Oral Roberts U President Takes Leave of Absence

By Colleen Barry,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 17, 2007 10:44 PM CDT
Oral Roberts U President Takes Leave of Absence
A campus security car stops below the large praying hands at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla. on Friday, Oct. 5, 2007. 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...   (Associated Press)

Richard Roberts, the Oral Roberts University president who is accused of misuse of university funds and illegal involvement in a political campaign, requested and received an indefinite leave of absence from the university's Board of Regents today. The board said a senior pastor will temporarily take over the president's duties, with help from 89-year-old Oral Roberts, who is technically still the school's chancellor but had left day-to-day operations to his 58-year-old son.

"I pray and believe that in God's timing, and when the Board feels that it is appropriate, I will be back at my post as president," said the younger Roberts. A lawsuit filed by three ex-professors accuses Roberts of spending donors' funds on lavish personal expenses and illegal involvement in a political campaign, which could cost the university its tax exemption. His wife Lindsay is alleged to have carried on a relationship with an underaged male. Roberts denies all allegations. (More Richard Roberts stories.)

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