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On prayer
While producing the film, End of the Spear, I was in situations that were way over my head. I recruited seven guys who didn't work for me to pray for me. They were accountable to me as friends -- some were businessmen, some were in ministry positions.
When the ORU problems came to light and my family wondered if we should help, I called my accountability partners. One of them said, "If you had asked me 10 days ago, I would have said no. But about that time, God put in my spirit that somehow you're going to be involved with educational institutions."
Now, he didn't know if the movie companies or Mardel Christian and Education Supply stores would be involved. But I did recognize we must remain open to the possibility of participation in redirecting the institution. All seven men were very positive about it. They knew that I'd get myself into areas where I had no experience. I do keep my prayer partners in very good practice! Prayer has been a big part of my journey.
On his grandparents and his father
My dad was the fifth of six children. All of my aunts and uncles are pastors or are married to pastors. My father is the only one of the siblings that didn't become a pastor. My grandfather was a pastor in the Church of God of Prophecy. My grandmother had a deep heart for missions and sewed little doilies, selling them so she'd have a missions offering. My grandfather told her, "I'm giving to missions, Marie; we're covered." But she wanted to have her own missions offering. Dad said even if she didn't sell them, she'd buy her own doilies so she'd have an offering for missions.
My grandparents didn't accept gifts without paying tithes on them. My dad never forgot that. It became part of his journey. When he started a retail business in our home, it never was about a big business; it was about a way to give.
On Hobby Lobby
When a company reaches a certain size, people expect it to become a public held enterprise. They offer a whole lot of money, hoping you will say, "Yes." It was never tempting for our family because if we went public... and when anyone puts money in the company, then it's their money to give away, not ours. Because Hobby Lobby stands alone, we are free to do what we feel best with its profits. We can give away 10 percent or 50 percent. We always kept it a private held enterprise because it's a way to give. Dad has never seen Hobby Lobby as a secular business; it's always been a ministry.
ORU is about going into every person's world. My dad's venture happened to be the retail business.
On ORU alumni he has known
I know Tom Newman (Class of '80), founder of Impact Productions, in a professional capacity. We worked very closely together on End of the Spear. Tom was one of the producers. He always spoke highly of ORU; he loves his school. He told me how God called him to ORU -- and he'd never heard of ORU.
Connie Williams (Class of '84) was someone I went to church with. She was over the fine arts program. I saw her love and passion for the arts -- whether poetry, drama, singing or the Internet. She took the young people into every person's world.
The events of January 14
Our family met with the Board of Regents in November 2007, presenting both a plan to overhaul ORU's governance and finances, and offer a $62 million gift. We asked the board to make a decision by January 31. As we met with them on January 14, they declared, "We will not be voting today." We didn't expect a vote. I started the meeting by saying again, "The ideas I shared are more important than the money." Up to this point the news trumpeted a focus on the money side of the deal instead of on new governance.
I had two professionals impart their wisdom -- one on governance and one on finances. This gave the board a very good picture of what shared governance looks like, what our proposal was, and allowed them to ask questions.
Then somebody queried, "How does Oral feel about this?" Oral hadn't asked a single question yet. He was just listening. Every once in a while he'd tell me to slow down! He'd say, "Mart, you talk too fast!" I slowed down. Besides that, Oral was listening very intently, from the front row in the center. Then he gave a 45-minute speech. He related the history of the school, and in the end he stated things just as he shared them on the video, "God has brought the Green family here."
It wasn't part of our document that Oral must bless this, but it was my personal fleece, if you want to call it that. "If Oral doesn't bless this, I'm not going to have the energy to do it, because I know the road ahead is hard." And if I didn't hear him say, "God brought you here," then it would be one reason for us to walk away and not do this. But Oral did say so because he believed it. What a powerful moment! You'd have to ask other board members how they felt about it and what they saw because they've been here a long time. We realized it was a historic moment. We had just seen history.
On choosing the Interim President
I was working with Bob Cooley, the governance expert, because obviously I've not handled this before. Bob's been in higher education for 50 years. He told me, "Mart, the biggest decision you're going to make is selecting an interim president. There's no bigger decision."
I said, "Oh! Bob! Help me, man! How am I going to make that decision? Who's the right person? Should they be from the outside or inside?"
He said, "Mart, two things: 1) Let's find somebody who does not want to be the president, and 2) who works at ORU, as we're going to be making so many changes." Personally, I really wanted somebody who I felt represented the academic part.
