Oral Roberts’ surprising NCAA Tournament run is shining light on the school’s troubling history with homophobia

• Oral Roberts has punched a ticket to the men's Sweet Sixteen as this year's apparent "Cinderella."
• The Golden Eagles' success in the NCAA tournament has spotlighted the school's troubling history.
• The school's controversial founder and homophobic record complicates the team's historic run.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Oral Roberts' shocking upsets of the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes and the No. 7 Florida Gators in the opening two rounds of this year's 2021 NCAA men's basketball tournament has given the small school located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a national platform and its first ticket to the Sweet Sixteen in nearly 50 years.

But along with all of the fanfare that comes with a "Cinderella" story, the Golden Eagles' miraculous March Madness run has been accompanied by some far less heartening public relations; the team's success has shined a spotlight on Oral Roberts' troubling history and long record of homophobia that stretches to the present day.

ORU's founder and namesake was a controversial televangelist known to many as a swindler and a homophobe

Oral Roberts University, a private evangelical university with just 4,000 students, was founded by its namesake in 1963. Roberts was a prominent – and controversial – televangelist known for generating wild, fantastical stories to bolster his ministry's fundraising efforts. Most famously, Roberts alleged that God spoke to him and promised to take the preacher's life if he did not collect $8 million in donations from his followers within a single calendar year.

The Christian leader's extreme approach to fundraising garnered significant notoriety and caused Roberts to develop a reputation as a swindler in the mainstream. But among his many acolytes, Roberts was considered nothing less than a visionary.

Roberts was vehemently homophobic, and he was far from quiet about his anti-gay sentiment. In his sermons, the preacher said homosexuality "is not only wild, it is insane" and likened same-sex attraction to perversion.

Just six months after Roberts' son, Ronald "Ronnie" Roberts, came out as gay, he pointed a gun to his chest and died by suicide. Roberts' grandson, Randy Roberts Potts, penned a letter to his late uncle after coming out of the closet himself. In the piece, Potts directly blamed his grandfather and the community he helmed for his Uncle Ronnie's death and the plight of so many other LGBTQ+ Evangelicals.

"Suicide among gay men and women in Evangelical communities is still prevalent," Potts wrote. "Evangelicals may not be killing gays outright - the police report suggests my uncle killed himself. However, while the Evangelical community might not pull the trigger when one of their gay members commits suicide, they provide the ammunition."

Potts was not welcomed to sit with his family at his grandfather's funeral in 2009. And in front of the 4,000 people who attended the service, Potts' mother made a point to tell her son "that Hell does exist and [he's] going there."

Oral Roberts' legacy lives on through his school, where 'homosexual activity' is banned, and conversion therapy is mandatory

The university created in Oral Roberts' name was "founded to be and is committed to being a Christian religious ministry" and, as such, requires a "commitment to Jesus Christ of Nazareth as personal Savior and Lord" from all of its students. Part of that commitment involves signing the school's Honor Code Pledge, which prohibits stealing, gossiping, cheating, cursing, drinking alcohol, using drugs and tobacco, and "any illicit, unscriptural sexual acts" deemed "immoral and illegal" by the institution.

That latter category includes "any homosexual activity and sexual intercourse with one who is not [a] spouse through traditional marriage of one man and one woman." And the school mandates that students who are found to be in violation of the policy or identify as LGBTQ+ undergo conversion therapy, a pseudoscientific practice outlawed in at least 20 states - but not Oklahoma - that the American Psychological Association "strongly opposes."

The leading group of American scientists and psychologists insists that conversion therapy "represent[s] a significant risk of harm by subjecting individuals to forms of treatment which have not been scientifically validated and by undermining self-esteem when sexual orientation fails to change."

"No credible evidence exists that any mental health intervention can reliably and safely change sexual orientation," the APA said in a 2013 statement. "Nor, from a mental health perspective, does sexual orientation need to be changed."

In practice, conversion therapy often prompts or exacerbates depression. And according to research from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, recipients of such treatments are "almost twice as likely to attempt suicide" or experience suicidal ideation compared to their queer counterparts who are not subjected to the practice.

In other words, conversion therapy is deadly, and it's mandatory on Oral Roberts' campus.

Such was the case for Chance Bardsley, a Farmington, Arkansas, native who was kicked out of his home for coming out as gay mere months before heading to college, according to The Arkansas Traveler. Then 18 years old, Bardsley was set to attend Oral Roberts University, and though he considered not matriculating due to the school's anti-LGBTQ policies, he prioritized "food and shelter."

Bardsley begrudgingly signed the Honor Code Pledge when he arrived on campus in Tulsa, and Oral Roberts staff quickly went to work attempting to convert Bardsley to heterosexuality. After two years at the university featuring regular conversion therapy sessions, the aspiring missionary realized, "if I keep going through this therapy, if I keep trying to change who I am, I'm going to kill myself."

So he transferred to the University of Arkansas, where he grew to embrace his sexuality. Coincidentally, Oral Roberts will face his Arkansas Razorbacks in their next March Madness game.

Oral Roberts' surprising Sweet Sixteen run will almost certainly have real-world repercussions that harm LGBTQ+ youth

As a result of reaching the third round of the NCAA men's tournament, both the Razorbacks and the Golden Eagles have earned roughly $5 million for their school's athletic programs, per The Washington Post. The winner stands to rake in even more money.

Plus, schools whose teams make runs in March Madness, particularly "Cinderellas" like the Golden Eagles, typically see a significant boost in applications during the following year's admissions cycle. And a February 2021 Gallup poll indicates that approximately 16% of Generation Z - the age group currently applying to college - identify as LGBTQ+, with many more likely to come out over time.

It follows, then, that a portion of Oral Roberts' extra applications stemming from the basketball team's surprising tournament success will belong to queer kids. Like Bardsley, those queer kids would almost certainly be subjected to conversion therapy if they end up at Oral Roberts. And if they're subjected to conversion therapy, they're far more likely to experience suicidality - and, ultimately, more likely to die.

These are the real-world ramifications of giving Oral Roberts a stage of this magnitude. And to pretend that the Golden Eagles' accomplishments on the hardwood took place in a vacuum is not just naive but also negligent and dangerous.

Oral Roberts University did not reply to Insider's multiple requests for comment.