He’s coming back to ORU after settling a suit against it.

John Swails is not looking for a “hero’s parade” when he returns to employment at Oral Roberts University on Monday, but he thinks the many ORU community members who encouraged him during his lawsuit against the school will welcome him back.

Swails’ portion of the case was settled at the end of a long day of mediation Thursday, and ORU offered him the new job of director of the Center for Israel and Middle East Studies, he said.

The other two former professors — Tim Brooker and Paulita Brooker — who sued along with Swails have not asked for their jobs back and are continuing with the suit.

The lawsuit, filed Oct. 2, brought to light allegations that ORU money had been misspent and that former President Richard Roberts promoted a “culture of fear” on campus, as Provost Mark Lewandowski said in November.

Richard Roberts denied wrongdoing and said in November he did not intend to perpetuate any such culture.

Roberts resigned as president Nov. 23 but remains CEO of Oral Roberts Ministries.

Four regents have resigned from ORU’s governing board in recent weeks. The board has taken on a more active role at ORU since

The day the professors filed the lawsuit, Swails said, he did not anticipate the changes that were to come.

“The situation has been so shifting and amorphous, I didn’t really know how to hope,” Swails said. His new job “is better than I foresaw.”

Also, “I believe that the university is on a new course, so that in itself is worth something.”

Later, he said, “I felt like it was time” for Roberts to resign.

He said he did not intend the lawsuit as an attack or a crusade. Instead, he wanted “people to be held accountable for their actions” and “to have the facts,” both pertaining to his claim that he was wrongfully fired.

Swails declined to discuss the details of his settlement.

John Tucker, an attorney for ORU and other defendants, said those terms are confidential but, along with ORU, thanked former Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Daniel Boudreau for making mediation work on Thursday.

ORU board Chairman George Pearsons said Friday, according to an ORU press release, “We are pleased that this matter has been resolved and would like to welcome Dr. Swails back to the university family.”

Swails worked at ORU more than 14 years before losing his job Aug. 28, according to his lawsuit.

A Middle East expert, he formerly was professor and head of ORU’s history, humanities and government department.

His new job will be an expansion of his old job, he said. He will develop connections between ORU and Israeli universities and make pathways for U.S. Christian students to travel to Israel.

This semester, he will teach classes on the Islamic Middle East and the Rise of Modern Israel, according to him and ORU’s press release.

Swails said he is relieved to be “resuming my life of obscurity,” and is eager to return to researching and writing. He spent Friday morning calling colleagues and friends, including those in Israel.

In the past few months, he received hundreds of supportive phone calls and e-mails but only one critical piece of correspondence, which was anonymous, he said.

Returning to ORU, “I think I’m going to be well-received,” Swails said. “Some might not feel so strongly, but that’s not my problem.”

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