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ORU moved to implement a shared-governance board of trustees. Green chose people who are friendly to the Pentecostal heritage and known for their educational and business prowess. The lineup includes Russell Spittler, provost emeritus of Fuller Theological Seminary, and top Pentecostal author and historian Stanley M. Burgess. In addition, Robert E. Cooley, the first chancellor of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and past president of the Association of Theological Schools, is serving as a "governance mentor" to Green. Green is the only member of his family on the board. ORU has also applied for membership with the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

Don Argue, another new trustee and former president of an Assemblies of God university, told CT, "This is the first time the [ORU] board has been organized along more traditional university lines. I'm impressed with the quality of business leadership on the new board."

Despite the new outlook, ORU still faces lawsuits from the days of the old regime: from a husband and wife faculty team, the former chief accountant, and two students who argue that their degrees will have diminished value because of the financial scandal. All have hired Gary L. Richardson, a Tulsa attorney who filed multiple lawsuits against televangelist Robert Tilton in the 1990s.

Tim Brooker, who headed the ORU government program for six years, is seeking $2.5 million to settle a wrongful termination suit filed alongside his wife, Paulita, another dismissed professor. Brooker says he brought the leadership's moral failings and financial improprieties to the attention of the previous administration, but received no response for more than a year. Finally, he says, in June 2007, he pointed out a pattern of lavish spending among the school's administrative leaders. A month later, Brooker says, he was forced out.

"I would love to be able to settle with the university," says Brooker, who lives in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. "I have no desire to drag this out and do further damage to the university." John Swails, Brooker's boss and the tenured department chair, settled his dismissal suit in January and has been reinstated.

Reducing debt, hiring a new president, stopping a student exodus, increasing alumni giving, and rebuilding trust are Mart Green's top five priorities.

The school, which has an $82 million annual operating budget, has launched a $25 million "Renewing the Vision" matching campaign to eliminate the rest of its $20 million debt, as well as to finance deferred building projects. As of mid-summer, more than 4,800 contributors had donated $4.2 million.

All initiatives seem to be paying off. In April, projected fall enrollment looked to be down by 300, but by June, the shortfall had dipped to only 88. Fall enrollment is projected to be more than 3,000 students. Only one-third of ORU students are from the Sooner State.

"If alumni encourage their children to come as students, that's more important than money," says Green, who himself has been working the phones to connect with prospective recruits and long-dormant donors.

Part of the problem in the past has been an alleged intermingling of funds and contributors from ORU and the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association (OREA), the legacy organization that has carried on the ministry of Oral and Richard Roberts. The school essentially has had to build a new donor base since gaining autonomy from OREA.

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September 2008, Vol. 52, No. 9