Willamette University Campaign Effort Hits $100,000,000

About 650 Willamette University alumni attending reunion weekend events were among the first to hear the news: The University’s Campaign for Willamette had hit the $100 million mark. The gift that made the difference was a check for $1 million presented to University President M. Lee Pelton Saturday evening from members of the Class of 1957.

“We are thrilled with this result,” Pelton said. “Members of the Class of 1957 are to be commended for this outstanding contribution. We are deeply moved by their generosity. Living Willamette alumni number fewer than 17,000. That is a relatively small community to engage in this level of fundraising. Equally important is the participation among our faulty and staff. Since the campaign began in 2002, our own campus community has donated more than $1,670,000. That’s impressive and it speaks to the pride we all feel for this university.”

The campaign has experienced periods of unexpected intensity. In one 13-month period between April 2006 and May 2007, the University raised $25 million.

The $125 million campaign is focused on growing the endowment which stands at approximately $285 million.

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Oregon Community Foundation’s Doris J.Wipper Fund Aids Willamette Academy

Willamette University is the recipient of a $15,000 grant from The Oregon Community Foundation’s Doris J. Wipper Fund to support Willamette Academy, a University program that prepares and encourages ethnically diverse and economically disadvantaged 7th through 12th grade students to achieve their dream of a college education. Having completed its fifth year of operation, the Academy witnessed its first graduating class successfully earn their high school diplomas. Of the Class of 2007, 92 percent will be attending college; 60 percent are enrolled at 4 year institutions and 32 percent will begin at a 2 year college. The Oregon Community Foundation has invited Willamette University to reapply for third year grant for Willamette Academy in the amounts of $10,000.

Founded in 1842, Willamette University has one of the country’s top-ranked, private liberal arts colleges as well as accredited graduate programs in law, business and education. The University’s mission is to provide a lively and challenging education to diverse groups nationally and internationally, while honoring its roots in the United Methodist Church and the Pacific Northwest. Since 1975, the University has received more than $1.6 million from the Oregon Community Foundation for a variety of projects.

The Oregon Community Foundation, established in 1973, has managed charitable funds charitable funds donated by individuals, families and businesses to enhance and support the quality of life in their communities. Today, the Foundation’s endowment consists of more than 1,300 funds with combined assets of $903 million.

The Foundation makes grants through an application process that involves local citizens in the review and evaluation of requests for funds. Application materials are available through the Foundation’s Portland office. Individuals or businesses interested in establishing a fund may contact the Portland office at 1221 SW Yamhill, Suite 100, Portland, OR 97205, or call 503-227-6846.

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Dempsey Foundation Funds Environmental Chair at Willamette

The Dempsey Foundation has endowed The Dempsey Chair in Environmental Policy and Politics at Willamette University.

The $1.5 million endowment will support an endowed chair in the Environmental and Earth Sciences Department in the College of Liberal Arts (CLA.) The endowed chair furthers Willamette’s commitment to interdisciplinary and collaborative teaching and research in environmental science. The chair holder will also coordinate the nationally recognized Dempsey Environmental Lecture Series with a focus on environmental concerns such as forest management, sustainability and conservation.

The first occupant of the Dempsey Chair will be Professor Joe Bowersox, who has taught politics at Willamette University since 1993 and who has served as chair of the University’s Sustainability Council since 2004. He published work has focused on forest management and environmental politics.

Willamette University has 17 endowed chairs: 10 in CLA, two in the College of Law, four in the Atkinson Graduate School of Management and one chair that rotates among the three schools. Endowed chairs, awarded to faculty members who exemplify the highest standards of scholarship, offer financial assistance with publication, collaborative research and programmatic enhancements.

Willamette University President M. Lee Pelton said, “The timing of this gift is particularly meaningful. Willamette is now part of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, a pledge to broaden our pedagogy to involve students and faculty in the challenges of climate change and its influence on global ecological and social systems.

“Additionally, Willamette was recently recognized for our commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility in the construction and design of Kaneko Commons. The residence hall is currently being considered for a LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating of silver or gold with its energy saving systems, lighting, water recovery and sustainable building materials. With these efforts in mind, we believe the Dempsey Chair in Environmental Policy and Politics is the perfect match for Willamette University.”

The Dempsey Foundation will provide a gift of $500,000 to be added to an earlier gift of $1 million, which in 2004 created the Dempsey Environmental Science Fund.

