# Oral Roberts University A private Pentecostal-affiliated university in Tulsa, Oklahoma — founded 1963 by [[Oral Roberts]] (1918–2009), the major mid-20th-century American Pentecostal-and-charismatic televangelist and faith-healing revivalist. ORU operates as a Christian-conservative residential university (~5,000 enrolled across undergraduate, graduate, and online programs as of mid-2020s), with a doctrinal-orientation rooted in charismatic-Pentecostal theology and a campus visually defined by mid-1960s futurist-architectural vision (the 200-foot Prayer Tower, the City of Faith medical complex of the 1980s) that visitors have described as "neo-Jetsons aesthetic." The university's institutional identity blends academic-credentialing function with charismatic-Christian identity-formation in a way that makes it a notable distinct node in the broader [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]]'s educational-pipeline layer. ORU's signal recent institutional moment was the **2007–2009 financial crisis and Green-family rescue**. By the mid-2000s, the university faced near-bankruptcy due to operational losses, the financial-aftermath of the failed 1980s City of Faith medical project, and the controversies around then-president Richard Roberts (Oral's son) — including a federal lawsuit alleging misuse of university funds for personal expenses, leading to Richard Roberts's 2007 resignation. The Green family ([[Mart Green]] specifically) led the financial rescue: Green became chairman of the ORU Board of Trustees in 2008, the university received a substantial gift commitment from the Green family ($70+ million), the institution was governance-restructured, and ORU has operated under Green-family-trustee leadership ever since. Mart Green's chairmanship has connected ORU institutionally into the broader Hobby-Lobby / [[Museum of the Bible]] / Green-family religious-conservative philanthropic infrastructure. For the Right Wing KB, ORU is **structurally distinct** from the other educational-pipeline universities in the [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]]: more charismatic-Pentecostal than Reformed (vs. [[Patrick Henry College]] or [[New Saint Andrews College]]); more academically-credentialed and smaller than [[Liberty University]]; less establishment-evangelical than [[Wheaton College]]. Its distinctive niche is the **charismatic-Pentecostal upper-credentialing** function, with substantial overlap into the broader [[New Apostolic Reformation]] / charismatic-evangelical institutional landscape. ## Founding and Original Vision [[Oral Roberts]] founded ORU in **1963** after claiming a divine mandate to build a university that would "merge the Holy Spirit and the intellect." The first classes began in **September 1965** with approximately 300 students. Roberts's vision was architecturally audacious: the campus was designed in a **Space Age futurist style** (architect Frank Wallace) featuring the iconic **200-foot Prayer Tower** (completed 1967), a distinctive angular aesthetic, and buildings designed to project modernity and divine confidence simultaneously. The campus's visual identity — mid-century futurism meets Pentecostal faith — remains one of the most distinctive in American higher education. Roberts conceived ORU as the charismatic-Pentecostal alternative to the mainline and Reformed institutions that dominated American Christian higher education. Students were required to attend chapel, maintain physical fitness (running requirements), and adhere to a behavioral code rooted in Pentecostal-holiness tradition. ## The City of Faith (1981–1989) Roberts's most ambitious and ultimately catastrophic institutional project. The **City of Faith Medical and Research Center** was a 60-story medical complex (hospital, clinic, and research center) that Roberts announced in **1977**, claiming a vision of a 900-foot-tall Jesus directing him to build it. Construction began in **1981** at a cost exceeding **$250 million**. The project was controversial from the start: Tulsa's medical establishment opposed it (the city had excess hospital capacity), fundraising struggled, and the facility never achieved financial viability. The City of Faith closed in **1989**, leaving ORU with massive debt that would nearly destroy the institution two decades later. ### The 1987 Fundraising Controversy In **January 1987**, Roberts made a televised appeal claiming that God would "call me home" (i.e., he would die) unless his ministry raised **$8 million** by March. The appeal generated intense national media coverage and criticism — *Saturday Night Live* parodied it — but raised the money (reportedly through a last-minute $1.3 million donation from a Florida dog-track owner). The episode became one of the most notorious moments in televangelism history and contributed to the broader credibility crisis that hit televangelist ministries in the late 1980s alongside the Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart scandals. ## Richard Roberts Presidency (1993–2007) **Richard Roberts** (Oral's son) became ORU president in **1993**. His tenure ended in scandal: a **2007 lawsuit** filed by three former ORU professors alleged that Richard and his wife Lindsay Roberts had misused university funds for **personal expenses** — including renovations to their home, a stable of horses, clothing, a non-university trip to the Bahamas on the university jet, and other expenditures. The lawsuit also alleged that Lindsay Roberts had been sending inappropriate text messages to an underage male. Richard Roberts resigned as president in **November 2007** while denying the allegations. ## The Green Family Rescue (2007–2009) The Richard Roberts scandal coincided with ORU's near-collapse from accumulated debt (City of Faith legacy + operational deficits). **[[Mart Green]]** — a member of the Green family that owns [[Hobby Lobby]] — stepped in with a rescue package. The Green family committed approximately **$70+ million** in gifts and financial support, and Mart Green became **chairman of the ORU Board of Trustees** in **2008**. The rescue was contingent on a complete governance restructuring: the Roberts family was removed from institutional control, a professional board was installed, and the university underwent financial and operational reorganization. Mart Green's chairmanship connected ORU to the broader Green-family philanthropic infrastructure — including [[Hobby Lobby]], the [[Museum of the Bible]] (Washington, D.C., opened 2017), and the Green family's extensive evangelical-institutional donor network. The Green rescue is the most consequential institutional-inheritance moment in ORU's history: it transferred the university from a televangelist-family dynasty to a business-family philanthropic portfolio. ## Oral Roberts's Death Oral Roberts died on **December 15, 2009**, at age **91**, in Newport Beach, California. His death completed the transition from founder-era to Green-era governance. ## Athletics ORU competes in **NCAA Division I** (Summit League) and is best known for its **men's basketball program**. The 2021 NCAA tournament produced ORU's most prominent recent moment: the Golden Eagles entered as a **#15 seed** and advanced to the **Sweet Sixteen**, defeating Ohio State and Florida in the first two rounds — one of the most celebrated Cinderella runs in recent tournament history. ## Current Profile Current enrollment is approximately **4,500–5,500 students** across undergraduate, graduate, and online programs. The university offers programs in business, education, theology, nursing, engineering, and other fields. Post-Green-rescue ORU has been financially stable and has invested in campus renovation and program expansion. ## KB Significance ORU is the **charismatic-Pentecostal educational pipeline node** of the [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]] — distinct from the Reformed institutions (SBTS, NSA), the mass-market evangelical pipeline ([[Liberty University]]), and the establishment-evangelical college ([[Wheaton College]]). The Green-family rescue connected ORU to the broader conservative-Christian philanthropic infrastructure and repositioned it from a televangelism-era family dynasty to a professionally-governed institution. ORU's ongoing significance lies in its production of charismatic-Pentecostal pastors, missionaries, and professionals — the credentialing function for the charismatic wing of the evangelical world, with overlap into the [[New Apostolic Reformation]] and the broader charismatic-political-mobilization ecosystem. ## See Also - [[Oral Roberts]] - [[Mart Green]] - [[New Apostolic Reformation Ecosystem]] - [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]] - [[Prosperity Gospel]]