Oral Roberts back at ORU - Now Wants to Seek Mediation

Interesting how Oral Roberts University now wants to mediate with the fired professors who have filed a lawsuit and let loose a fire storm of possible financial and sexual irregularities at the University. I suspect the media coverage is starting to take a toll and, if mediation were successful, much of the titillating information that might come out at a trial can be kept under wraps. Here are some highlight's from today's Tulsa World (http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=071023_1_A1_spanc37824):

At the ORU chapel service, Oral Roberts, 89, addressing students from a chair on stage, said: “I love you. I believe in you. I trust you. God brought you here, and you’re special to the Roberts family.” Roberts told the crowd that every allegation raised by a lawsuit against ORU and his son, university President Richard Roberts, was false. He said he was proud of ORU and its accomplishments “for the word of God,” and he said “the devil has come in to steal it away.”“The devil is not going to steal ORU,” he said.Oral Roberts said the university was born out of a healing ministry, and so ORU would turn to mediation this week to resolve the lawsuit.“This will be over and behind us, and my son will be back and be president of Oral Roberts University,” he said.

On Monday, Gary Richardson, attorney for the former professors, said he and his clients asked to work through the issues with ORU before filing the lawsuit but did not get a response from the university.Now, they do not want to resolve the situation with mediation — rather than in court — unless ORU officials “quit adamantly telling the public that they’ve done nothing wrong and become somewhat humbled by being caught and willing to acknowledge the imperfections of how they’ve operated.”“We would prefer to move forward and develop the information and develop the case,” Richardson said.

I hope the plaintiffs hang tough and the financial and sexual improprieties come out in full view for the world to see. It will not be the Devil that takes away ORU - it will be hypocrisy and false Christians who do that.