University of Oregon

The University of Oregon (also referred to as UO or Oregon) is a coeducational public flagship research university in Eugene, Oregon. UO was founded in 1876, making it one of the oldest universities on the West Coast. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Oregon as a research university with high research activity university. UO was admitted to the Association of American Universities in 1969.

Since July 2014, UO has been governed by an institutional board. The current UO student body is composed of students from all 50 of the United States, the District of Columbia, two U.S. territories, and 89 countries around the world. As of 2013, there are more than 195,000 University of Oregon alumni. According to the 2010 NRC rankings, doctoral programs in Biology, Geography, Physics, and Psychology all rank very highly when compared to fellow AAU institutions. Psychology is the most popular undergraduate degree program at UO; it is closely followed by Human Physiology, Business, Biology, and Economics. UO does not operate separate medical, agricultural or engineering programs.

As of November 2014, University of Oregon faculty and alumni include two Nobel Prize recipients, 13 Pulitzer Prize winners, 19 Rhodes scholars, four Marshall scholars, 58 Guggenheim Fellows, and 129 Fulbright scholars.

History

The early years

The Oregon State Legislature established the university on October 12, 1872, despite the new state's funding woes. The residents of Eugene struggled to help finance the institution, holding numerous fundraising events such as strawberry festivals, church socials, and produce sales. In total they raised $27,500, enough to buy eighteen acres of land at a cost of $2500. The doors officially opened in 1876, with Deady Hall its sole building. The first year of enrollment contained 155 students taught by five faculty members. The first graduating class was in 1878, graduating five students. In 1881, the university was nearly closed, it was $8,000 in debt before Henry Villard donated $7,000 toward to help pay for the debt. In 1913, and again in 1932, there were proposals to merge the university with what is now referred to as Oregon State University. Evidently, both proposals were defeated.

Maturity as a university

During Prince Lucien Campbell's tenure as president from 1902 to 1925, the university experienced tremendous growth compared to its early years. The budget, enrollment, facilities, and faculty members all grew several times its amount prior to his presidency. Numerous schools were also established during his tenure, including the School of Music in 1902, the School of Education in 1910, the School of Architecture, the College of Business in 1914, the School of Law in 1915, the School of Journalism in 1916, and the School of Health and Physical Education in 1920.

However, the University of Oregon lost its School of Engineering to Oregon Agricultural College, now known as Oregon State University.

The Zorn-MacPherson Bill in 1932 proposed that the University of Oregon and Oregon State College (now "University"), to be merged into one university. The bill lost in a landslide vote of over 6 to 1. The University of Oregon Medical School was originally founded in 1887 in Portland and later merged with Willamette University's program in 1913. However, in 1974 it officially became an independent institution known as Oregon Health Sciences University. In 1969, the UO was admitted into the Association of American Universities.

With financial support from the state dwindling from 40% to 13% of the university budget, in January 2001, University President Dave Frohnmayer began Campaign Oregon with the goal of raising $600 million by December 2008, the greatest philanthropic fundraising campaign in the history of the state of Oregon. With total contributions exceeding $100 million from benefactors such as Phil Knight and Lorry I. Lokey, the campaign goal was exceeded by over $253 million.

Push for independence and growth

The University occupies over 80 buildings. However, there are also many ongoing construction projects, which are expected to help accommodate an increase in total undergraduate enrollment.

On August 1, 2012, former provost and executive vice-chancellor of UC Irvine, Michael R. Gottfredson took over as president of the University of Oregon. He was the sole finalist for the position. Gottfredson succeeded interim president Robert Berdahl, who assumed his responsibilities after the ouster of former president Richard Lariviere. On August 6, 2014, Gottfredson resigned as president.

In reaction to a growing movement to establish an independent university board, the Oregon Legislature in 2013 passed SB 270, requiring local governing boards for the state's three largest institutions. This means that effective July 1, 2014, the University of Oregon will be an independent public body governed by the Board of Trustees of the University of Oregon. Proponents of local governing boards believe an independent board will give the university more autonomy, and free it from relying on inadequate state funding.

In the summer of 2014, former UO president Robert Berdahl told the president of the university's board of trustees that he believes that UO risks losing its membership in the Association of American Universities. To remedy this growing concern, UO began preparing several new initiatives such as a new cluster-hire and capital campaign.

Institution

Colleges and schools

The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and collegesâ€"six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College. As of Fall 2014, UO offers 272 degree programs.

School of Architecture and Allied Arts

The School of Architecture and Allied Arts (called "triple-A" or "AAA") was founded by Ellis F. Lawrence in 1914. The school offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture, art, including digital arts, arts and administration, art history, interior architecture, landscape architecture, and planning, public policy and management, and product design, a graduate degree in historic preservation. The school also offers an architectural program, digital arts program, and product design program in Portland, Oregon.

The school offers the only accredited degree in architecture, landscape architecture, and interior architecture in Oregon. The National Architectural Accrediting Board accredits both the undergraduate bachelor of architecture five-year degree and the master of architecture. Other nationally accredited degrees include the planning and public administration, landscape architecture, and interior architecture programs. The undergraduate architecture program is consistently ranked among the highest in the country, and is currently ranked as the #1 public program for "Sustainable Design Practice and Principles" by DesignIntelligence magazine.

College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) covers a large array of departments in the arts and sciences. The creative writing graduate program is nationally recognized as being among the best in the nationâ€"fewer than two percent are admitted out of 700+ applicants each year.

Charles H. Lundquist College of Business

The Charles H. Lundquist College of Business was founded in 1884 and offers courses in fields such as accounting, decision sciences, entrepreneurship, finance, management, and marketing. It is also home to the University of Oregon Investment Group and the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, one of the first programs to offer an M.B.A. in sports business and is noted as having the best sports business and marketing programs in the nation. Each year, the college's Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship presents the New Venture Championship, an investment competition for graduate students that draws competitors from all over the world. The college is housed in the Lillis Business Complex. The college's current dean is Cornelis A. "Kees" de Kluyver, who is himself an alumnus, having earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master of business administration degree from the University of Oregon. Dean de Kluyver assumed his duties on September 1, 2010, taking over from Dennis Howard, who completed a two-year appointment. The college also offers the Oregon Executive MBA, a twenty-month program for working professionals housed in the 200 Market building in downtown Portland. Founded in 1986, the program originally offered through a consortium of The University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business, Oregon State University (OSU), and Portland State University (PSU). In 2011, OSU and PSU withdrew from the program and the Lundquist College is now its sole administrator.

College of Education

The College of Education was established in 1896 as a branch of the Department of Philosophy and later merged with the Department of Science and Arts in 1900. It wasn't until 1910 that the School of Education was established as an independent college. In 1908, this college was accredited by the Northwest Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. According to the U.S. News & World Report 2009 edition of "America’s Best Graduate Schools," the College of Education ranked 4th overall and 1st among public universities. For the 4th consecutive year, the UO special education program ranked third in the nation.

Robert D. Clark Honors College

The Clark Honors College is a small college intended to complement the existing majors already in place at the university by joining select students and faculty for a low student to teacher ratio (25:1 maximum). For the Fall 2011 term, 1,570 students applied and 205 students entered. The mean grade point average [GPA] of admitted students was 3.93, and the mean Scholastic Aptitude Test [SAT, Reading + Math only] score was 1360 (97th/98th percentile).

School of Journalism and Communication

The School of Journalism and Communication is one of the oldest journalism schools in the United States. It began as a department in 1912, and became a professional school 1916. It has the accreditation of the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. It currently runs Flux magazine, a student-produced publication. Eight of the nine Pulitzer Prize winners from the University of Oregon graduated from the School of Journalism and Communication. It also awards the annual Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism. Allen Hall, the re-modeled home of the SOJC, was officially re-opened on March 3, 2013.

Oregon Documentary Project

Within the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, The Oregon Documentary Project produces student films through the Electronic Media department. Since 1996, Associate professor Dr. Daniel Miller has overseen the production of more than 70 student documentaries, many of which have won Northwest Emmy Awards. The films come out of a ten week Advanced Documentary Production class and tell stories of life, culture and history in the state of Oregon.

School of Law

The School of Law was formed in 1884 in Portland and relocated to Eugene in early 1915. It was admitted into the Association of American Law Schools in 1919 and received accreditation from the American Bar Association in 1923.

School of Music and Dance

The School of Music and Dance was initially just the Department of Music in 1886, and developed into the School of Music in 1900. It was admitted to the National Association of Schools of Music in 1928. The school offers over 20 ensembles in vocal and instrumental music, giving approximately 200 public performances a year. Renamed in 2006, the MarAbel B. Frohnmayer Music Building is the physical home of the school, named after former University of Oregon President Frohnmayer's mother, a 1932 alumna of the School. Beall Concert Hall, the primary performance hall within the school, was designed by Ellis F. Lawrence. UO is a member of the National Association of Schools of Music.

Oregon Bach Festival

The UO is the home of the Oregon Bach Festival, a donor-supported program of the University and the only major music festival affiliated with an American university. Founded in 1970 by German conductor Helmuth Rilling and UO professor (and past president of the American Choral Directors Association) Royce Saltzman, the festival has grown into an international program that draws hundreds of musicians and over 40,000 attendees annually. The festival's focus is choral and orchestral music, and it hosts a professional choir and orchestra each year to perform major works by Bach and other composers; it also sponsors a master class in conducting that draws participants from around the world.

The festival has presented such artists as Frederica von Stade, Bobby McFerrin, Garrison Keillor, and Thomas Quasthoff, who made his American debut in Eugene in 1995. The festival actively commissions and premieres new choral-orchestra works, including pieces by Arvo Pärt, Osvaldo Golijov, and Tan Dun. A Bach Festival recording of the world-premiere performance of Krzyztof Penderecki's Credo won the 2001 Grammy Award for best choral performance.

Research

UO has a comparatively small research spending totals for an AAU level university. In FY 14, UO received "$110.3 million in grants, contracts and other competitive awards." This comparatively low number can be attributed to a number of factors. First and foremost, UO lacks engineering, medical, and agricultural schools. These schools traditionally receive large grants. Furthermore, much of UO's research is basic research rather than applied research. Lastly, due to dwindling state appropriations, the university is at a disadvantage when it comes to the recruitment and retainment of top-flight research faculty.

Currently the Provost's Office is looking into ways of strengthening UO's AAU and national position. UO is looking into a new hiring initiative that will focus resources into 10 areas of study, ranging from materials sciences to neuroscience. The hope is that this new initiative will make UO a leader in these areas.

Administration and governance

University governance

The internal governance of the university is conducted in accordance with The Constitution of the University of Oregon. The UO Constitution provides a collaborative process that ensures a strong voice for the faculty, acting through the University Senate. The representation of students, civil servants, and administrative employees in the senate ensures that this predominantly faculty body operates in the best interests of the entire university community.

The office of the president is currently vacant, with former provost Scott Coltrane serving as interim president, following the August 6, 2014, resignation of Michael Gottfredson. This resignation occurred with less than 24 hours notice amidst a number of controversies, including allegations of mishandling of sexual violence, a decline of $100 million in university donations, and the alienation of faculty members around unionization and academic freedom. Including one interim president, Gottfredson was the university's fourth president in six years, a situation that has led Chronicle of Higher Education to label the position a "revolving door."

Board of Trustees

UO Board of Trustees assumed control in 2014. The Trustees have the broad authority to supervise and manage the University and may exercise all of the powers, rights, duties and privileges expressly granted by law or that are implied by law or are incident to the Board's powers, rights, duties and privileges. Notable members include Ann Curry '78 and Rudy Chapa '81.

Financials

UO's FY14 operating revenue total $905 million. Despite a large increase in undergraduate enrollment, state appropriations total less than what they were 10 years prior. The university also receives less state support than many of its peers. According to FY13-14 data from the AAU, UO ranks dead last in total state funding and receives approximately $47.8 million from the state. Additionally, UO ranks second last in funding per in-state FTE student, receiving $4,009 per in-state FTE annually. In contrast, UO's designated-peer, Indiana University Bloomington, which also happens to lack medical, engineering and agricultural programs, received $202 million in FY13-14. At $8,779 per head, IU-Bloomington receives more than twice as much funding per in-state FTE.

Campus

The campus is spread over 295 acres (119 ha) and holds sixty major buildings, as well as providing a home for more than 500 varieties of trees. Eugene is located near many prominent geographic features such as the Willamette River, Cascade Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Also within a two-hour drive is the Portland metropolitan area.

Based on Ellis F. Lawrence's vision, many of the university's buildings are planned around several major quadrangles, many of which abut the 13th Avenue pedestrian mall. The university is known for being the site of a pioneering participatory planning experiment known as the Oregon Experiment, which is also the subject of a book of the same name that evolved into the well known book A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander. The two major principles of the project are that buildings should be designed, in part, by the people who will ultimately use them with the help of an "architect facilitator", and that construction should occur over many small projects as opposed to a few large ones.

Although academic buildings are spread throughout the campus, the majority are located along East 13th Avenue, with heavy pedestrian traffic at the intersection with Kincaid Street. Student recreation and union centers are located toward the center of the campus, with residence halls on the east side of campus. Sports facilities are grouped in the southern-central part of campus with the Autzen Stadium and PK Park complexes across the Willamette River. The university also owns and operates several satellite facilities, including a large facility in the White Stag Block of downtown Portland.

Old campus and memorial quad

The oldest section of campus is located in the northwest area of the current campus. The university’s first building, Deady Hall, opened on October 16, 1876, when the University had an enrollment of 177 students. It was originally known as “the building” before being named after Judge Matthew Deady in 1893. The second building on campus is known as Villard Hall and is home to the Theater Arts and Comparative Literature Departments. Completed in 1886, the hall was named after railroad magnate Henry Villard, who provided financial aid to the university in 1881. Before its naming, it was known as “the new building.” Both Deady and Villard Halls were designated National Historic Landmarks in 1977.

Just south of Old Campus is the Memorial Quad, which runs north and south along Kincaid Street, capped at both ends by the main campus library, Knight Library, on the south side, and the Lillis Business Complex on the north. It is flanked on the west by the tallest building on campus, Prince Lucien Campbell Hall, also known as “PLC,”, Condon Hall on the west, housing the Geography department, and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the east, which was remodeled and reopened on January 23, 2005. Also adjacent to Memorial Quad is Chapman Hall, which houses the Robert D. Clark Honors College.

Central campus

The center of campus houses a mixture of academic buildings, an administration building, and student recreation buildings. Just to the east of Memorial Quad, facing 13th Avenue is Johnson Hall where offices for higher administration and trustee offices are found, including the offices of the University President. Directly across 13th Avenue, facing Johnson Hall is "The Pioneer" a statue of a bearded, buckskin-clad pioneer cast in bronze by sculptor Alexander Phimister Proctor in 1919. In 1932, Proctor's "Pioneer Mother" statue was dedicated in the Women's Memorial Quadrangle on the other side of Johnson Hall; the two statues are aligned so that they can "see" one another through the large windows of the hall's main floor.

Lawrence Hall is located at the end of hardscape walkway, directly north of the intersection of 13th Avenue and University Street. It houses the School of Architecture and Allied Arts and is named after its first Dean, Ellis F. Lawrence in 1957. Allen Hall, opened in 1954, is located adjacent to Lawrence Hall and houses the School of Journalism and Communication.

Additionally, Erb Memorial Union and the recreation center are situated in this part of campus.

Lorry I. Lokey Science Complex and east campus

The Lorry I. Lokey Science Complex comprises multiple science buildings to the east of Lawrence Hall, on the north side of 13th Avenue. Willamette Hall's Paul Olum Atrium is the center of the university's hard sciences complex. The construction of the $45.6 million additions of Willamette Hall, home of the physics department; Cascade, home of the geology department; Deschutes Hall, home of the computer science department; and Streisinger Halls to the complex was completed in 1989.

Within the Lokey Science Complex are two facilities focused on integrative science. One is the Lokey Laboratories, which is a shared-use facility with state-of-the-art characterization instrumentation. Lokey Laboratories is associated with the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI) and was dedicated to Lorry I. Lokey on February 19, 2008 for his $25 million donation toward the project. It is located underground, beneath the quad between Heustis and Deschutes Halls, to minimize vibrations. The newest building, the Lewis Integrative Science Building, sits at the north end of this quad and opened in the fall of 2012. Immediately to the east of the Lokey Science Complex is Oregon Hall, which houses administrative offices including the Office of the Registrar and Office of Admissions.

The Science Library is also situated within the Lokey Science Complex. In 2015 it will undergo a significant renovation and expansion. The new building set to reopen in 2016 will be named the Allan Price Science Commons and Research Library.

The northeast corner of campus is home to the Ford Alumni Center and Matthew Knight Arena. The majority of the rest of the eastern part of campus is dedicated to residence halls. Carson Hall, located near the Erb Memorial Union, provides dining services along with dormitories. Just south is the Living-Learning Center, opened in 2006. It is a collection of functions including dormitories, classrooms, study areas, dining rooms, and recreational rooms to provide a single location for many student activities. The newest residence hall, the Global Scholars Hall, opened in the fall of 2012. It primarily houses returning students and students enrolled in the Robert D. Clark Honors College, College Scholars, and the global scholars language programs.

South campus

The center of south campus is where much of the on-campus athletic facilities reside. Hayward Field, home to the Ducks track and field program, sits in the eastern area of the athletic facilities. It has hosted a number of prominent track and field events such as the US Track and Field Olympic Trials, the NCAA Track and Field Championships, and USATF Championships.

To the west of the athletic facilities lies Pioneer Cemetery and further west is where the current facilities for the College of Education exists, in the southwest corner of campus. The HEDCO Education building and the Frohnmayer Music Center are in the vicinity. The Knight Law Center is located just opposite of Hayward Field in the southeast corner of campus. The Many Nations Longhouse and the Museum of Natural and Cultural History are East of Knight Law.

Other areas and satellites

The controversial Riverfront Research Park is a small facility maintained by the university, located across Franklin Boulevard from the main campus, next to the Willamette River. The park is used for creating new technologies, such as research about artificial intelligence at the Computational Intelligence Research Lab, and it is the home of the Zebrafish Information Network (ZFIN), the zebrafish model organism database. Local controversy has existed since before the development and approval of the site master plan by the City of Eugene in 1989. Controversy stems from the lack of citizen involvement in the planning process for the use of public lands, and the potential for multi-story office buildings and parking lots to replace open space, civic space, and wildlife habitat along the Willamette River. The University and Student Senates have each passed resolutions against construction on the banks of the Willamette River under the current development plan, yet plans for development persist. In March 2010, the issue of a conditional use permit extension for the Research Park was appealed to the Land Use Board of Appeals by a group of citizens, students, and faculty.

The complex for the Ducks football and baseball team is located north across the Willamette River. It includes the football stadium (Autzen Stadium),the baseball park (PK Park), an indoor practice football field (Moshofsky Center), a soccer field (Pape Field), an outdoor practice field (Kilkenny Field), and the Casanova Center which includes offices, the athletics Hall of Fame, locker rooms, weight rooms, a film review theater, and a treatment center.

The university also leases space in Old Town Portland in the White Stag Block. UO-Portland provides an urban study environment for the School of Architecture and Allied Arts, the School of Journalism and Communication, the School of Law, and the Lundquist College of Business. Additionally, the Division of Continuing Education, the Labor Education Resource Center, and the Department of Athletics have active offices there. The Duck Store has an outlet in the building.

Sustainability

The University of Oregon received a grade of "B+" from the Sustainable Endowments Institute on its College Sustainability Report Card 2011.

The undergraduate architecture program is consistently ranked among the highest in the country, and is currently ranked as the #1 public program for "Sustainable Design Practice and Principles" by DesignIntelligence magazine.

There has also been a push for sustainable buildings on campus with a development plan that requires any new building or renovation to incorporate sustainable design. The Lillis Business Complex was the catalyst for the policy. The building, completed in 2003 has earned a LEED Silver rating, the highest rating of any college business building in the United States.

The Green Product Design Network (GPDN) was created by a group of leaders from the UO with expertise in green chemistry, product design, business, communications, and journalism.

Libraries and museums

The multi-branch University of Oregon Libraries serves the campus with library collections, instruction and reference, and a wide variety of educational technology and media services. The UO is Oregon's only member of the Association of Research Libraries. The main branch, the Knight Library, houses humanities and social sciences, Learning Commons, Music Services, Government Publications, Maps and Aerial Photos, Special Collections & University Archives, Media Services, the Center for Educational Technologies, and a Cinema Studies lab to be available in Winter 2010. Other branch locations are:

• The Architecture and Allied Arts Library in Lawrence Hall
• The Global Scholars Hall Library Commons in Global Scholars Hall
• The John E. Jaqua Law Library in the Knight Law Center
• The Loyd & Dorothy Rippey Library at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology in Charleston, Oregon.
• The Mathematics Library in Fenton Hall
• The Portland Library & Learning Commons in the White Stag Block in Portland, Oregon
• The Science Library under Onyx Bridge

The UO Libraries hosts Scholars' Bank, an open access (OA) digital repository created to capture, distribute and preserve the intellectual output of the University of Oregon. Scholars' Bank uses open-source DSpace software developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Hewlett-Packard.

The Libraries' Educational Video Group maintains the UO Channel, which uses streaming media to provide access to campus lectures, interviews, performances, symposia, and documentary productions.

The UO is the founding member and host of the Orbis-Cascade Alliance, a consortium of academic and research libraries in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The combined collections of the Alliance exceed 20 million volumes and can be searched via the Summit union catalog. The Orbis Cascade Alliance serves faculty and the equivalent of more than 258,000 full-time students. In addition to its members, the Alliance extends selected services to more than 280 libraries, museums, archives, and historical societies in seven western states.

The University of Oregon is home to the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

There are multiple galleries around the main campus, including (but not limited to):

• The LaVerne Krause Gallery in Lawrence Hall
• The Adell McMillan Gallery in the Erb Memorial Union
• The Aperture Gallery in the Erb Memorial Union
• The art gallery on the second floor of the Knight Law Center
• The Washburn Gallery in the FAS Ceramics building.

Student life and culture

Representation

The Associated Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO) is the student government at the University of Oregon. It is a non-profit organization funded by the University of Oregon. Its purpose is to provide for the social, cultural, educational and physical development of its members, and for the advancement of their individual and collective interests both within and without the University. The ASUO is the student government and is run by students for students and works on campus-, city-, state-, and federal-level campaigns. Membership consists of all students at the University of Oregon, who have paid the current term or semester student incidental fee.

Additionally, the Erb Memorial Union (EMU) board of directors is responsible for making general policy decisions and long-range plans for the operation of the EMU. The board allocates the EMU's multi-million dollar budget, assigns space for student groups and advises staff in the management of the EMU. The sixteen-member board consists of twelve students (seven elected in a campus-wide election and five direct appointments from either EMU programs or the ASUO), three faculty members appointed by the University of Oregon President and one EMU staff member elected by their peers.

Every fiscal year, the EMU Board prepares a benchmark increase to the ASUO Senate for approval. After the benchmark process, the EMU presents its final budget to the senate, requesting a decrease, increase, or no change in incidental fees to be allocated to the EMU. If the budget request is approved, the budget must be signed by the ASUO President and then the UO President. Unlike the budget process, any general policy decisions by the EMU Board do not require senate oversight or approval.

Student participation in governance of the university extends to membership in the University Senate, which has five student members with full voting rights plus the ASUO President as a nonvoting member. Students are also represented on the university's Board of Trustees by a voting member appointed by the Governor of Oregon.

Facilities and housing

The Erb Memorial Union (EMU) is the student union, which provides many various student life amenities and sits on the southeast corner of 13th and University. It contains a food court, restaurants and cafes, student groups, meeting rooms and performance spaces, the campus radio station 88.1 KWVA, the Break Pool Hall, and offices for administration. South of the Erb Memorial Union across a small quad is the Student Recreational Center (SRC) which is an exercise and recreation facility. It includes fitness equipment, rock climbing walls, a swimming pool, racquetball courts, an indoor elevated running track and basketball courts. Covered tennis courts and several turf fields, and outdoor tennis courts within a running track are located near the recreation center.

There is currently a project under way to renovate and expand the EMU, as well as the SRC. This proposal includes a 1500 seat concert hall. The $161 million projects are expected to be completed by 2015. However, its current construction timeline is uncertain, as some members of the ASUO have voiced concerns about the project.

There are nine Residence Halls: Barnhart, Bean, Carson, Earl, the Global Scholars Hall, Hamilton, the Living-Learning Center, Riley, and Walton. The Global Scholars Hall was opened in the Fall of 2012. This 451-bed student housing facility is part of the university's plan to increase total undergraduate enrollment to 24,000 students in the near future.

Activities

There are more than 250 student groups at the University of Oregon.

Media

The University of Oregon has a diverse array of student-run and student-created media, including the Daily Emerald, the Oregon Commentator, and Ethos Magazine among others

The Libraries' Educational Video Group maintains the UO Channe, which uses streaming media to provide access to campus lectures, interviews, performances, symposia, and documentary productions.

The University is also home of two radio stations: KWAX (classical music) and KWVA (campus radio).

Forensics

In addition to its athletic teams, the university also has a competitive intercollegiate Speech and Debate team. The University of Oregon Forensics program was founded in 1876, at the same time as the university. Initially the program consisted of two student-formed forensic societies, which developed into "doughnut league" inter-dorm competitions in the 1890s. In 1891, the UO began intercollegiate competition. Forensics continued to grow as a staple of the university's community and by 1911, the team was so successful that it began charging admission to debates. Money raised during these events was often donated to the fledgling University of Oregon football program.