I called alumni and inquired, "Who has that respect? Who has that institutional memory?" They mentioned different people. (There wasn't a lot of time to search and appoint someone.) I set up a meeting with Dr. Fagin. At the end of our discussion, I felt he matched. I kind of knew what I was looking for, even before I sought it. When I saw it, I recognized that it matched. I want the exact same thing for the new president. What does that person look like? And then when he or she walks in, we'll say, "Oh my gosh, they look exactly like what we envisioned."
On the Office of President
Ralph Fagin, I believe, is the right man to help us establish the Office of the President. Shared governance is a different model, for ORU has been a founder's school. It is going to take time to find a president. I don't expect us to hire a president before the end of the next school year. God can do miracles, but we're not in a hurry. We don't feel a sense of rush.
We would like to establish that, and we believe Ralph's the right one to aid in the development of a strong relationship between the Board of Trustees, the president, and the faculty. Let's get that nailed down. Then when the new president comes in, the healthy relationship will be established and working smoothly.
On choosing the Trustees
I was looking for ORU grads, of course, to serve as trustees because I yearned to retain and build on the institutional memory. I wanted some from the old board because they represented that. I desired both people who were ministry and people who were business. Diversity is important. Some of them were my friends, people I knew and had a relationship with over the years. Three are the prayer partners who support me in all endeavors. If I'm going to be a leader in this immense project, they can come in with me!
Since my world is not academics, Bob Cooley helped me in this arena. He recommended Russ Spittler, Charles McKinney and Stanley Burgess to serve as trustees. I trusted Bob, who is world-class. University professionals flock together.
I talked to them on the phone. Then I had to invite them to a meeting ten days later. These are busy people! At first there were several who couldn't come. Then schedules started changing -- Lynette Lewis was speaking to mayors in North Carolina; the meeting was cancelled, freeing her to come. At last, everybody made it.
On the Board of Reference
This is mainly an endorsement role. There are no required meetings. Hopefully, they'll help us by telling people about our financial needs and our student needs. We've lost trust at the school. To build back trust, I wanted to get people who others trust. I tried to recruit people from different continents, from around the world, because we are a world college. I'm still adding to this team.
Once a quarter, we plan to update the Board of Reference about ORU. In return, we ask them to promote ORU and the many improvements being made, and to have confidence in us.
On Homecoming 2008
If all the alumni tell their friends, "Hey, I was there at Homecoming '08. This thing... it's going: there's excitement at all levels -- students, faculty, and alumni," the enthusiasm will grow with hope and trust being reborn. That's the way it has to start, from the center out. We've got some housekeeping to do. I feel like '08 Renewing the Vision is our responsibility.
On the Renewing the Vision $25 million matching gift campaign and the $62 million gift
I'm confident I've got myself in over my head and that God will show up! It doesn't mean I don't go home at night thinking, "Oh my goodness." That's why it was such a faith-builder to receive a call on February 8 from a group of alumni, pledging $1 million -- just three hours after the Board of Trustees set up the $25 million matching campaign! Please know that is new monies, not the old monies. This is another $25 million above the $62 million given.
The Board of Trustees came together to give; every single trustee participated. Some are teachers with teachers' salaries. Some are business people. Again, levels don't matter. If it hadn't been for my grandmother sewing doilies, my dad wouldn't have been the giver he was. I wouldn't have been around that. So it's not the amount. That's why we have the 20,000 people goal; just come on board! You count as one, just like I do. We're really trying to encourage this.
Part of governance is long-term vision for ORU, which is mission with economic sustainability. It means we need many, many people from all walks of society to give what they can so that one day if a large donor can't give again, we'll be fine. Lots of people supporting at some level is healthier for the college, students, and for everybody. That's the other challenge. It's not just the dollar amount, but commitment of numerous people. I didn't make up those numbers. The team here gave me the figures. I did say, "I don't want a comfortable goal; I don't want one that scares you to death. I want one that's -- they call it 'staggering,' I said 'uncomfortable.'" They said, "Well, here's your staggering goal! . . . the $25 million and the 20,000." All agreed that's the best plan.
