Chairman Says Oral Roberts Univ. Over $50M in Debt (AP)

Chairman Says ORU Over $50M in Debt

Thursday October 25, 2007 3:01 AM

By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS

Associated Press Writer

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Oral Roberts University, which
is fighting accusations that its president misspent
school funds, faces a crippling debt load, the
chairman of the school's board of regents said
Wednesday.

Chairman George Pearsons told The Associated Press
that maintenance costs and low financial support
from donors have put the evangelical university $55
million in debt. University spokesman Jeremy Burton
later said the debt is actually $52.5 million.

-snip-

The announcement comes a week after the school's
president, Richard Roberts, took a leave of absence
to fight a lawsuit brought by three former
professors who claim they were wrongfully dismissed.

Among the accusations the lawsuit makes against
Richard Roberts and his wife, Lindsay, are that
they used school funds to remodel their home 11
times in 14 years, sent their daughter and several
of her friends on a $29,411 senior trip to the
Bahamas on a university-owned jet, and that they
spent school money to provide their daughters
with a stable of horses.

-snip-