Letter from UO President Frohnmayer to the UO Community January 6, 2005

January 6, 2005

Dear Colleagues:

A year ago as I penned these lines, all of us were returning to an ice-bound campus after sometimes perilous journeys. This year we return to a campus safe from climatic disasters but with the fresh knowledge of terrible tragedies with unspeakably large casualty figures visited upon populations in South Asia. Somehow these winter months remind us to an unusual degree of the frailties of human existence and of our luck - and sometimes luck is all it is - to be safe and fortunate.

In fact, we enter this last half of this decade looking forward to special occasions of celebration in our university life. These celebrations are notable because they all demonstrate the benefits of private philanthropy to the university.

On January 11, we highlight a promise long ago made and now redeemed: the dedication of the Many Nations Longhouse on the east side of campus. This beautiful new public space represents fulfillment of a commitment to OregonÕs native peoples carried through with the energy and labor of many university friends and colleagues. The Many Nations Longhouse will serve the native community and the university as a place of welcome. The ceremonies will be moving and heartfelt I am sure.

Later that week, some of us will travel to New York City for the Carnegie Hall performance of the Robert Levin reconstruction of the Mozart C Minor Mass conducted by Maestro Helmuth Rilling, artistic founder of the Oregon Bach Festival and one of the few holders of a University of Oregon honorary doctoral degree. The stature of the Oregon Bach Festival is a result of both its extraordinary artistry and strong support from many benefactors. This occasion will bring together great numbers of alumni who live and work on the east coast but who celebrate their University of Oregon connections to this day.

On January 21 will come the fulfillment of yet another commitment: the remodeling and enlargement of the universityÕs magnificent Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. At the time the museum was constructed to house Gertrude Bass WarnerÕs spectacular collection of Asian art, it was the largest collegiate art museum in the United States. Now doubled in size and upgraded substantially in every respect, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, named for one of its major benefactors, will resume its place as a magnet to this campus for people of all ages and cultural interests and serve as a centerpiece for renewed vitality of the arts and humanities. Without the generous support of numerous philanthropists and benefactors, this expansion would be simply an unfulfilled dream. We are truly grateful to them all.

On February 11, we will celebrate the grand re-opening of the Museum of Natural and Cultural History. As a result of a three-year renewal project, we will now be able to showcase many treasures and artifacts that have not been available to the public. All museum events will be free from February 11-13 as we unveil the new exhibit hall and the Don Hunter Media Room. A new changing exhibits gallery will open with a display on Lewis and Clark as naturalists and ambassadors.

Our celebrations will be capped by a Hollywood-inspired event featuring not only motion picture actors but University of Oregon faculty, students, staff and alumni showcasing the importance of higher education for OregonÕs future civic, cultural, and economic vitality. We expect that at least 800-1,000 people will fill the Moshofsky Center to celebrate this opening of the public phase of the Oregon Campaign: Transforming Lives. While I will not scoop the announcements of that time, I am confident that we will report a campaign more than halfway toward our ambitious $600 million goal. The generous actions of our benefactors have been extraordinarily heartening to me, and I know they will be to you, too. These actions demonstrate commitment and faith in the work we do.

Even as we enter this time of celebration with pride in our own accomplishments and mission, we are preparing to bring the compelling case for higher education once again to the legislature. We are much heartened by Governor KulongoskiÕs steadfast commitment to higher education. While his budget reflects grim economic realities for every sector, the governor has, within his ability, kept his commitment to stop the disinvestment in our public universities. And I wholeheartedly support the governorÕs call to double funding for the Oregon Opportunity Grant, ensuring access for the most needy Oregonians.

There is no question that as we ask for legislative attention to the urgent needs of higher education, we are also mindful of the economic plight of our students, both in terms of moderating the requests for tuition increases that might otherwise be justifiable, even imperative, and by making the paths to transferring between Oregon institutions even clearer. To accomplish the latter, we have joined with our statewide partners to develop the "Oregon Transfer Module," a template for students who want to transfer after the equivalent of three academic quarters. Together with the Associate of Arts-Oregon Transfer degree (AA-OT), students will be better able to plan for their four-year liberal arts degree when they transfer between or among institutions.

Finally, as we enter this new term, we need continuing attention to our mission to be fully aware of the diversity of voices among us, as well as those that are not yet fully served by us. The rapidly changing demographics of Oregon and the country as a whole and the social, political, and economic issues that these changes bring may not be fully appreciated by some. Yet meeting the challenges of ethnic and cultural diversity is one of the great agenda items that still faces us. We celebrate Martin Luther King Day this month as you all know. But the issues of diversity deserve far more than momentary reflection on a celebratory day in the yearÕs calendar. Dr. Gregory Vincent, vice provost for institutional equity and diversity, will continue his town hall meetings throughout this term. These meetings seek to advance our agenda and will help us develop a written diversity plan that has ambitious but reachable agendas for action. Let us not believe that our communities are somehow immune from the outrages occurring in other parts of our nation and world. Recent news coverage of the distribution of poisonous hate fliers in Eugene and Springfield neighborhoods reminds us that bigotry and intolerance can literally live next door.

Once again, I thank each of you for your commitment to the University of Oregon and to the larger mission that we serve. As you receive this letter, I will be greeting 25 new students in my once-a-year freshman seminar on theories of leadership. The sight of these enthusiastic new student faces each year reminds me personally why the calling of higher education retains its vitality for me. I know that similar experiences with studentsÕ lives do so for you as well. I wish you all great success in this coming term, and, as usual, I welcome your thoughts. You can write to me at pres@uoregon.edu.

Warmest personal regards,

Dave Frohnmayer President