Oral Roberts University, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the largest charismatic university in the world. The school has an enrollment of over 5,000 students from every state in the US and attracts a significant number of international students.
All students are required to live according to an honor code prohibiting smoking, drinking, gambling, illicit sexual acts, and homosexual behavior.
Unique architecture
Futuristic architecture trims the campus. The Avenue of Flags is the main entrance to Oral Roberts University, and is lined with lighted flags representing more than 50 nations from which ORU students have come. The centerpiece of the Avenue of Flags is the 60ft (18.2m), 30-ton Praying Hands, the largest bronze scructure in the world. The main campus building, the 900,000 square feet 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. 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.
History
Healing evangelist Oral Roberts founded the school 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. In 1981, the City of Faith Medical and Research Center opened. It closed in 1989 due to financial problems and is now rented as commercial office space under the name CityPlex. Richard Roberts , Oral's son, was named President in 1993. Oral currently resides in California.
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