How ORU's president lives compared to counterparts
School provides a $1.4 million home
How ORU's president lives compared to counterparts

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By Tony Thornton
Published: October 28, 2007

TULSA — Like many schools both public and private, Oral Roberts University furnishes a home to its president. But few presidents share Richard Roberts' distinction of living in one valued at more than $1.4 million.

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His home is among four or five in a walled, gated compound on the north edge of the ORU campus. All are owned by the school. Of the five structures, one 1,574-square-foot building may be a security office, according to the Tulsa County assessor's office.

The 6,782-square-foot home where Richard and Lindsay Roberts live features 5½ bathrooms, four fireplaces, a 252-square-foot balcony and a guard hut, according to the Tulsa County assessor's office.

The house, built in 1986, is tax-exempt, as is the nearly four acres it sits on, because of an ORU requirement that its president live on campus, according to the assessor's office.

Of the other homes within the ORU compound, one has 6,328 square feet, three fireplaces and a swimming pool. Another has 4,105 square feet. It isn't clear who occupies those homes.

The Roberts family's lifestyle has become an issue because of a lawsuit filed earlier this month by three former professors. A "scandal vulnerability report” attached to the lawsuit alleges the Roberts family enjoys an opulent lifestyle at the expense of donors, including numerous home remodels, a 2,000-square-foot closet for Lindsay Roberts' wardrobe and a senior trip to the Bahamas for one daughter, all paid for by the university.

Richard Roberts has denied the allegations, but he recently took a leave of absence as president. ORU officials declined to comment Friday on the size and uses of the family compound.

ORU is a private, interdenominational school with ties to "word of faith” and "prosperity gospel” teachings.

The controversy prompted The Oklahoman to survey some other colleges and universities, with an emphasis on those with a religious affiliation.

The following information was provided Friday by the schools and by county assessors.

Baylor University
Location: Waco, Texas

Enrollment: 14,000

President's house: Yes, built in 1974.

Size: 5,567 square feet

Appraised value: $421,118

Liberty University
Location: Lynchburg, Va.

No information provided. The school's president is Jerry Falwell Jr., son of its founder.

University of Notre Dame
Location: South Bend, Ind.

Enrollment: 10,000

President's house: No

The president is required to live on campus in one of several settings. The current president, Father John Jenkins, lives in a small apartment in the graduate student residence area.

"I can tell you, it's not lavish,” said Don Wycliff, a Notre Dame associate vice president.

Oklahoma Baptist University
Location: Shawnee

Enrollment: 1,607

President's house: Yes.

Size: 6,565 square feet.

Appraised value: $485,000.

Built in 1949, the home has a full basement and a separate three-car garage that includes an apartment valued at $60,000.

Oklahoma Christian University
Location: Oklahoma City

Enrollment: 1,998

President's house? No

President Mike O'Neal lives off campus. School spokesman Ron Frost said he didn't know whether the president receives a housing allowance.

Oklahoma City University
Location: Oklahoma City

Enrollment: 3,800

President's house: Yes

Size: 4,000 square feet when it opened in 1975.

Appraised value: Unavailable.

This on-campus house replaced one the university owned several miles away in the Quail Creek neighborhood. Then-President Dolphus Whitten expressed a desire to live on campus, and a financial gift from Florence Wilson made that possible.

Oklahoma State University
Location: Stillwater

Enrollment: 23,307

President's home: Yes

Size: 6,387 square feet

Appraised value: $619,049, excluding the two acres it sits on.

The house north of campus adjoins more than 400 acres where OSU's cross country team runs.

Oral Roberts University
Location: Tulsa

Enrollment: 5,100

President's home: Yes

Size: 6,782 square feet.

Appraised value: $1,436,000.

The total square footage doesn't include its 3,085-square-foot patio or a 300-square-foot gazebo.

University of Oklahoma
Location: Norman

Enrollment: 26,020 undergraduate and graduate students on the Norman campus.

President's home: Yes

Size: 10,000 square feet.

Appraised value: Unavailable.

The Boyd House, which opened in 1906, is among the oldest homes in Oklahoma still occupied. It was converted to offices in 1969, but in 1994 then-U.S. Sen. David Boren made its restoration a condition of his accepting the job as OU's president. About $2 million in private funding was raised for the two-year renovation.