Heather K. Dempsey graduated from the Environmental and Earth Sciences Department at Willamette University in 1997 and has been a University Trustee since 2004. She presented the gift on behalf of the Dempsey Foundation at the May 12 Board of Trustee meeting.

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Foundation Awards $50,000 in Support of At-Risk Students

The Spirit Mountain Community Fund has awarded $50,000 to Willamette University to support Willamette Academy and the Chemawa Indian School-Willamette University Partnership Program. Both programs are designed to help at-risk students graduate from high school and prepare for college.

Established in 2001, Willamette Academy is a Willamette University college preparation program for underserved youth. The academy recruits underrepresented 7th grade students from the Salem-Keizer Public Schools into a free and supplemental five-year academic program providing year-round teaching, tutoring and activities that prepare students for the academic rigor of a college education.

The Chemawa Indian School-Willamette University Partnership Program, initiated in 2005 by staff from both institutions, brings Willamette undergraduate volunteers to the Chemawa Salem campus four nights a week to provide academic tutoring and mentoring.

Spirit Mountain Community Fund is the philanthropic arm of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Spirit Mountain Community Fund donates approximately $5 million each year to local programs and services that benefit citizens striving for self-sufficiency.

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JELD-WEN Foundation Pledges $2.5 million to the Atkinson Graduate School of Management

The JELD-WEN Foundation of Klamath Falls has pledged $2.5 million to Willamette University to create an endowed chair in Free Enterprise at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management. The donation is the largest in the Atkinson Graduate School’s history.

“This is a significant benchmark for the Atkinson Graduate School of Management,” said Willamette University President M. Lee Pelton. “This gift from the JELD-WEN Foundation is gratifying in that it tells us that the Atkinson program and its faculty are among the best in the nation. This gift recognizes the strengths and the potential of this graduate school.”

“The JELD-WEN Foundation is pleased to partner with Willamette University and the Atkinson Graduate School of Management to create a new endowed chair for the University,” said Rod Wendt, President and CEO of JELD-WEN, inc. “JELD-WEN feels the project’s focus on free enterprise is especially vital today. A large number of American students do not make the connection between a free market based system and the unprecedented and sustained vitality of the U.S. economy. The JELD-WEN Chair in Free Enterprise at the Atkinson Graduate School will provide an opportunity to expand the curriculum to highlight this topic.”

Willamette University’s Atkinson Graduate School, with locations in Salem and Portland, is one of only two MBA programs in the nation dually accredited for Business Administration and Public Administration. The JELD-WEN Foundation focuses on giving in the communities in which the company operates. In the past five years, the Foundation has given more than $33 million.

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$10 Million Gift Opens New Chapter at Willamette University

The largest personal donation in the history of Willamette University will assist the University in constructing a $16 million, 46,000-square-foot academic building that will house the departments of mathematics, computer science, rhetoric and media studies, as well as digital arts and film studies programs, beginning in the fall of 2009. The building will also house the University's arts and technology program.

The $10 million total includes an $8 million gift from an anonymous donor, plus a $2 million contribution from the University's Board of Trustees. The remaining $6 million will be raised through ongoing fund-raising efforts. The gift and the commitment from the Board of Trustees were announced at the board meeting Oct. 14.

The $8 million donation is the second largest gift in University history; Tokyo International University of America contributed $11 million in 2003 in support of Kaneko Commons, an undergraduate residence hall that opened in August.

The $10 million contribution brings the Campaign for Willamette total to $85.1 million, which is 68 percent of the campaign goal of $125 million. The campaign was announced last December.

"This new academic building opens a new chapter in the life of this distinguished University," said Willamette University President M. Lee Pelton. "The additional space allows us to add 25 new professors to our full-time tenure-track faculty, an increase of 20 percent. The end result is increased mentoring and increased research collaboration among students and faculty. From the outside, it is a new building. From the inside, it speaks to opportunity and innovative pedagogy."

The new structure will be located on the northeast corner of the campus near Gatke Hall and running parallel to State Street. By moving several departments and programs into the new academic building, space will be freed in Collins Science Center, Eaton Hall and Smullin Hall for expansion in science, social science and humanities disciplines.

"The location of the new academic building is also significant for the City of Salem," added Pelton. "We are eager to welcome Salem community members who live and work near this location to visit the planned student gallery and the sculpture courtyard. From this location, across the street from the State Capitol and the Supreme Court Building, it is a short walk to the Hallie Ford Museum of Art and the Art Building."

