Businessman wants to give $70M to ORU

? An Oklahoma City businessman said Tuesday he planned to donate $70 million to debt-ridden Oral Roberts University, days after the school’s president stepped down amid accusations that he misspent funds to support a lavish lifestyle.

Mart Green, founder of the Christian office and educational supply store chain Mardel, said he decided to help after watching media reports about the school, which recently revealed it was more than $50 million in debt. He never attended the university and does not know the Roberts family, he said.

“Let’s straighten the ship,” Green said at a news conference at the university. “Let’s get integrity. Let’s get trust built back, and the financial issues will go away.”

Green said he would immediately give $8 million, to be followed by a review of the university’s financial records that could take as long as 90 days. His family must approve the review before receiving the remaining $62 million, he said.

Also Tuesday, the evangelical school’s regents said they planned to separate the finances and leadership of the university from the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association and accepted the resignation of university President Richard Roberts, the son of the school’s founder and namesake.

The Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association is a nonprofit ministry that produces television and radio programs, including “The Hour of Healing,” among its many outreaches, according to its Web site.

The university has been under the ministry since its inception in 1963, an arrangement that critics say led to co-mingling of funds and a blurring of leadership roles.