Oral Roberts University
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The Avenue of Flags at the main entrance to campus |
Oral Roberts University or
ORU, based in
Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the largest
charismatic Christian university in the world. The school has an enrollment of over 5,000 students from every state in the U.S. and attracts a significant number of international students. Its
undergraduate programs include
theology,
communication arts,
modern languages,
behavioral sciences,
graphics, and
nursing. The university also has a
seminary and a graduate
business school.
The university is named for its founder,
televangelist Oral Roberts.
One of the core values of ORU is "educating the whole person". This means educating the mind, body, and spirit. Educating the body, for example, means that all students are required to attend a physical education course every semester and are expected to maintain good physical fitness. As for educating the spirit, all students must attend chapel services twice a week. There are also student chaplains for each "wing" or "floor" of on-campus housing.
All students are required to sign a pledge stating they will live according to the university's
honor code. Prohibited activities include
lying,
cursing,
smoking,
drinking,
gambling, illicit
sexual acts, and
homosexual behavior. In early 2004 the student
dress code was greatly relaxed for the first time in forty years. Prior to that time, men were required to wear button-down shirts and ties, while women were required to wear skirts (with an exception for winter months added in 2000). The dress code could now be described as "business casual". In 2006, the dress code was relaxed even further, allowing students to wear jeans to clas, and for the first time, allowing men to wear non-button-down shirts (ie t-shirts.) However, restrictions for men on hair length and facial hair still remain, as well as a rule against men wearing earrings.
trims the campus. The Avenue of Flags is the main entrance to Oral Roberts University, and is lined with lighted flags representing more than 60 nations from which ORU students have come. The centerpiece of the Avenue of Flags is the 60
ft (18.2
m), 30
ton Praying Hands, the largest bronze structure in the world. The main campus building, the 900,000
square foot (80,000 m²) John D. Messick Learning Resource Center / Marajen Chinigo Graduate Center, is styled after
King Solomon's Temple. The 3,500 seat Christ's Chapel is the location of bi-weekly university chapel services and was constructed in a drape-like fashion as an
homage to Oral Roberts' early tent
revivals. In the center of campus is the
Prayer Tower, which is said to resemble "an abstract
cross and
Crown of Thorns." It also houses the campus
visitor center. The
Mabee Center, an arena seating over 11,000 people, is located at the southwestern edge of the campus and is home to basketball games, concerts, church services, and satellite television productions. In
1981, the
City of Faith Medical and Research Center opened, but it closed in
1989 due to
financial problems and is now rented as
commercial office space under the name
CityPlex.
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The King Solomon's Temple-style Learning Resource Center / Graduate Center |
Televangelist Oral Roberts founded the institution in
1963, claiming
God had given him the following commissions::"Build Me a University. Build it on My Authority, and on the
Holy Spirit."and:"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.
Richard Roberts,
Oral Roberts' son, was named President in
1993.
ORU has been criticized as endorsing
unorthodox doctrines about
faith. Critics cite Oral Roberts' connection with
Word of Faith doctrine and how it has been used for self promotion and justification for
economic materialism by numerous people. Oral Roberts helped pioneer the concept of "
Seed Faith." Coming from a rural farming area, Roberts associated personal acts of
God as a result of previous investment into God's will, like a plant grows from the investment of a seed. Critics claim that this is equivalent to being able to buy a
miracle and makes God into a manipulable party.
Oral Roberts University is a member of the
Mid-Continent Conference, and the men's basketball team, coached by
Scott Sutton, went to the 2006
NCAA tournament as the #16 seed, but lost in the first round to #1 seeded
Memphis.
ORU's athletic teams are known as the
Golden Eagles, a change which became effective on
April 30,
1993.
Originally, ORU's nicknames were the
Titans for men and the Lady Titans for women. These monikers were adopted in 1965 by a vote of the student body, many of whom were from the East Coast or were either casual or serious
New York Titans (now known as
Jets) football fans.
The nicknames endured until 1993, when a search for a new nickname was concluded with the selection of the Golden Eagles. ORU's new
mascot hatched out of its
papier-mache egg on
November 17,
1993, before the start of an exhibition basketball game. With this unveiling, the Golden Eagle nickname became the official symbol of a new era in ORU athletics.
*
Michele Bachmann,
Minnesota politician*
Todd Burns, retired
Major League Baseball pitcher and
World Series Champion (1989)
*
Ned Flanders (ficticious) - Character from
The Simpsons*
Kathie Lee Gifford - Entertainer and former talk show host
*
Robert K. Goodwin - President and CEO of the
Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network *
Brian Graden - President of
MTV Programming and creator of the
Logo Network*
Kathryn Kuhlman - Popular
evangelist from the 1970s, and the school's first honorary doctorate recipient
*
Keith Lockhart -
Major League Baseball player
*
Ron Luce, Founder and CEO of
Teen Mania Ministries*
Keith Miller, retired
Major League Baseball player (
New York Mets and
Kansas City Royals) 1987-1995
*
Mike Moore, retired
Major League Baseball pitcher,
World Series Champion (1989), and All-Star (1989)
*
Joel Osteen -
Televangelist and author (did not graduate)
*
Richard Roberts - Evangelist and current Oral Roberts University president
*
Jim Stovall - President and co-founder of Narrative Television Network
*
Clifton Taulbert -
Pulitzer-nominated author of
Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored*
Haywoode Workman -
NBA player
*
Official website
