Group Demands Roberts Step Down As ORU President

There are new developments from ORU and its spending scandal. A private group is demanding Richard Roberts, Oral Roberts' president and the founder's son, resign his position.

The National Council for Community Empowerment protested Roberts on Tuesday, delivering a letter they say is on behalf of some ORU students, although they did not give their names. The letter calls for the end of what the group calls "nepotism and self-indulgent leadership" at the university.

The group is also attacking Roberts' defense on accusations against him.

"We don't think that the God defense works anymore. It's kind of like the race defense," said Pastor David Bullock, Chair of the National Council for Community Empowerment. "We believe that the allegations are very sincere, very serious, students are speaking out, they're signing an online petition even right now as we speak."

On Tuesday, Roberts left Tulsa aboard the university's jet Tuesday for a trip to New York and his first televised interview about the allegations. He's set to appear at 8 p.m. on CNN's "Larry King Live" to address allegations in a lawsuit by three former professors.

At a chapel service after news of the lawsuit broke last week, 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."

He also released a statement saying that he pays for his family's personal expenses. He also said an outside audit firm would be brought in to review financial transactions.

The lawsuit accused Roberts of 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.

Lindsay Roberts 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."

The three former professors sued ORU and Roberts, alleging they were wrongfully dismissed after reporting the school's involvement in Tulsa County Commissioner Randi Miller's campaign for Tulsa mayor.

Such involvement would violate state and federal law because of the university's nonprofit status. Up to 50 students are alleged to have worked on the campaign.

Originally aired 10/9/2007 3:50 PM - Updated 10/9/2007 8:17 PM