The architectural firm and building contractor for this project have yet to be named.

The most recent campus construction projects include Kaneko Commons (2006), the art building addition (2003), Eaton Hall remodel (2003), Mary Stuart Rogers Music Center (1998), Collins Science Center renovation (1996) and the Olin Science Center (1996).

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Lilly Endowment Gives Willamette $500,000

Willamette University has received a $500,000 matching grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc. to extend the Lilly Project at Willamette University, a unique program that offers programs, projects and opportunities for students to identify their life’s vocational and spiritual calling.

The three-year grant, which will be matched by the University, will assist the program in securing funding that will make it self-sustaining. The Lilly Project was originally funded in 2001 by a $2 million grant from Lilly Endowment.

Associate Chaplain Karen Wood says the Lilly Project is about much more than religion. “The Lilly Project is focused on helping students discern what matters to them; what their values, gifts and commitments are; and how to make all those things match.”

The Lilly Project, says Wood, dovetails perfectly with the University’s motto, “Not unto ourselves alone are we born.” “The Lilly Project offers even more opportunities for students to do community service and to think about what the experience meant to them, how it changed their world view and how it might shape the rest of their lives,” she says. “One of the primary purposes of a liberal arts education is to help students figure out who they are and what they want to do with their lives. The Lilly Project provides perfect opportunities to do that.”

The Lilly Project at Willamette University has provided numerous opportunities to students, faculty and the wider community in 14 different program areas including community service projects, summer internships, research projects, faculty grants, art exhibits and speakers.

Since the program’s inception, more than 500 Willamette students have performed community service and then reflected on their experience to help clarify their vocational goals. Some students have spent their spring breaks painting houses on Indian reservations; serving communities in Mississippi; or cleaning up poor neighborhoods in Chicago. Others have created their own community service projects. Another 60 students have attended retreats that offer intensive opportunities to look at their values and beliefs and bring those values into their vocational choices.

A number of University faculty have taken advantage of Lilly grants to develop courses or materials to help students explore their values and vocations.

The public has benefited too. Hundreds of community members have joined students, faculty and staff at art exhibits, convocations and speaking engagements funded by the Lilly Project. The Willamette community and the public packed Hudson Hall to hear Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Chris Hedges speak about being a war correspondent with deep commitment and faith. This year, Anne Lamott talked about what it means to be both faithful and politically progressive.

The new matching grant will help put the program on a more stable financial footing. “This grant will enable us to do the fundraising that will allow these good projects to continue,” Wood says. “It offers the opportunity for the Lilly Project to become more embedded into the life of the university.”

Some of the new funds will also pay for speakers and other programs at Kaneko Commons, Willamette’s live-learn residential commons scheduled to open in fall 2006. “This grant will help pay for new community service and reflection programming that will help students explore their callings,” says Wood. “We want the Lilly Project to be an integral part of Kaneko Commons right off the bat.”

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University Museum Given Large Endowment

Elizabeth Garrison, education curator at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University, has been named The Cameron Paulin Curator of Education. The newest endowed position is funded by a $1 million gift from Portland resident Maribeth Collins and is named after the late Cameron Paulin, who taught art and art history at the University from 1949-76.

Maribeth Collins has a long history of philanthropy with Willamette University. In addition to this most recent endowed gift, she also created the The Maribeth Collins Endowed Directorship at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, currently held by Museum Director John Olbrantz.

“Maribeth has given our community a legacy of art, art appreciation and art education,” said Willamette President Lee Pelton. “Because of her philanthropy, thousands of visitors to the Hallie Ford Museum have enjoyed exhibits of uncommon distinction.”

As education curator, Garrison is responsible for organizing, implementing and evaluating education programs related to the University's art collection and temporary exhibitions. She serves as the liaison with local and regional school districts and will supervise and train docents. A native of California, Garrison holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., and a master’s degree from the University of California, Davis.

From 1990-91, Garrison was an intern in the Education and Outreach Department at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and from 1991-96, served as docent and outreach coordinator at the Jocelyn Art Museum in Omaha. In 1998, she was hired as assistant education curator at the Portland Art Museum, and in 2000, she was promoted to the position of education curator.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art was founded in 1998 to serve as an artistic, cultural and intellectual resource for Willamette University, the City of Salem and the mid-Willamette Valley. It includes four permanent galleries and two temporary exhibition spaces. Permanent galleries focus on European, Asian and American art, Native American baskets, historic and contemporary regional art, and European and American works on paper. Temporary exhibitions feature historic and contemporary art.