Actually, it was Ralph and his team who said, "Here's how we'd like to spend the $62 million." The trustees tweaked the proposal a little and endorsed it. The faculty, students and debt each were allocated some of it. Our family is very pleased by how the trustees determined the money should be spent. Frequently Asked Questions
On the value of an ORU student
ORU has five main areas of personal growth for its students to develop: spiritually alive, intellectually alert, physically disciplined, socially adept and professionally competent. Not only do we recite them, as anyone can, but we actually measure them. And not only do we measure them, but we won an award for them (CHEA Award). This is what it's all about.
If we receive an award, I'd want the one that says, the outcome of our students is top-notch. At first, I didn't know any of this, but it makes sense because there's good fruit from ORU. How do you get good fruit? It's not easy to bear fruit. Measuring it can be difficult too. And I've heard the stories. Somebody's really been thinking and acting on this. E-Portfolio is a tremendous innovation and tool for student outcome assessment. I'm just letting people know now this, for me, is why there is good fruit. Had ePortfolio not happened, the Higher Learning Commission would have had a hard time not putting ORU on probation. (The HLC came to campus in November for a 10-year review.)
On the students
Usually when I talk to the students, I try to find out why they came here. I query, "What brought you to ORU?" Everyone has a story, a very unique story, because they're here during a tough season. They could have left, they could have not come. They've been very patient. I've not had a sense of, "Hey, you've got to do this." The students love their teachers; their teachers love them. You hear some strong themes that you don't probably hear on most college campuses.
On the faculty
The faculty have been very grateful, very kind. They too have been incredibly patient. We don't assume that's going to last forever. We're all going to have expectations and we wish we could achieve all of them. We can't. It has been pretty dark. We're digging in hard to accomplish as much as possible as quickly and practically as we can.
On reconnecting with disconnected alumni
The selection of Dr. Fagin as interim president is a large faith/trust-builder for the alumni. We don't have a grandiose plan. God has moved. If you haven't seen that God has moved in the last 75 days, then come on campus and see the changes, feel the excitement and hope, get a glimpse of the projects in progress and the ones to come.
Hebrews 11:1 is a key passage for us today: I'm saying, where are the faith guys? The faith guys are the ones who don't see the results yet, but they believe they are coming. I don't see all the buildings, I don't see everything I want, but I have faith that something is moving at ORU.
That Scripture is the message I'll share with the alumni. It is a faith deal. We don't have all the parts and pieces, but look at the miracles that have happened. Look what the Lord has done. If you haven't been here, find somebody who has been on campus, talk to students, faculty, and people you do respect. That's where you can build trust. I can't build trust with everybody; I'm only one person. But if you trust Ron Luce, or Lynette Lewis or whomever, call them and find out what they are thinking. Go to the Internet; listen to what Oral Roberts said. That is a powerful message. He directed his speech to the faculty, stating how he felt. I encourage people to visit the web at oru.edu and hear Oral's thoughts about this, because that's important to a lot of people. click here
On the future of ORU and getting people on board with what's happening
As I shared, the train has left the station. You can either get on board by faith now, or wait until you see things are improved. Our family made the choice of committing when it was still very dark. We had no guarantee how ORU would even spend the money. We trusted. I'm showing steps of trust, hoping others will trust.
I know people will reconnect to ORU after they have considered the events of the past few months and catch the vision of ORU progressing forward. They will see it takes all of us praying and committing now and in the future. Some are ready to get on board now, others will join with us at different times. If even just a few reconnect now like the alumnus from the East Coast I met 10 years ago, who called to pledge $1 million from his group, the university is blessed. It's an example of the Holy Spirit's working on people. He's working on some students' hearts right now. Maybe they'll read the magazine article about ORU. Maybe different things will happen to build their trust and they'll come even though all the dorm renovations aren't completed.
I have been asked to speak at a variety of events, including Homecoming and College Weekend. I'm happy to do so. It's my role for a season. Then it will be the season for the students and faculty. That's what we're talking about. They will take on leadership to build trust because that's the central characteristic of this university. I understand I have a role. I accept that role and I'm willing to help build that trust. That's my #1 priority: rebuild trust.
I told my family, "If we'll do this, by faith I believe others will join us." If you guys don't step up to the plate, I might have to move to Tulsa! I've got to go back and face my family. I will do so believing many ORU alumni and friends are willing to take the step of faith. I believe you understand we made the first faith move even though we're not alumni and weren't connected to ORU previously. And maybe that's why God had an outsider take the first step... to show others they can also. Together, as a team, we can join with God to rebuild trust and see that ORU continues to be a light and superb training ground for future generations from around the world. The important thing is that we do so while Oral is still alive.
