ORU Celebrates Campus Expansion with the Groundbreaking of a New Library

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Dr. Charles Scott, Vice President of External Affairs, Oral Roberts University, Office: 918.495.6228, Cell: 417.291.6335, cscott@oru.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, Oct. 18, 2021

TULSA, Okla.—Oral Roberts University (ORU) will be launching the next phase of its campus expansion by hosting a groundbreaking for its new library on October 20, 2021, at 12:15 pm. This is the second in a series of four new buildings that will be added to ORU’s growing campus. Currently, ORU’s new Welcome Center is under construction, and plans are being made for a new Media Arts Center and a new Athletics Center.

ORU President Dr. William Wilson expressed the importance of the new library, “This building will provide our students new academic experiences that enhance their collegiate journey. It is exciting to think about the conversations that will occur in this new space as ORU students share bold visions and foster community spirit during their studies.”

The beautiful new ORU library will offer students contemporary resources and technology. In addition to the standard print items, there will be kiosks for checking out materials, an expanded state-of-the-art digital database with tens of thousands of materials on every pertinent subject from all over the world, multimedia stations, and individual and group study areas. As information access develops, the modern library must be contemporaneous for information discovery and retrieval.

ORU’s renowned Holy Spirit Research Center (HSRC) will also be located in the new library building. The HSRC, started in 1962, now houses one of the largest and most comprehensive Pentecostal-Charismatic and Holy Spirit collections in the world.

“We are grateful,” President Wilson said, “for the donors and alumni who understand the significance of the new library and are providing for this structure to be built debt-free.”

The new library serves as another commitment to student services and to the future of higher education in Tulsa. Over the last five years, ORU has made extensive additions and improvements to its campus. Since 2015, ORU has added several new facilities, including the Global Learning Center, an advanced technology space, the Nursing and Engineering Complex, the Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship, and Niko Njotorahardjo Hall, an apartment-style residence for ORU students.

“ORU is a nationally-recognized university,” said Provost Dr. Kathaleen Reid-Martinez, “and we’re laying the foundation for a campus that is second to none. But it’s not just the future we’re looking to; it’s also the now. Students from all 50 states and 126 different nations call ORU home, and expansion is necessary to accommodate our remarkable enrollment numbers.”  

ORU’s campus development is necessary to meet the needs of its unprecedented student growth. For 13 consecutive years, ORU has experienced an increase in enrollment for its incoming fall class. This fall, ORU officially welcomed 4,753 students, an increase from 4,303 in 2020. With an over 10 percent surge in student enrollment, this marks the largest year-over-year recorded percentage growth in over 25 years.

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ABOUT ORAL ROBERTS UNIVERSITY

ORU is an interdenominational Christian Spirit-empowered university located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Under the leadership of Dr. William Wilson, ORU is preparing its students spiritually, mentally, and physically to be whole leaders for the whole world. It offers over 150 majors, minors and pre-professional programs ranging from business and biology to engineering, nursing, ministry, and more.

The Wall Street Journal ranks ORU as the #4 university in the nation for student engagement, which measures interaction with faculty, collaborative learning, critical thinking, how the university supports students applying what they learn to the real world, the extent to which classes challenge students, and whether they would recommend the school to others.

ORU is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as

●       #1 in Undergraduate Teaching

●       #2 Most International Students in the West

●       #3 Best Value Regional College in the West

●       #6 in Best Colleges for Veterans

●       #7 in Best Regional Colleges in the West

For more information, visit www.oru.edu.