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$1.6 Million to Help Teachers With Technology

Willamette University, one of six partners in the Oregon Technology in Education Network (OTEN) Consortium has received a $1.6 million federal education grant designed to increase student achievement in K-12 classrooms in high need schools and to assist teachers who use technology in the classroom.

Sharing the four-year grant with Willamette University are the University of Portland, Pacific University, George Fox University, Concordia University and Western Baptist College.

"OTEN will be working with teacher leaders to provide high quality, technology rich clinical experiences for Willamette University pre-service teachers,” said Steve Rhine, associate professor at Willamette’s School of Education.

This Teacher Quality Enhancement-Partnership grant supports projects to increase the number of highly qualified teachers, particularly in core subject areas such as math and science, using research-based teaching methods. This year, 25 partnership grants worth more than $146 million over five years will be awarded by the U.S. Department of Education.

This same consortium was awarded a $1.3 million grant in July 2001, also from the U.S. Department of Education, to help faculty who prepare students to become teachers, student teachers and K-12 supervising teachers.

The six institutions currently share a lending library of technology that includes wireless networked laptop computers, CD burners, data projectors, digital camcorders, high storage disk drives and software.

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Willamette University Announces $1.5 Million Endowed Chair

James Hanson, a professor of economics at Willamette University since 1976, has been named the Peter C. and Bonnie S. Kremer Endowed Chair in Economics.

The newest endowed chair is funded by a $1.5 million gift from Peter and Bonnie Kremer of Sun Valley, Idaho. Peter Kremer, Willamette Class of 1962, majored in economics. Bonnie Kremer, also Willamette Class of 1962, majored in English.

“These chairs are occupied by the University’s most distinguished and honored professors and they represent the outstanding faculty scholarship that makes this University the first among equals,” said M. Lee Pelton, Willamette University president.

He added, “Endowed chairs are evidence of our capacity to attract and retain gifted faculty—faculty who distinguish themselves as researchers, authors, teachers and role models. Without exception, those individuals who are selected to hold an endowed chair represent the very best that is Willamette. We are grateful to Peter and Bonnie Kremer for this outstanding contribution.”

The endowment will provide Hanson with resources to bring guest lecturers to campus, for conference travel, research assistance and other programmatic enhancements. The University now has 14 endowed chairs—nine in the College of Liberal Arts, three in the Atkinson Graduate School of Management and two in the College of law.

Hanson holds an undergraduate degree from Yale and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University. He has published broadly on the topic of international economics and has a distinguished record of University service.

He is a board member of the Oregon International Council and the Oregon Academy of Science. He also serves as the Willamette liaison to the World Affairs Council in Portland. OR.

Hanson reviews textbook manuscripts for Dryden Press; Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich; Little, Brown; Oxford University Press; Princeton University Press; Rand McNally; Scott, Foresman; and for St. Martin’s Press.

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Willamette Receives $500,000 For Arts and Technology Minor

Willamette University has received a $500,000 grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to develop an interdisciplinary minor in arts and technology focused on music and computer graphics.

“We are honored by this support from the Keck Foundation,” said Carol Long, dean of Willamette’s College of Liberal Arts. “It will enable us to develop our current digital music and computer graphics programs to involve more faculty and serve more students through introductory and advanced courses. The grant will also help us integrate technology into the liberal arts and help faculty from different disciplines collaborate as researchers, artists, scholars and teachers.”

In its current pilot stage, the minor involves two faculty and 30 students per year. Over the next three years, the program will become fully integrated and involve at least 15 faculty and more than 150 students with interest in music, computer science, the visual arts, the performing arts, media studies and creative writing.

The Keck gift will allow Willamette to purchase new computers, renovate the music lab, upgrade the current computer graphics and digital art labs and install a new recording studio. An advanced course in digital music and animation will be expanded and a creative writing/film professor and a visual artist will be added. As more faculty representing different disciplines are added, courses will be modified and new courses created. Once the interdisciplinary arts and technology minor is established, students and faculty alike will present their work at national conferences.

Willamette is recognized as a leader in the use of technology in pedagogy. In addition to the grant from the Keck foundation, the University has received funding from the Mellon Foundation, Murdock Charitable Trust and the U.S. Department of Education to support a variety of technology-based initiatives.

Established in 1954, the W.M. Keck Foundation supports programs designed to promote innovative instruction and research at leading liberal arts colleges across the nation.

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Willamette University Receives $800,000 to Ease Faculty Turnover

While baby boomer retirement is undoubtedly a national trend, Willamette University has gotten a leg up on the challenge. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded the University $800,000 to address the issue of senior faculty retirement and junior faculty recruitment and retention.

By the year 2011, 29 percent of Willamette University College of Liberal Arts faculty will be at least 65 years old and 39 percent will be at least 60. Some departments are bracing for a more than 50 percent turnover in the next few years.

“If you consider CLA faculty who will be between 60 and 65 years old in seven years,” said Tori Haring-Smith, Willamette University vice president for educational affairs, “this is a group that has devoted 1,126 years of service to the University. Their influence on the shape of this institution is unquestionable.”

With funding to help with “hiring ahead,” the University can ensure continuity of curricular planning and exceptional pedagogy that is the hallmark of Willamette University. Since 1985, the Carnegie Foundation and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education have named seven Willamette University faculty members Oregon Professor of the Year.

“Many of our new faculty come to us from large graduate programs at research-intensive universities, “ said Haring-Smith. “As a result, much of their time as junior professors is occupied with learning how to teach undergraduates. Willamette is deeply committed to teaching; success in the classroom is our primary criterion for tenure and promotion. We feel it is vital that junior faculty be closely mentored during their first six or seven years here. With the Mellon funding, we can hire ahead of these retirements and give junior faculty the time they need to get this needed mentoring.”

Senior faculty flight also has a positive side. It offers all universities an opportunity to rethink how the curriculum and institutional structure can respond to new knowledge.

Haring-Smith added, “Colleges are essentially conservative. They change slowly because curricular and institutional structures are ingrained through hiring practices. Once a professor is hired and achieves tenure, that individual, and his or her particular research interest, will shape the curriculum for a period of about 35 years. Our world is changing rapidly and faculty turnover is an opportunity to keep pace with the changes.”

Carol Long, dean of the Willamette University College of Liberal Arts and the person charged with faculty recruitment and retention, said, “The Mellon grant will allow us to discover new connections among traditional disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, experiment with new teaching methods and challenge ourselves to design new curricular structures. This initiative will give the University an opportunity to explore the nature of liberal arts education and shape this University for the 21st century.”

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Willamette University Receives Historic $11 Million Gift

Willamette University announced Saturday an $11 million gift from Tokyo International University of America (TIUA) to initiate a major transformation of the University’s undergraduate residential program. The gift will be used to convert Kaneko Hall, located on the TIUA campus adjacent to Willamette University, to Kaneko Commons.

The creation of the Kaneko Commons is the first step in the University’s plan to completely redesign the teaching-learning experience for Willamette undergraduates through the creation of a University-wide residential commons program.

“This gift is not only historic in size,” said Willamette University President M. Lee Pelton, “but it is historic in its intent which is to change forever how this University integrates the living and learning experience of our students. This gift, the largest in the 161-year history of the University, strengthens our relationship with Tokyo International University and TIUA and reflects our shared vision to transform young scholars into global citizens.”

Pelton added, “This gift will encourage others to support the long-term vision we have for Willamette. It’s a key component to the Campus Master Plan and a significant contribution to our comprehensive campaign.”

The University plans to create a total of five residential commons over the next eight to 10 years. Each commons will include a live-in faculty mentor, faculty associates and student preceptors who will oversee academic programs, advising, community service and student activities.

Kaneko Commons will become the first of these distinctive facilities and will house the entire first-year class, folding together some of the best attributes of Willamette’s first-year academic programs with residential programs.

Gunnar Gundersen, executive vice president, has been with TIUA since 1989 and explained the University’s commitment to Willamette. “Simply put, this is a long-term partnership. The intent of TIUA and TIU is an indefinite relationship with Willamette University. The deep commitment, mutual trust and confidence these institutions find in each other are unique in international education relationships.”

He also believes the creation of Kaneko Commons will enhance the reputation of TIU at home. “This strengthened partnership with Willamette will reflect positively on TIU in Japan and will enhance its reputation as an international university. We know many Japanese high school students wish to attend TIUA. High school students all over Japan know about Willamette.”

For Robert Hawkinson, Willamette dean of campus life, the creation of the Kaneko Commons is the first step in the University’s plan to completely redesign the teaching- learning experience. He has been on the campus for 20 years and is a strong advocate of the residential commons concept.

“The experience of a Willamette University liberal arts education should hold up throughout the life of the individual,” he said. “Our students are members of a community of learners. When you combine caring and accomplished faculty with curious, intellectually gifted students and provide a residential system that allows those elements to flow together seamlessly, you have created an environment that is nothing less than extraordinary.”

Under the old system of residence halls and Greek houses, students connected with their studies in class, and if they were disciplined, during quiet hours in the library. The residential commons concept puts students in a learning environment 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A live-in faculty mentor coordinates diverse academic programs and advising; live-in preceptors, Willamette juniors and seniors, coordinate community service opportunities and assist students with planning and coordinating a broad array of co-curricular activities.

As one student put it, “In the residential commons, the intellectual faucet stays open. If you want to continue the discussion you started in class at 3 o’clock, there will always be people around who’ll be up for arguing and rehashing the fine points well into the night. And that’s how we learn—about the topic, about each other.”

Residential commons are beginning to emerge around the country, but the Willamette system, according to Hawkinson, is distinctive. “We are combining an all-freshmen residential program and a system of sophomore through senior residential commons with a vibrant Greek system. No other campus in the country combines these three elements and each one serves us in a different way.”

He added, “The first-year commons will provide a richer experience of intellectual engagement. The commons for sophomore through senior students will provide for community, increased self-governance, an opportunity to work collaboratively on a variety of projects and engage in deliberate community service. The Greek system will connect us to the University’s past and focuses on leadership and philanthropic development. Some 28 percent of Willamette University students select a Greek society.”

Jim Bauer, Willamette vice president for administrative services, said much remains to be done but he hopes to break ground on the Kaneko Commons project next summer and open the doors in the fall of 2005. The on-campus planning process begins in June and once that is complete, the University will select an architect and begin the design process.

The $11 million gift will be applied to construction costs and operational support. The plan calls for a significant upgrade of Kaneko Hall which, with the new addition, becomes Kaneko Commons. The present facility includes 200 beds and 80,000 square feet. Once completed, the Commons will include 450 beds and 160,000 square feet, additional classroom and meeting space, enlarged public areas and recreational amenities.

The pedestrian sky bridge that vaults 12th Street in Salem, OR, and connects TIUA to the Willamette campus, is a suitable metaphor for the relationship between the institutions that began in 1965.

When Dr. Taizo Kaneko founded TIU 38 years ago, he wrote to more than 200 colleges and universities in the United States hoping to find a sister university interested in international education. When Willamette University responded, the bond was forged.

Years later, when Willamette President Jerry Hudson visited Japan in 1987 to attend the funeral of Dr. Kaneko, he offered a proposal to his son, Dr. Yasuo Kaneko, now chancellor of TIU. The proposal was to develop a site next to Willamette University and build a residence hall for TIU students interested in long-term study abroad programs. Kaneko Hall opened in the fall of 1989 with 60 TIU students. Since then, the average class size has been about 120 students who study at Willamette from February to December each year.

TIUA students arrive as sophomores and are housed in 13 residence halls all over campus. They are fully integrated into the residence life programs and student activities on the campus. Of the 108 Japanese students now on campus, 90 were paired with Willamette students who requested international or TIUA roommates. Total immersion and full integration are trusted components of a successful international education program. As sophomores, TIUA students will participate in the residential commons program.

The $11 million gift closed out the fundraising year for Willamette University which, despite the downturn in the economy, raised a record $21 million in 2002-03.

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Willamette Receives Mellon Grant

Willamette University, Occidental College and Fisk University will share a three-year, $479,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to establish an innovative study abroad program in Oaxaca, Mexico, on the campus of Benito Juarez University.

"Students who study abroad typically do so in isolation," said Tori Haring-Smith, dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Willamette University. "This grant will allow students to integrate courses on their home campuses with home stays and service learning based in Oaxaca. The consortium approach also recognizes the strength of each campus. Willamette, for example, has extensive experience in Latin America and about 50 percent of our students study abroad before graduation. Occidental has 30 percent of students traveling abroad but is experienced in service learning. Fisk brings the diversity component to the mix and new energy that is common in institutions just beginning to explore the possibilities of study abroad."

What distinguishes this particular program is the creation of a unified curriculum based on the themes of race, resources, community and culture, taught collaboratively by faculty members at each domestic campus and by the study abroad group director located at Benito Juarez University. Service learning and community-based education are important elements in the curriculum, as is collaborative research projects that involve more than one site.

According to Haring-Smith, more than 70 percent of all students studying abroad do so in Western Europe. "We are not saying we need to downplay the importance of Europe. We are saying there is significant value in studying Latin America and Mexico in particular because of its historical, cultural and economic ties to the United States."

The study abroad consortium has financial implications for all participants. Approximately 80 percent of students attending Willamette and Occidental receive significant financial aid packages. Students may use this aid when they participate in programs approved by study abroad offices of the respective institutions. "This is an expensive proposition," said Haring-Smith. "It means that almost $1 million a year in financial aid leaves the Willamette and Occidental campuses to pay for those students in overseas programs. One way to offset this loss is to establish our own study abroad sites and share the administrative costs with consortium partners.

"We have great faith in this model," Haring-Smith said. "So much so that based on what we learn in Oaxaca, we plan to develop a second center in Africa. We think this design will become a national model for study abroad in the next decade."

For hundreds of Willamette alumni who participated in study abroad opportunities, the recognition from Mellon for the quality of the international program is especially meaningful because of the recent loss of a colleague. "International Education at Willamette University is one of the jewels in the crown," said University President Lee Pelton. "We would be remiss if in acknowledging this gift from the Mellon Foundation we did not recognize the contributions of the late Kelly Ainsworth. As the former director of this program, Kelly devoted much of his professional life to his passion for international studies and our program flourished under his tender care."

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Grant Marked for Hatfield Archives

Willamette University received a $500,000 grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust to help build the endowment for the Mark O. Hatfield Library Archives. This gift brings Willamette halfway to its endowment goal of $2 million. Annual earnings from the fund will be used to support a full-time archivist, a half-time staff position, material costs and archives-sponsored programs.

"The Meyer gift takes us a big step closer to half of our goal," said Pat Alley, director of Foundation Relations and Government Grants. "The University has wanted someone for a long time who could organize the Mark O. Hatfield Library Archives for faculty, students and the public."

One of the major goals of the archivist is to make the historical documents more readily accessible to a large public audience through programmatic uses, exchanges with other libraries and digitization of materials to appear on an archival Web site. "When fully established, the Mark O. Hatfield Library Archives will be an educational resource that holds the promise of becoming an invaluable research center for students and faculty, civic leaders, visiting scholars and the general public," said President M. Lee Pelton.

Willamette alumnus Senator Mark O. Hatfield, Class of 1943, placed his archives at Willamette University in 1986, the year the Mark O. Hatfield Library opened. His archives include memorabilia from his career - such as plaques, medallions, honorary degrees and keys to cities - as well as papers from his career as a faculty member at Willamette through his serving as Oregon governor and U.S. senator. The papers include speeches, files on legislative issues and campaign materials.

"It's an enormously important collection for the University, the region and the nation," said University Librarian Larry Oberg. "I don't think we can overestimate the importance of the Meyer gift."

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Willamette University has received a $2 million grant from the Lilly Endowment

Willamette University has received a $2 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to create a series of programs, projects and opportunities for students interested in pursuing a theological/pastoral vocation. This is the third-largest foundation grant in the University's history.

To address the decline in the number of priests, ministers and rabbis nationwide, the grant will assist undergraduates who have an inclination to pursue a master’s degree in theology once they obtain their undergraduate degree from Willamette.

The primary goals of the five-year " Lilly Project at Willamette University" are to deepen students' understanding of "vocation" in both theological and secular terms; to awaken their interest in vocational leadership in both the religious and secular life; and to provide students with the means of testing this understanding in intellectual, artistic, and practical ways.

Once the students identify their own interest in a vocation, the program will provide several layers of support that include faculty advising workshops; an annual sophomore retreat; campus and community opportunities for volunteer service; summer research grants; internships at churches, synagogues, and other non-profit agencies; a seminary exchange program in the junior or senior year; and support for travel to seminaries for those students who wish to pursue further education and training following their graduation from Willamette.

Faculty at Willamette will have several new opportunities intended to deepen awareness of vocation and its implications for students. They include special training in advising through workshops that address vocational direction and leadership; release time for individual research or creative projects connected to vocation; summer stipend support for course development related to questions of vocation (i.e., historical, philosophical, literary, etc.); cross-disciplinary simulation from visiting scholars and scholars-in-residence; and opportunities to create artistic events which articulate, dramatize, or embody ways to understand vocation.

The grant will also benefit the general public through lectures, conferences, art exhibitions, and music, dance, and theatre productions focused on themes of religion and spirituality in the arts. These events will be free and open to the public.

Other schools in the Pacific Northwest that have received generous grants from the Lilly Endowment in this round of the competition include Whitworth College (Spokane, Washington) and Seattle Pacific University (Seattle, Washington). In all, 28 institutions received grants ranging from $1,425,486 to $2 million. Some familiar names include Duke University, Grinnell College, Howard University, Indiana Wesleyan University, Marquette University, Pepperdine University, University of the South, and Wake Forest University. Willamette University is proud to be part of this prestigious group.

Thanks go to all the members of the planning committee, including Charlie Wallace and Patricia Alley, who took the lead in writing the grant; Lane McGaughy, Joe Bowersox, and David Kenagy, among the faculty; Virginia Furtwangler and Cesie Delve Scheuermann, consultants; Deborah Loers, Nancy Norton, and Mari Morando, among the Campus Life administrative staff; CLA students Katie Christensen, Tyler Kelly, and Courtney McHill; alumni Dale Harris and Brett Strobel.

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Willamette Receives a $275,000 grant for Asian Studies

Willamette University has received approximately $275,000 in a four-year grant from the Henry Luce Foundation's Luce Fund for Asian Studies to hire a full-time faculty member in Chinese language and cultural studies and to develop the department of Asian Studies. Willamette will continue funding the position after the grant expires.

Willamette University President M. Lee Pelton said, "We could not be more pleased about this grant, or about the potential it represents to bring together many faculty and students in the diverse fields that comprise Asian studies. Willamette is one of 10 liberal arts colleges in the country selected for this grant in 2001. The Asian studies committee plans to have the faculty position filled for fall 2002."

Funding will also support possible program elements such as guest speakers, film series or art displays.

The Henry Luce Foundation was established in 1936 by the late Henry R. Luce, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Time Inc. With assets of about $850 million, the foundation supports programs that focus on American art, east Asia, higher education, theology, public affairs, public policy and the environment, and women in science and engineering.

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Willamette Receives $2.65 Million to Build Student Recreation Center

Willamette University received two gifts, $2 million and $650,000, to construct a 16,500 square foot student recreation center and the surrounding landscape. Construction began July 31, 2000, and is expected to be completed by fall semester 2001.

The $2 million gift was given by Tom Montag of Tokyo, Japan, to honor his parents, Dan and Jean Montag, 1952 graduates of Willamette. This new student recreation center will be named the Dan and Jean Montag Recreation Center. The $650,000 gift came from the Collins Foundation of Portland.

The Dan and Jean Montag Recreation Center, located in the northeast corner of campus, will provide students a social and cultural outlet in a portion of campus that houses 40 percent of Willamette's students. The Montag Center will be a hub of student activity and will include: pool tables, video games, laundry facilities, late-night deli/cafe, movie rentals, student meeting rooms, volleyball courts, barbecue pits and a ballroom.

"These two generous gifts will have an immediate and lasting impact on the social and academic atmosphere of our campus," said President M. Lee Pelton. "The Dan and Jean Montag Recreation Center realizes one of our highest priorities. It creates a space for students' recreation, relaxation, socializing and entertainment."

Willamette recently identified campus life as one of its five institutional priorities. This gift is an important step in the process of fulfilling Willamette University's long-range plan, which also includes strengthening academic excellence, diversity and technology.

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Willamette to Recognize 90 Donors at Gala Event

Willamette University will host its first gala event to recognize donors. The event will take place Saturday, Oct. 21, at 6 p.m. in the Portland Hilton. Dinner and dancing will follow an awards program.

The 90 donors who have given over $100,000 in a lifetime will be honored at this event. Other donors invited to the gala include those who have given over $1,000 during the last fiscal year or those who have given over $10,000 in a lifetime.

For more information about this event, please contact Marnie Noble at 503-370-6726.

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