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Mike Couch, Advisory Council Chair
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My love affair with the state of Oregon began in the 1950’s when my grandmother and I took a trip in her 1948 black four-door Ford to the McKenzie River. I remember being moved by a sense of place: the lush greens of the forest, the deep blue water…. My grandmother planted a seed: “You should go to college in Oregon.”
When my father and I took a tour of the University of Oregon campus in the 1960’s, all the strong emotions I had felt a decade earlier came bubbling to the surface again— and four years in Eugene only compounded those feelings.
I felt I belonged at Oregon, and I had the sense that my fellow students felt the same way. And there’s no doubt that the Oregon landscape is and was a part of that experience.
But it’s reciprocal. Not only does Oregon make the UO what it is, but the University of Oregon has also been a major contributor to making Oregon a vibrant and unique place.
Our education and experiences at Oregon created and molded our beliefs. The college years were formative years and will always be part of who we are. They have set the foundation for our adult life, preparing us for our professional lives and, perhaps, inspiring us to community service. To give something back.
It is our duty to help preserve and improve the educational institution, which was so instrumental in formulating our lives. We have the responsibility to give and payback by any and all means available to us. The University of Oregon, being a state university, has been slow in cultivating the philosophy of giving. This was for good reason. Until recently, the state government valued, treasured, and funded state institutions of higher learning and provided funding to support the institution.
There are a number of reasons for the change in state funding priorities and this is not unique to the state of Oregon. The American public fails to place a high precedence on funding education at any level, whether elementary schools or universities. Given the political reality of state funding priorities it is incumbent upon us to give back to our university. We must all get involved. We must place a high personal priority through our giving whether it be through small annual gifts, a one-time designated gift, or through our estates. This will insure that future generations— our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren —will have the same opportunities to have a world-class university education.
The only way this can happen is if each of us becomes an advocate for the University of Oregon. There are many opportunities to become involved: by fundraising, legislative lobbying, marketing, student mentoring, or hosting events. Getting more and more people actively involved will be the major thrust of our council this year.
I’m sure each of you has an idea for how we can grow the support of the university. I plan to talk and meet with as many of you as I can.
Alumni are important ambassadors for their universities —with the legislature as well as among our own friends and colleagues. I hope you’ll join me this year in giving back to the university that has given so much to us. We can begin to create the culture of giving by giving in accordance with our means. We can also show our support of the institution by continuing to tell our Oregon stories, acknowledging the debt we owe to the vitality and influence of this great place.
You may send your thoughts to Mike Couch directly at advcncl@cas.uoregon.edu.
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