 

Related Topics: Education, Higher Education, Colleges and Universities, College Life

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To Oral & Richard Roberts, Matthew 5:10-12 10Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you
MIKE, OKLAHOMA CITY - Oct 31, 2007 at 3:00 am
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Ignore MIKE
Isaiah 59:19
So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. This is the Word of the Lord for ORU faculty and students and all who have been blessed and touched by the Lord by ORU. I believe, like as Brother Daugherty said, his heart is in ORU, my heart is for ORU also, but it's the heart of the Holy Ghost that birthed and raised up ORU and will burn out the chaff that preaches or dictates or tries to come against with a one size fits all theology that gives blanket absolution to the liberal mind set of homosexuality, lesbianism, and the abortionists. These are the last days.









Ephesians 5:15-17









15See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,









16Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.









17Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.










I believe the will of the Lord is for ORU to always be led by the Holy Ghost, to be filled with the Holy Ghost, and to burn like the torch on the Campus of ORU for the glory of Jesus Christ
MIKE, OKLAHOMA CITY - Oct 31, 2007 at 2:44 am
Report as inappropriate or
Ignore MIKE
Isaiah 59:19
So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. This is the Word of the Lord for ORU faculty and students and all who have been blessed and touched by the Lord by ORU. I believe, like as Brother Daugherty said, his heart is in ORU, my heart is for ORU also, but it's the heart of the Holy Ghost that birthed and raised up ORU and will burn out the chaff that preaches or dictates or tries to come against with a one size fits all theology that gives blanket absolution to the liberal mind set of homosexuality, lesbianism, and the abortionists. These are the last days.









Ephesians 5:15-17









15See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,









16Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.









17Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.










I believe the will of the Lord is for ORU to always be led by the Holy Ghost, to be filled with the Holy Ghost, and to burn like the torch on the Campus of ORU for the glory of Jesus Christ
MIKE, OKLAHOMA CITY - Oct 31, 2007 at 2:34 am
Report as inappropriate or
Ignore MIKE
Isaiah 59:19
So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. This is the Word of the Lord for ORU faculty and students and all who have been blessed and touched by the Lord by ORU. I believe, like as Brother Daugherty said, his heart is in ORU, my heart is for ORU also, but it's the heart of the Holy Ghost that birthed and raised up ORU and will burn out the chaff that preaches or dictates or tries to come against with a one size fits all theology that gives blanket absolution to the liberal mind set of homosexuality, lesbianism, and the abortionists. These are the last days.








Ephesians 5:15-17








15See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,








16Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.








17Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.









I believe the will of the Lord is for ORU to always be led by the Holy Ghost, to be filled with the Holy Ghost, and to burn like the torch on the Campus of ORU for the glory of Jesus Christ



MIKE, OKLAHOMA CITY - Oct 31, 2007 at 2:32 am
Report as inappropriate or
Ignore MIKE
Isaiah 59:19
So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. This is the Word of the Lord for ORU faculty and students and all who have been blessed and touched by the Lord by ORU. I believe, like as Brother Daugherty said, his heart is in ORU, my heart is for ORU also, but it's the heart of the Holy Ghost that birthed and raised up ORU and will burn out the chaff that preaches or dictates or tries to come against with a one size fits all theology that gives blanket absolution to the liberal mind set of homosexuality, lesbianism, and the abortionists. These are the last days.








Ephesians 5:15-17








15See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,








16Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.








17Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.









I believe the will of the Lord is for ORU to always be led by the Holy Ghost, to be filled with the Holy Ghost, and to burn like the torch on the Campus of ORU for the glory of Jesus Christ



MIKE, OKLAHOMA CITY - Oct 31, 2007 at 2:23 am
Report as inappropriate or
Ignore MIKE
Isaiah 59:19
So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. This is the Word of the Lord for ORU faculty and students and all who have been blessed and touched by the Lord by ORU. I believe, like as Brother Daugherty said, his heart is in ORU, my heart is for ORU also, but it's the heart of the Holy Ghost that birthed and raised up ORU and will burn out the chaff that preaches or dictates or tries to come against with a one size fits all theology that gives blanket absolution to the liberal mind set of homosexuality, lesbianism, and the abortionists. These are the last days.








Ephesians 5:15-17








15See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,








16Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.








17Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.









