Anonymous benefactor wills $1 million to LCC.

Byline: Greg Bolt The Register-Guard

An anonymous benefactor has willed a $1 million gift to Lane Community College that will establish the school's first endowed chair.

The donation is the third-largest in college history, after a pair of $2 million gifts that both generate money for scholarships. Gifts to endow teaching and research are fairly common at four-year universities but are rare at community colleges.

"The fact that this came from an alum is wonderful," LCC President Mary Spilde said. "Hopefully that speaks to the difference Lane made in her life and just her generosity in wanting to give back to the students of the future."

The gift is in the form of a charitable remainder unitrust, which allows donors to transfer assets to a foundation but to continue to receive earnings from them until their death. After that, the earnings from the principal go to the charitable group.

That means LCC won't receive any income from the gift until the donor has passed away. Spilde said that will give the college a window in which to determine the best way to use the money.

"It gives us time to think about what are the needs and where can we put the money where it can make the most difference for the college," she said. "We put together some ideas that we have shared with the donor, and we expect that we will have more conversations with her before we finalize what we're going to do."

Although the donor has asked not to be named, the director of the Lane Community College Foundation said the woman got a degree from LCC in the mid-1960s, before the current main campus was built and when classes were held in different places around the community. The woman, who still lives in the area, decided to enroll after her children reached their high school years.

"She remembers when she had a class in Bethel and then a class in Springfield and they were staggered at 9 a.m. and 10:30, so she only had a half-hour to get from one class to the other," foundation director Janet Anderson said. "She said the best instructor she had in college was at Lane."

That teacher was a speech and communication instructor. And even though the woman went on to graduate from a four-year university, "her heart is at Lane," Anderson said.

Income from the endowment could be used for a variety of purposes. Unlike most endowed chairs at universities, this won't be used to hire a single faculty member in a particular discipline but is likely to be used for different things depending on needs.

Some possibilities are bringing visiting scholars to campus, creating a new program to meet an emerging career need or increasing student access to a high-demand program.

"What's wonderful about this endowed chair is it's not attached to any specific area of study," Anderson said. "So it's very flexible, and that's why it's so valuable."

LCC in recent years began boosting its fund-raising efforts to ease budget pressure caused by declining state support for community colleges. Spilde said the gift will aid those efforts, and Anderson hopes more donors will follow suit.

"It's a wonderful thing, and I hope it will inspire others to consider Lane for their charitable giving," Anderson said. "What we do here is transform lives, and this will help us do that."