Charisma Magazine

One week after its president said he will leave in July to take the helm at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla., Southeastern University called on Pastor Tommy Barnett for spiritual leadership.

Feb. 4, 2009 --- Southeastern University (SEU) in Lakeland, Fla., has named Los Angeles Dream Center co-founder Tommy Barnett as the school's "transitional chancellor" after learning last week that its current president, Mark Rutland, was leaving this summer.

"Tommy Barnett will provide positive leadership for SEU during the time that the board of regents is searching for a new president," said SEU spokeswoman Anita Whitaker. "It is a largely honorary post and it has not been determined when he will assume that role."

The president of Southeastern University in Florida was chosen today to succeed former Oral Roberts University leader Richard Roberts.

Jan. 28, 2009 -- The president of a once-struggling Assemblies of God college that tripled its enrollment and transitioned to become a university has been named the new president of Oral Roberts University (ORU).

Mark Rutland, Ph.D., who also helped a Florida megachurch reduce a $15 million debt, will succeed former President Richard Roberts, who resigned in November 2007. The announcement was made Wednesday at a press conference in Tulsa, Okla., after a vote by the ORU Board of Trustees. Rutland is currently president of Southeastern University, an AG college in Lakeland, Fla.