I believe the will of the Lord is for ORU to always be led by the Holy Ghost, to be filled with the Holy Ghost, and to burn like the torch on the Campus of ORU for the glory of Jesus Christ



MIKE, OKLAHOMA CITY - Oct 31, 2007 at 2:16 am
Report as inappropriate or
Ignore MIKE
Isaiah 59:19
So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. This is the Word of the Lord for ORU faculty and students and all who have been blessed and touched by the Lord by ORU. I believe, like as Brother Daugherty said, his heart is in ORU, my heart is for ORU also, but it's the heart of the Holy Ghost that birthed and raised up ORU and will burn out the chaff that preaches or dictates or tries to come against with a one size fits all theology that gives blanket absolution to the liberal mind set of homosexuality, lesbianism, and the abortionists. These are the last days.








Ephesians 5:15-17








15See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,








16Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.








17Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.









I believe the will of the Lord is for ORU to always be led by the Holy Ghost, to be filled with the Holy Ghost, and to burn like the torch on the Campus of ORU for the glory of Jesus Christ



MIKE, OKLAHOMA CITY - Oct 31, 2007 at 2:09 am
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Heavens to Betsy, a guy has to live somewhere. What do you want the poor guy to do? Live in a cave. So the place has a closet and a few bathrooms. If he gets a case of he GIs it may be important to have a bathroom close by. So the guy inherited daddy's ministry. His treasures are here and now why wait for the here-after. Who knows? If he don't raise enough money for the work of his creator he could be called home anytime. Give the POOR guy a break.
howard, Oklahoma City - Oct 30, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Um, sorry Mike, I wouldn't call this persecution. This is accountability. Perhaps I should post some verses about love of money, and the decietfulness of riches? Calling what's happening to the Roberts "persecution" is a joke, and an insult to the word and to those that actually endure it. Go to persecution.com to see what real persecution to the Christian church is, my friend. I gurantee you that it's something the Roberts will never be able to empthasize with.
Kurt, Midtown OKC - Oct 30, 2007 at 9:36 am
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To Oral & Richard Roberts, Matthew 5:10-12






10Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.








11Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.








12Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you
MIKE, OKLAHOMA CITY - Oct 29, 2007 at 9:58 pm
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T.A., of Moore, You might be interested to know that OCU is a private Christian college (United Methodist). Quoted from TA "Please note also that the "appraised value" of all the faith based colleges is available..."; so the initial premise of your argument doesn't hold up. It looked to me as if the county assessors didn't have this data when Mr. Thornton (the DO reporter) tried to get it. If you want to argue about no appraised value, maybe you should switch gears & attack the respective county assessors' offices, not the universities themselves.
Concerned, Central Oklahoma - Oct 29, 2007 at 12:59 pm
TA....allow me to explain the difference between donations made to Boren's housing renovation and donations made to ORU(Roberts). THE PEOPLE DONATING MONEY TO BOREN KNEW EXACTLY WHERE THEIR MONEY WAS GOING. People donating to ORU thought it was going to do the Lord's work, but was actually going to a 2000 sq ft closet. Big difference. Not hard to understand. Plus, donating $2 million to renovate a house does not necessarily raise the value of the home by that amount of money. Glad I could help.
Eric, Shawnee - Oct 29, 2007 at 11:53 am
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Wrong again TA. If you were just pointing out that the Oklahoman wasn't doing there job then you would have included something about the other schools that they didn't have info on, but you didn't do that. Instead you just talked about OU and Boren. You are lazy because you are claiming that the Oklahoman chose to not provide all the info when they clearly said that they were unable to obtain all the info for each school, but then fail to investigate the matter yourself. Go get the info and provide it here if you really believe it is out there. You are no better than the paper if you just make blind accusations that aren't backed up by fact. You are exactly what you claim the Oklahoman to be.
Eric, Shawnee - Oct 29, 2007 at 11:48 am
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David, I wouldn't take much much of that information seriously. After all, the entire house is 6,782 square feet. That means they want us to believe that 1/4 of the house was one closet.
T. A., Moore - Oct 29, 2007 at 12:30 am
A 2,000 sq. ft. closet???? Wow, my $120,000 home w/ its 3 bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths doesn't have but approx. 1,750 sq. Ft.. Must be nice!!!!!
David, Altus - Oct 28, 2007 at 7:58 pm
Eric, nice try but I have no reason to defend myself against your childish rants. I was just pointing out that the Oklahoman didn't do their job. Of course you can continue to claim I'm the lazy one for not doing it for them, but that's only because you can't come up with a legitimate excuse for their failing to provide equal fair and honest reporting. Oh, and if you go back and read my first post you'll see that I never said the renovations were done with tax dollars. I don't expect you to catch the point of the comment though, which is that $2 million in renovations makes Boren’s new living quarters worth no less than half a million MORE than the presidential home at ORU and BOTH were paid for with donations.
T. A., Moore - Oct 28, 2007 at 7:15 pm
TA....when you finally read the article you will notice at the end where it says the renovation to Boren's house was paid for with PRIVATE funding, not tax dollars. Wrong again TA!!! LOL!!!
Eric, Shawnee - Oct 28, 2007 at 6:51 pm
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TA is at it again!! He is too lazy to find facts for himself so he chooses to ignore them and go with what sounds good in his own head. Evidently TA didn't read the story or he would know that the Oklahoman was unable to get all of the info on OU and OTHER schools, but that doesn't matter to TA because he is just here to trash OU. How has Boren taken OU to another level?? How about raising the endowment from $204 million to $1 billion between 1994-2007??!! How about the number of endowed profs....100 to 444 during the same span. Been on campus over the past few years to see the construction projects?? My guess is that you know nothing about OU or Boren...
Eric, Shawnee - Oct 28, 2007 at 6:50 pm
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Well P, in Houston, people are free to donate or not donate to ORU. Unfortunately, the same can't be said of OU, a state run school where the President lives in luxury but at the unwilling tax payers expense.
T. A., Moore - Oct 28, 2007 at 4:06 pm
None of this is surprising. The Robert's inherited lavish traits from Grandpa Oral when they took over and have just raised the anti to spend even more of the donors money. People have been fools to give to Oral Roberts all these years.
P, Houston - Oct 28, 2007 at 1:47 pm
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Oh, by the way Eric in "Shawnee". The Oklahoman concocted this story, not me. It was their job to get the information about OU and OCU. Perhaps you should save your "lazy and a liar" for the investigative fantasy writers at the Oklahoman.
T. A., Moore - Oct 28, 2007 at 11:46 am
Gee Eric in “Shawnee”. I take it you’re an OU fan? LOL That would make David Boren your hero, which is obvious from your high praises of one of the most corrupt men in OU history. So what is this new level he's taken OU to? Would that be a new level of protection by the most corrupt newspapers in Oklahoma? Or would it be a new level of criminal cover-up costs by the OU board of Regents? Either way, OU is a total theft of taxpayers’ money. But hey, never let it be said that Oklahoma didn’t know how to put it to the taxpayer.
T. A., Moore - Oct 28, 2007 at 11:43 am
This, I believe, is what you call "piling on." This is why the press are often refered to as "hyenas." They run around in packs and look for wounded opportunities. This story could have been written over a year ago. But then, Roberts wasn't perceived to be wounded then. Transparent and predictable.
Craig, Midwest City - Oct 28, 2007 at 11:26 am
Didn't take long for the OU haters to come out in full force to attack Boren. Pretty lame. T.A. thinks the Oklahoman could have gotten the info if they wanted to, but that is just another worthless opinion. People like T.A. could go out and attempt to find out on their own if they wanted, but it is more fun to sit at home and think of ways to attack OU and their President. Being lazy and a liar are a bad combo T.A. I would argue that Boren deserves whatever he has at OU because of the amount of money he has raised for the University. He has taken OU to another level and will go down as perhaps the best university president in state history.
Eric, Shawnee - Oct 28, 2007 at 11:14 am
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David, I agree. Please note also that the "appraised value" of all the faith based colleges is available, but for OU and Oklahoma City University it's not. At least it's not available to us. I have no doubt the Oklahoman could have gotten that information IF they'd wanted to. But the whole idea behind this story was to trash ORU and any other Christian college they could trash along the way. I know part of David Boren's agreement was to refurbish the "OU White House" before he would agree to the "Presidency" and that little effort cost private donors a tad over $2 million.
T. A., Moore - Oct 28, 2007 at 10:33 am

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