$70 million salvation for ORU
$70 million salvation for ORU

TULSA — When the door closed on Richard Roberts’ tenure at Oral Roberts University, a door may have opened leading to salvation for the battered university.

After weeks of bad news, the ORU community rejoiced Tuesday after Oklahoma City businessman Mart Green pledged to donate $70 million of his family’s fortune to ORU. Green said it was Roberts’ resignation Friday that showed him the university was committed to fixing its problems and starting anew.

“ORU must restore its broken trust, its battered reputation and its beaten spirit. Now begins a time of healing,” said Green, whose family has no immediate ties to ORU but has supported religious universities in the past.

The $70 million would eliminate the university’s $52 million debt.

Green made it clear the donation would be for the university, not the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association. ORU Board of Regents Chairman George Pearsons said regents decided during an annual meeting this week to separate the university and the evangelistic association. Such a move had been publicly opposed recently by Chancellor Oral Roberts.

But Pearsons said Oral Roberts’ stance has since changed and that the school’s 89-year-old founder wants whatever it takes to make the university succeed.

“The board and Oral have agreed that significant changes need to take place,” Green said.

Green’s family founded the successful Hobby Lobby and Mardel retail chains.

“We are passionate about spreading the good news of Christ, and know we will succeed in doing God’s will for this university,” Green said. “Our passion was drawn to the students. ... We do not want to see this organization go down, so we said we are going to answer the call.”

However, the pledge from the Green family comes with a few strings attached.

The family made an initial $8 million gift Tuesday, but Green said the remaining $62 million will be donated only if the university makes progress within the next three months addressing problems with its finances, leadership, pending lawsuits and governance.

Green said that includes changes to ORU’s board of regents, a panel that is made up largely of successful televangelists who are close to the Roberts family.

Seventeen of the 24 voting regents sat in front of Green as he addressed the media.

Green wouldn’t say specifically what sort of changes he’d like to see made to the board of regents, but indicated he’d like at least two members of his family to serve as regents in the near future.

He said he doesn’t know any of the current regents, but noted they were the ones governing the university while the financial problems brewed.

Green also said he doesn’t know the Roberts family and that no restrictions will be placed on how the university uses the money.

Pearsons called Green’s donation and another $2 million donation announced Tuesday “seed-faith” gifts.

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