Aiming high at UO.

Byline: The Register-Guard

It's the largest fund-raising effort in state history: The University of Oregon on Saturday will publicly launch a $600 million capital campaign to support academic programs, scholarships and building projects on campus. The UO would be unable to set such an ambitious goal if it weren't confident of its support among alumni and supporters who have benefited from the value that higher education has added to their lives.

"Campaign Oregon: Transforming Lives" has been quietly under way for several years. That's how big-time fund-raising efforts are conducted - in the first phase, the UO lined up the support of many major donors. The UO's success in securing large financial commitments for more than 50 percent of the target amount provides assurance that the $600 million goal can be reached. This weekend's events mark the beginning of the broader, more public phase of the campaign, which should be completed in two or three years.

The scale of the fund-raising effort is remarkable for a public university. The UO's budget totaled $430 million last year, of which 14 percent was provided by the state. The campaign's goal exceeds that budget by 40 percent. The university hopes to persuade people to give 10 times as much as the state appropriated last year. The reliance on private donations is partly a result of declining public support; 15 years ago, the UO could count on the state for a third of its budget.

The prospect of a successful effort to supplement declining state support with increased private donations brings a political risk. State legislators may conclude that institutions of higher education can take care of themselves, and interpret Campaign Oregon as a signal that state funds can be cut still further.

That would be a serious misreading of colleges' and universities' situation. Of the Oregon University System's seven institutions, only the UO, Oregon State University and Oregon Health and Science University have the capacity to raise significant amounts of private money. More important, the people who donate to universities expect to supplement, not replace, public funding. The Legislature will chase private donors away if it gives them reason to believe that their gifts will be used to backfill further rollbacks in state support.

Money raised in the campaign will be used for a wide variety of purposes. A new basketball arena will be the biggest single project. About $100 million will support student scholarships and other aid, in an effort to ensure that no qualified Oregonian is denied a college education because of an inability to pay. The campaign will raise funds to build and renovate buildings, classrooms, laboratories and residence halls around campus. The number of endowed faculty positions will be doubled to 150, allowing the UO to attract and retain professors who would otherwise seek better pay elsewhere.

It's good to see the UO aiming high. The university couldn't launch such an ambitious campaign, however, without an impressive donor base. The fact that such a base exists supports the UO's claim that each public dollar invested in the university creates $10 in economic activity. Alumni and supporters gained the capacity to give $600 million in large part because of their educations - and they understand the importance of allowing future generations to gain the advantages they've enjoyed. A successful campaign will strengthen the UO still further, laying the groundwork for even greater success.