History
According to the university it was founded by Oral Roberts in 1963 "as a result of the evangelist Oral Roberts’ obeying God’s mandate to build a university on God’s authority and the Holy Spirit. God’s commission to Oral Roberts was to 'Raise up your students to hear My voice, to go where My light is dim, where My voice is heard small, and My healing power is not known, even to the uttermost bounds of the earth. Their work will exceed yours, and in this I am well pleased'." The first students enrolled in 1965.
The school was accredited in 1971 by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. It is also accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada. Oral Roberts' son Richard Roberts was named president in 1993. In October 2007 Roberts took a leave of absence, citing a lawsuit filed by former ORU professors. Tulsa evangelist Billy Joe Daugherty and Oral Roberts were named executive regent and interim president of the university amid a widely publicized scandal and Richard Roberts resigned the following month.
In October 2007 the school was reportedly "struggling financially" with over $50 million in debt. ORU's operating budget for 2007-2008 was more than $82 million. However, in the second quarter of 2009, the university's debt was reduced to $720,000 as of result of a number of simultaneous efforts including a $70 million gift from the Green family of Oklahoma City and the $25 Million Dollar Matching Campaign, a part of the university's Renewing the Vision effort. On September 23, 2009, it was announced at the end of the university's chapel service that all of the university's long-term debt obligations had been met and the school was debt-free.
In January 2009, the university's presidential search committee recommended Dr. Mark Rutland, President of Southeastern University in Florida, to succeed Richard Roberts, which the Board of Trustees approved. Rutland took office on July 1, 2009 as the third president.
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