU senior

“I’m kind of sad to see all of this happen. I hate to be judgmental, but if you step down you’re kind of admitting something’s wrong.”
Amanda Herrin, ORU junior

A CHALLENGE TO THE UNIVERSITY

Eight weeks ago, three former Oral Roberts University professors filed a lawsuit claiming they were wrongfully fired or forced to resign. The lawsuit also alleged that ORU President Richard Roberts and his family misspent university and Oral Roberts Ministries money.The lawsuit began a chain of publicized events that culminated Friday night with Roberts resigning as president of ORU.

THE PLAYERS

Plaintiffs

• John Swails, former ORU history, humanities and government department chairman
• Tim Brooker, former ORU government professor
• Paulita Brooker, former ORU adjunct government professor and School of Lifelong Learning professor

Represented by attorneys Gary L. Richardson and Paul T. Boudreaux

Defendants

• Oral Roberts University
• ORU board of regents
• Richard Roberts, resigned as ORU president, but continuing as chairman and CEO of Oral Roberts Ministries
• Mark Lewandowski, ORU executive vice president for academic affairs
• Wendy Shirk, dean of the ORU School of Arts and Cultural Studies, which includes the government department
• Jeff Ogle, ORU, vice provost for academic advancement

Added as defendants in a version of the lawsuit not yet accepted by the court:

• Oral Roberts Ministries
• The ministries’ board of directors
• Lindsay Roberts, ORU lifetime spiritual regent

ORU, Lewandowski, Shirk and Ogle represented by attorneys John H.Tucker, Jo Anne Deaton and Lindsay J.McDowell

Richard Roberts individually represented by attorneys Frank M. Hagedorn and Robert P. Fitz-Patrick

ORU leaders

• Interim Co-Presidents Billy Joe Daugherty, pastor of Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, ORU regent and ORU alumnus; and Oral Roberts, lifetime spiritual regent, founder and first president of the university
• Board of regents, chaired by George Pearsons, pastor of Eagle Mountain International Church in Newark,Texas

Investigating allegations made in the lawsuit

THE LAWSUIT

Ex-professors’ legal claims

• Wrongful termination or forced resignation
• Conspiracy to fire them and institution of a “smear campaign” against them
• Libel and slander
• Intentional infliction of emotional distress
• Negligence by the boards to oversee ORU, administrators and the university’s finances
• Interference with the professors’ contracts and business relationships
• Fraud:The defendants allegedly hired the professors under “false pretenses” regarding ORU and the ministries
• Professor Swails is asking for his job back

“Scandal Vulnerability Assessment”

Politics

The former professors claim Richard Roberts required them to make their students help with Randi Miller’s Tulsa mayoral campaign last year, in violation of federal laws prohibiting tax-exempt organizations from getting involved in political campaigns.The professors say a student working on the campaign was using the computer of Cantees, his community and government liaison, and came across the report.Tim Brooker said he turned the report over to administrators,who allegedly did nothing for 14 months, and so he and professor Swails gave the report to regents in July. Shortly thereafter, the professors said, they lost their jobs.

TIMELINE

2004: Stephanie Cantees, ORU President Richard Roberts’ sister-in-law, gives Roberts a report of false rumors that she has collected in the scope of her job with Oral Roberts Ministries, Roberts alleges. The report “was so ridiculous, I just dismissed it out of hand,” he says.

December 2005/Early 2006: Professor Tim Brooker gets his students involved in Randi Miller’s Tulsa mayoral campaign, Brooker claims, on an order by Roberts.

Spring 2006: The professors allege Cantees loaned her laptop computer to the campaign, making the report of alleged wrongdoing available to a student working on the campaign.Brooker turns over the report to administrators.

May-October 2006: The Internal Revenue Service investigates whether ORU“participated in political programs inappropriately,” and ORU addresses “certain deficiencies,” an ORU spokesman says.

May 2007: Paulita Brooker is wrongfully terminated, according to the professors’ lawsuit.

July 16, 2007: Professors John Swails and Tim Brooker turn over the report to ORU regents.

Aug. 28: Swails is fired, he says. About that time:Tim Brooker is forced to resign, Swails claims.

Mid-September: ORU board Chairman George Pearsons receives a copy of the report.

Late September or early October: The board’s audit and compliance committee starts investigating the allegations in the report, Pearsons says.

Oct. 2: Three former ORU professors file a lawsuit in Tulsa County District Court, alleging they were wrongfully terminated or forced to resign.They include with the lawsuit a summary of the report, which Roberts says is at least partially written by Cantees.

Oct. 3: Roberts tells students in a campus chapel service that he is “not intimidated by blackmail and extortion.”

Oct. 5: ORU’s board decides to employ an extra independent audit firm to strengthen accountability. Roberts says he pays for his family’s personal expenses.

Oct. 9: Roberts and his wife, Lindsay Roberts, deny the lawsuit’s and report’s allegations and appear on CNN’s “Larry King Live.”

Oct. 10: ORU board Chairman Pearsons tells students and employees in chapel that anything at ORU that needs to be fixed will be fi xed. Former Regent Billy Joe Daugherty, pastor of Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, announces he has returned to the board.

