Oral Roberts University has been promised $70-million by an Oklahoma businessman, the Tulsa World reported, but most of the money is subject to a review of the university’s finances.

The announcement came as the university’s Board of Regents was wrapping up a two-day meeting in the wake of the resignation last week of Richard L. Roberts as president of the beleaguered institution, which had recently reported that it was $50-million in debt. Mr. Roberts has been at the center of a controversy over allegations about his spending practices and possible misuse of the tax-exempt institution’s resources for political purposes.

At this week’s meeting, the regents accepted Mr. Roberts’s resignation and unanimously decided to separate the university legally and financially from the larger Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association, which Mr. Roberts still leads. The board’s chairman, George Pearsons, told the Tulsa newspaper that the university and the association would maintain a “spiritual” connection.

Mart Green, the businessman who pledged the $70-million gift, said that he would give the institution $8-million immediately, but that the university must demonstrate “good governance” practices before receiving the remaining $62-million. Mr. Green’s family started two retail chains, Hobby Lobby and Mardel Christian Educational and Supply.

The businessman told the Associated Press that he had no connection to the university and did not know the Roberts family. He said he had been following the university’s story in the news media in recent weeks and decided he wanted to help. —Charles Huckabee