UO fund drive right on track.

Byline: Greg Bolt The Register-Guard

A campaign to raise an unprecedented $600 million in private money for the University of Oregon has passed the two-thirds mark with a recent string of gifts that will leave construction cranes dotting campus for years to come.

The announcements over the past two weeks of donations for two new science laboratories and an alumni center cap a 12-month run in which the UO has garnered $35 million in gifts. That leaves the university exactly where it hoped to be when it planned out the campaign for new buildings, new programs, scholarships and faculty endowments half a decade ago.

"Five years ago we laid out projections in terms of where we needed to be year by year, and we are right exactly where we said we needed to be," said Allan Price, the UO's vice president for advancement and field general for what is formally known as Campaign Oregon: Transforming Lives. "It doesn't usually work quite this precisely, but we are dead-on to the penny of where we said we needed to be."

The campaign is the largest fundraising drive in state history and is expected to be complete in 2008. But the university already has achieved several of its individual goals, particularly construction goals, and has others within sight.

Price said the campaign has brought in $105 million for the university's endowment toward a goal of $160 million and has raised $62.8 million of the $100 million it is seeking in additional scholarship gifts. The goal of $75 million in faculty endowments and support has brought in $47.7 million so far.

Building projects that are now funded or close to it include the $17.2 million expansion and renovation of the music building, the $48 million College of Education complex, the $16 million Lorry I. Lokey Laboratories building, the $7.9 million expansion and remodeling of Robinson Theatre and a $6.6 million renovation of Gilbert and Peterson halls in the Lillis Business Complex. All are expected to get under way later this year.

That doesn't include projects already completed, such as the expansion and remodeling of the art museum and business college, and an addition to Autzen Stadium.

Price said more than 64,000 individuals have contributed to Campaign Oregon so far, and it already has broken the record for the most money raised from the most people in UO history.

"We are so grateful for the people that have stepped forward at whatever level to make this campaign a success," he said. "It represents a level of confidence and excitement about the university that is just extraordinary. There's a lot of things people could choose to do with their money, and the fact that they have the confidence to put it here really makes a difference."

Whether there's enough excitement and confidence out there to last the next 18 months and see the campaign over the top remains to be seen. Price, like any good general, is optimistic and said the campaign is holding on to its momentum.

The second year after a campaign goes public - the UO launched its public phase in January 2005 - is typically when the going starts to get tougher. But Price said recent events have kept the energy up.

"That's why these gift announcements have been so important, because they've created such extraordinary momentum at a time when most campaigns are lagging," he said. "The momentum is just terrific."

One big goal - in fact, the biggest single project on the campaign list - remains its biggest question mark. A new basketball arena could cost $180 million and the UO hopes much of that will come through private donations, with Nike co-founder and longtime UO supporter Phil Knight leading a short list of hoped-for donors.

Although Lorry Lokey's recent gifts have made him the largest donor ever to the university's academic side, Knight still is the UO's most generous supporter overall. Knight has kept the size of many of his gifts confidential, but he acknowledged $50 million in donations in 2000, which doesn't include later contributions to the Autzen project.

The arena project alone could push Campaign Oregon up to or even past its overall goal. But Price said if that happens the campaign will continue so it can meet the individual goals for scholarships, faculty support and endowments.

GIFT LIST Major gifts to the University of Oregon in the past two years: 6/1/04: $2.5 million from six donors, including Robert and Leona DeArmond, for a music building. 6/28/04: $1 million from Pete and Mary Ann Moore for the Oregon Bach Festival and other uses. 10/1/04: $2.5 million from Dave and Nancy Petrone for scholarships, endowments and other uses. 1/20/05: $2 million from Lorry Lokey for the music building. 1/24/05: $3.6 million from the estate of Laura and James Baker; $1.35 million from the Rosaria P. Haugland Foundation; $1.25 million from Julie and Rocky Dixon; $1 million from Christine and Chris Smith; $1 million from Penny and Michael Wilkes; $4 million from an anonymous donor; $2.3 million from Julie and Keith Thomson; and $1.2 million from M.L. and M.W. Smith, all for endowments and construction. 1/19/05: $15 million from an anonymous donor for endowments and programs; $1 million from Joel and Colleen McCloud for scholarships. 5/13/05: $1.25 million from Lloyd and Sharon Powell, Peter and Molly Powell and the Bowerman family for improvements to Hayward Field plaza. 6/13/05: $1 million from Farwest Steel for support of Korean art. 7/11/05: $4.5 million from Lorry Lokey for a Portland journalism program; $2 million from Lokey for the music building. 12/8/05: $1 million each from Andy and Phyliss Berwick and David Katzin for the Oregon Bach Festival. 3/1/06: $12.5 million from Lorry Lokey for education building. 3/6/06: $1 million more from Lorry Lokey for education building (challenge gift; must be matched by others). 5/23/06: $1 million from Paulson Investment Co. for library special collections. 6/8/06: $10 million from Lorry Lokey for two science buildings. 6/12/06: $5 million from Cheryl and Allyn Ford for alumni center.