Oct. 12: The three professors amend their lawsuit to include what they say is the exact report — titled “Scandal Vulnerability Assessment”—retrieved from Cantees’ computer.The professors add the ORU board of regents as a defendant and claim the board was negligent in overseeing the university and administrators.

Oct. 13: Lindsay Roberts denies the allegations and says she lives in a “morally upright manner.” In response to the negligence claim, ORU says it did not employ a “sexual deviant” or improperly destroy documents.

Oct. 17: Richard Roberts asks and receives permission from the ORU board to take a leave of absence as president while the lawsuit’s allegations are investigated; he remains the chairman and CEO of Oral Roberts Ministries. The ORU board names Daugherty and university founder Oral Roberts as cointerim presidents.

Oct. 22: Oral Roberts returns to Tulsa for the first time in three years and speaks at the campus chapel service, saying no one will take away the university.

Oct. 23: The board signs a contract with Washington, D.C., law firm Miller & Chevalier Chartered to oversee an independent audit of the lawsuit’s allegations and ORU’s finances.The Arlington,Texas, accounting firm Pickens, Snodgrass,Koch & Co.,P.C. is helping.

Oct. 24: ORU says it is $52.5 million in debt, and Pearsons says the board is working to eliminate the debt.

Oct. 26: ORU and the four administrators sued by the professors file documents in court asking that the professors and their attorneys be banned from speaking about the case outside of court. The defendants ask the court to throw out the second and third versions of the professors’ lawsuit.

Oct. 30: ORU leaders tell employees they have considered selling the campus-based TV station and have secured longer, lower loan terms, a professor says. On Nov. 2, ORU confirms the station is the subject of sales negotiations.

Nov. 2: ORU and administrators who were sued ask for Gary Richardson to be disqualified as the professors’ attorney because he allegedly is also the attorney for Cantees. Richardson says he is not Cantees’ attorney and never discussed the report with her. The defendants claim the report was stolen, which Richardson denies.The defendants also ask the court to require mediation.

Nov. 6: A U.S. senator asks leaders of six ministries, including three ORU regents, for financial documents, including explanations of how certain expenses are related to their ministries’ tax-exempt purposes.

Nov. 9: Swails asks in court documents for his job back. The professors ask the court permission to amend their lawsuit and add Oral Roberts Ministries, its board and Lindsay Roberts as defendants; claim the ministries board was negligent; claim the defendants were fraudulent; and claim the defendants interfered with the professors’ contracts and business relationships.They notify the court they have subpoenaed three people for documents that might substantiate the Scandal Vulnerability Assessment.

Nov. 12: A quorum of tenured ORU professors votes “no confidence” in Richard Roberts as president and votes in favor of “greater faculty governance and transparency of university finances.” A professor says the motions were made without regard to the lawsuit and without judging Roberts’ and ORU’s innocence or guilt.

Nov. 13: ORU says peer reviewers who visited campus Nov. 4-7 are recommending ORU be reaccredited for five years and have a follow-up visit about leadership, governance and finances in two years. ORU’s accreditation liaison says ORU will be expected to make progress in those areas.

Nov. 14: ORU and administrators ask the court to quash the subpoenas, saying the professors are seeking irrelevant information.

Nov. 14: Richard Roberts tells tenured faculty members he does not want to be president forever but would appear to admit wrongdoing if he stepped down now, a professor says.

Nov. 15: ORU’s top academic administrator Provost Mark Lewandowski offers his resignation to the board of regents, saying he can’t “in good conscience” continue in his job if Richard Roberts is reinstated as president.

Nov. 16: Roberts says in an interview he heard a prophecy that he will enter a “new level of ministry” this year, perhaps as chancellor or spiritual leader of ORU. He also says he will continue to work on television, regardless of whether ORU owns the TV station.

Nov. 19: About 80 percent of full-time faculty members vote that they do not want Roberts to continue as president.

Nov. 21: A former ORU accountant sues ORU, Roberts and others, saying he was wrongly terminated because he wouldn’t stay silent about misreporting financial information.Two students sue ORU, Roberts and others, one saying his future degree has been devalued and he has been robbed of career opportunities, and the other saying he is unable to complete his degree because allegedly unqualified professors are now teaching his classes.

Nov. 23: Roberts sends a letter to the board of regents, resigning immediately as president.

Nov. 26-27: ORU board of regents is scheduled to meet and to decide how to search for a new president.

Dec. 11: Tulsa County District Judge Rebecca Nightingale is scheduled to consider defendants’ requests.

—Compiled by World staff writer April Marciszewski

Campus voice

What ORU students are saying about Richard Roberts resigning his position as university president:

“I think when everything comes to light, they may just want to change the name and start over.”
GeordanTaylor, former ORU student

“I always tell people the faculty and students are what made my time at ORU worthwhile. It wasn’t the Roberts name.”
Sheldon Yoder, ORU alumnus

Compiled by World staff writer Randy Krehbiel

April Marciszewski 581-8475
april.marciszewski@tulsaworld.com