2 regents resign from university

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Two televangelists have resigned as regents at Oral Roberts University, as the debt-ridden school tries to regroup after a spending scandal involving its former president.

The university on Thursday also settled with one of three professors who filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the school.

Benny Hinn and I.V. Hilliard resigned as regents, where they were involved in making major school decisions, university spokesman Jeremy Burton said Thursday. Burton declined to say why the two resigned, but said both wrote the board to express their support for the school’s mission.

The resignations come a month after the resignations from the board of regents of two other televangelists, Jesse Duplantis and Creflo Dollar.

Hinn and Dollar are among six televangelists being investigated by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley to determine if the high-profile preachers violated their organizations’ tax-exempt status by living lavishly on the backs of small donors. They have denied wrongdoing.

A phone message left after-hours Thursday at Hilliard’s ministry, The New Light Christian Center, was not immediately returned. Ronn Torossian, a spokesman for Hinn, did not immediately respond to an e-mail message sent after-hours Thursday seeking comment.

The resignations follow that of Richard Roberts, who stepped down as university president in November amid allegations he misspent school funds to bankroll a lavish lifestyle.