Parliamentary debate was integrated into UO Forensics in 1998â€"99 and the team has been competitive since. In 2001, the UO's Alan Tauber and Heidi Ford claimed a national title, winning the first ever National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence (NPTE). In 2011, the team of Matt Gander and Hank Fields claimed both national titles, winning the NPTE and the National Parliamentary Debate Association Championship, coached by Thomas Schally, Benjamin Dodds, Sarah Hamid, and Will Chamberlain.

Traditions

• A cappella groups perform at the venue in front of the EMU on Friday afternoons.
• "It never rains at Autzen stadium." â€" It is a tradition for the announcer to call this out sometime during each football game.
• Street Fair â€" Twice a year, a street fair lines the entire stretch of the University of Oregon campus on 13th Street. It features exceptional food and plenty of arts and crafts.
• Each year in May there is University Day, a campus-wide effort by students and faculty/staff to beautify the grounds. It's a single day filled with planting trees, flowers, cleaning up landscapes and making the campus more presentable for the upcoming graduation ceremonies. In 1905 this event replaced the rowdy, destructive and sometimes violent class-on-class Flag Rush days.
• The Canoe Fete, one of the most beloved past traditions of the University, took place on the Eugene millrace.

Athletics

The University of Oregon is a member of the Pacific-12 Conference and the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision of the NCAA. The athletic programs have garnered 28 NCAA team championships, as well as 60 NCAA individual champions in various track and field events. The two primary rivals of the Oregon Ducks football team are the Washington Huskies and the Oregon State Beavers. The football rivalry with Oregon State University, known as the "Civil War", is one of the nation's oldest. Every year, the two teams face off in the last game of the regular season. The two teams have faced each other nearly every year since 1894 with the exception of five years. Games were not held in 1900, 1901, 1911, 1943, and 1944.

The university competes in 14 sports: football, men’s and women’s basketball, cross country, track and field, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s golf, women’s soccer, women’s lacrosse, women’s volleyball, and acrobatics & tumbling. This does not include club sports which competes at the Division I level in Rugby, Soccer, Rowing, and Waterpolo. As well as women's Division I club athletics in Rowing, Rugby, and Waterpolo.

With 20 NCAA championships between them, cross country and track and field are the two programs at the university that have enjoyed the most success. The programs have produced many world-class athletes including Steve Prefontaine and Alberto Salazar. Nike had been formed by the former track and field head coach Bill Bowerman and former University of Oregon track runner Phil Knight. The successes of the programs have given the name of Track Town, USA to Eugene.

Created in 1893, the football team played its first game in 1894 and won its first Rose Bowl in 1917 against the University of Pennsylvania. The 1938â€"39 men's basketball team, nicknamed the “Tall Firs,” won the first-ever NCAA basketball tournament by defeating Ohio State in the March 28, 1939 championship game.

Originally recognized as an official sport at the university in 1908, baseball was disbanded in 1981 due to concerns with Title IX. In 2007, the athletic director Patrick Kilkenny announced plans to reinstate baseball and to drop wrestling while adding women’s acrobatics & tumbling.

Mascot

The mascot of the University of Oregon is the fighting duck. The popular Disney character Donald Duck has been the mascot for decades, thanks to a handshake agreement made between then-Athletic Director Leo Harris and Walt Disney in 1947. The mascot has been challenged more than a few times in its lifetime. The first came in 1966 when Walt Disney died and the company realized there was no formal contract written for the use of Donald’s image. A formal contract was written up in 1973. Potential heirs "Mallard Drake" and "Mandrake" challenged Donald’s position in 1978 and 2003 respectively, but both were unpopular and discontinued.

Song

The fight song is "Mighty Oregon", written by professor Albert Perfect and student John DeWitt Gilbert in 1916. It has undergone several changes since its original performance.

In fiction and popular culture

Onscreen

The film National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) was filmed on the university campus and the surrounding area. The building used as the exterior of the Delta House (which belonged to the University of Oregon Pi Kappa Alpha chapter) was demolished in 1986, but the interior scenes were shot in the Sigma Nu house, which still stands today. The Omega house belongs to the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and still stands today. The sorority house where Bluto climbs the ladder to peek in on the coeds was actually the exterior of the Sigma Nu fraternity. