W. Andrew Marcus

Comments Read on Behalf of UO Faculty and Staff at the

Formal Closing of Campaign Oregon

March 06, 2009

Greetings.  I am Andrew Marcus, a Professor in the Department of Geography. 

Let me commence with a simple statement: I am honored to be here today as a faculty member of the University of Oregon to speak on behalf of faculty and staff.

I am also humbled to have been asked to speak on behalf of our faculty and staff, because as a group we are famously diverse in our views and strong in our opinions – a nice way of saying, we can be more than a little difficult.  To try to speak for this entire group leaves me with a sense of trepidation.

Yet despite this trepidation, there I can make one statement that I know is shared among all faculty and staff  - That we are deeply, deeply grateful for the remarkable support the University of Oregon has received from its many donors.

I can say that this view is universal because everyone onboard is elevated when the ship floats higher in the water.  And Campaign Oregon has done exactly that – raised the whole university to a higher level. From a faculty perspective, we experience this:

• Through the wealth of student scholarships that are now available - scholarships that increase the diversity and quality of the students with whom we work,

• Through the improvement of existing laboratory, library and museum facilities that enable faculty, students and staff to conduct ground breaking research,

• Through the many, many contributions to our teaching mission, whether it be special awards to support small classroom experiences, support for new or renovated classrooms, or small donations that allow purchases of special classroom needs,

• Through direct contributions to recruiting and retaining top faculty, as with our Fund for Faculty Excellence and endowed faculty chairs,

and

• Through development that has reshaped our entire campus, making it one that not only has superior facilities, but also one that is among the most lovely in the world.

Yet for all these tangible accomplishments, it is the personal stories  that tell the tale of Campaign Oregon.

• It is…  the moment when a faculty member opens a letter informing him he has just received a Fund for Faculty Excellence Award, leaving him feeling deeply valued by his home institution. The next letter he opens in his daily mail is  - incredibly - a personal note asking him to apply to another institution.  Two minutes before, that offer would have been pursued; instead it is placed in the trash.

• It is… sitting at your desk, overwhelmed as ever by work, yet suddenly realizing the beauty of the campus demands, insists, you go outside, walk across the malls, and share time with students and colleagues… and then returning to the desk rejuvenated by the enchantment of the surroundings

• It is…  hearing the tale of a first generation college graduate, their accomplishments made possible by their perseverance, hard work, and the generosity of donors.

• It is... working hand-in-hand with alumni who give of their time, experience, connections, and funds to ever improve the opportunity for students of today.

•  It is…  being the parent of a two students at UO and watching them grow and take flight  through the experience of a superior education.

These are not just random stories, they are my stories at Oregon since Campaign Oregon was launched. And they do not even begin to cover all the ways in which my life as a faculty member and a parent has been touched - touched in ways that range from access to new buildings to acts as simple as hanging beautiful maps on a classroom wall. Donors large and small – all have made a difference in how I teach in the classroom, how I conduct my research, and in my day-to-day life on the Oregon campus.

And this is just my story.  Imagine, if you can, the list of ways in which I have been affected, but multiplied by the 10s of thousands – and in a few years, 100s of thousands - of faculty, staff, students and families who have been similarly touched, in ways both large and small, and you begin to gain  a sense of the impact of Campaign Oregon.

The significance of these donations is deep, it is broad, and it is profound. The many friends of the University of Oregon have created the foundation of today, the legacy for tomorrow. 

The two words - “thank you” – are not adequate to express the gratitude faculty and staff have for this support. What we can offer in return is something beyond words - our commitment to honor the trust inherent in the many gifts we have received. Those gifts are given with an expectation of excellence. We will honor that responsibility by ever striving to improve the university for our students, our state, and our nation. It is only by these actions that we can adequately acknowledge, honor and give thanks for the incredible trust placed in our hands by the many contributors to Campaign Oregon.

Thank you so much…