ORU Forgives 10 Students' Debts to Celebrate 50th Anniversary

To celebrate 50 years of building Holy Spirit-empowered leaders, Oral Roberts University (ORU) forgave the debts of 10 students during its chapel service Wednesday. The University randomly selected the students through a drawing.

Recipients included Erin Clothier, Daniel Farias-Alvarez, Leah Foster, Cingza Gin, Elizabeth Gomez, Kimberley Leatherwood, Natalie Persinger, Brittany Reagle, Luke Rentz and Thy Tran.

"This 50th year is a time of jubilee at ORU," said ORU President William M. Wilson. "We care deeply about our students and are concerned about their debt. While the University can't pay the debt of
all our students, this was a way for us to symbolically celebrate by helping 10 students have a jubilee experience."

Those chosen will receive forgiveness of any debt owed directly to ORU. If the students have a balance of zero, they will receive $2,500 in Eagle Bucks, a debit account that can be drawn on to make purchases at many campus locations and several off-campus restaurants to help pay future expenses. The 10 students were also given the option of accepting the greater of the two aforementioned choices.

"When my name was called, I was excited just as everybody else was," said ORU Junior Brittany Reagle. "I had no idea what was going to happen in chapel. Tears instantly filled my eyes and I was amazed at God's grace. I woke up and in my prayer time, God told me to be expectant. I was definitely not expecting anything this great, but the awesome thing about God is that He exceeds our expectations every single time. I am so thankful for all that God has blessed me with and cannot wait to see all the wonderful things He does through this University."

All full-time graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in on-campus programs were eligible. The drawing excluded students utilizing any form of employee tuition benefits. All recipients were required to be present in the chapel service to win.

ORU's Global Celebration Week continued through Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015. Numerous events will occur including an academic lecture series, a special service featuring Reinhard Bonnke, a gala featuring speakers Will and Gigi Graham and performer Sandi Patty, the Ultimate 5K Arena Challenge as well as a parade. The week climaxed with a once-in-a-lifetime concert with Planetshakers from Australia in the ORU J.L Johnson Baseball Stadium and a fireworks display.