Green plan moves closer
BY APRIL MARCISZEWSKI World Staff Writer
Thursday, January 24, 2008
1/25/08 at 3:05 PM
For more: Read the latest ORU stories, view the lawsuit and other documents and watch slide shows and video.
ORU’s regents
vote unanimously
for the final version
of the proposal.
The Green family plan, tied
to its proposed $62 million
donation, is one step closer to
becoming the guide for Oral
Roberts University’s future.
ORU’s board of regents
unanimously approved of the
final version of the proposal
on Tuesday, the college announced
Wednesday. That
version essentially is the
same as the version approved
by the board Jan. 14.
ORU is in a second seven-day
waiting period while the
Green family decides whether
to accept or reject the
board’s approval of the proposal,
according to a news release.
The deal is largely contingent
on whether ORU can
settle lawsuits — one of several
conditions required by
the family’s proposal.
The Green family plan
would infuse ORU with $62
million, adding to the family’s
unconditional $8 million donation
in November, and it
would usher in shared governance,
in which professors
would weigh in on university
decisions and direct the academic
aspects of the school.
When the Green family believes
the conditions of the
proposal have been met,
amended bylaws and articles
of incorporation will be filed
with the secretary of state,
the news release said. That is
when a new board of trustees
will become ORU’s governing
body, replacing the board
of regents.
ORU spokesman Jeremy
Burton said he did not know
what was happening in lawsuits
recently filed against
ORU, Oral Roberts Ministries
and the organizations’
officials.
A gag order prevents the
parties from talking about the
most publicized lawsuit, in
which three former professors
sued ORU for alleged
wrongful termination. John
Swails settled his portion of
the case and was rehired by
ORU, but Tim and Paulita
Brooker are continuing with
the suit. They are scheduled
to file a new version of their
lawsuit by Friday.
Former ORU accountant
Trent Huddleston and students
Cornell Cross II and
David Brown each sued
ORU. Nothing has happened
in court with those cases
since November.
Cross, who claimed his potential
degree from ORU had
been devalued, said, “There
were wrongs committed,” so,
“This is not a drop situation
—this is a settle situation.”
His attorney, Gary Richardson,
who is an attorney for
the plaintiffs in all four lawsuits,
said whether the latter
three would be settled “is the
$64,000 question.” No discussions
or settlement talks are
scheduled, he said.
April Marciszewski 581-8475
april.marciszewski@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Janet Benton of the Oral
Roberts University graphics
department hangs a poster of
a 1980s-era photo of
university founder Oral
Roberts on Wednesday in
Christ’s Chapel on the ORU
campus.
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