1 Boring Old Man

Scandal Brewing at Oral Roberts U.

Twenty years ago, televangelist Oral Roberts said he was reading a spy novel when God appeared to him and told him to raise $8 million for Roberts’ university, or else he would be "called home."

Now, his son, Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, says God is speaking again, telling him to deny lurid allegations in a lawsuit that threatens to engulf this 44-year-old Bible Belt college in scandal.

Richard Roberts is accused of illegal involvement in a local political campaign and lavish spending at donors’ expense, including numerous home remodeling projects, use of the university jet for his daughter’s senior trip to the Bahamas, and a red Mercedes convertible and a Lexus SUV for his wife, Lindsay.

She is accused of dropping tens of thousands of dollars on clothes, awarding nonacademic scholarships to friends of her children and sending scores of text messages on university-issued cell phones to people described in the lawsuit as "underage males."

At a chapel service this week on the 5,300-student campus known for its 60-foot-tall bronze sculpture of praying hands, Roberts said God told him: "We live in a litigious society. Anyone can get mad and file a lawsuit against another person whether they have a legitimate case or not. This lawsuit … is about intimidation, blackmail and extortion."

I remember Oral Roberts Television show as a kid, one of the few back then. Each Sunday, he’s lay hands on people and shout "Heal!" At the end of the show, he’d reach out to the camera with his outstreched hand so the afflicted could lean against their black and white T.V. set and get some long distance healing. I sort of lost track of him, until he locked himself in a tower on a hunger strike until he had the money to start Oral Roberts U. I’ve seen Richard on television a couple of times – as much the Charlatan as his old man – though not nearly so adept at rolling his eyes into the back of his head when he shouted "Heal!." If 1/10th of the allegations are true, these people are in big trouble. And if history is any indicator of what’s coming, we’re in for some fine theatrics from Oral Roberts U. rivaling those of famous alum, Ted Haggard. The Mrs. Robinson jokes have already started.