With the arrival of the 50th freshman class, former and new students share why they’re drawn to ORU
In April 1965, the road that led to Oral Roberts University was just two lanes. Dave Eland could only see trees as he and his family traveled down Lewis Avenue for the first time. But as the tree line cleared, the high school senior set his eyes on the campus—still undergoing construction in preparation to welcome its first class later that fall.
The Denver, Colo. native had originally intended to visit ORU and then head to Illinois to visit Wheaton College. He and his family never made the second leg of their trip.
“That was 50 years ago, but I do know with great clarity that it was a divine appointment that brought me here,” Eland said. “I was very interested in coming to a place where you could enrich your spiritual well-being, as well grow academically.”
Eland not only enrolled in ORU’s first freshman class, but his father took a position with the school. His family moved to Tulsa, and Eland’s four siblings would also later attend and graduate from ORU.
“I brought my family with me to college,” Eland said.
Eland was one of 300 students to attend ORU in the fall of 1965, just two years after ORU was officially chartered, and begin a journey toward whole-person education, a founding principle at Oral Roberts University.
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Kishel Stubbs also came to Tulsa with her family. She moved from the Bahamas in August of 2013 with her two sisters and mother. Her oldest sister and mother are currently studying at ORU, and Stubbs is now a freshman there, as of fall 2014.
The ORU Stubbs came to was very different from the one Eland arrived at in 1965. Nonetheless, just like Eland, Stubbs had a moment when she felt God drawing her to the university.
“After being on campus and coming to chapel, I felt at home, like this is where I am supposed to be,” Stubbs said.”
This fall, ORU welcomed another group of excited freshmen—including Stubbs and hundreds more—to the campus. Yet, these students will hold a special place in ORU history as the university’s 50th freshman class.
As classes begin, the 50th class continues to pursue whole-person education and join thousands of other students who are fulfilling Oral Robert’s vision and going into every man’s world.
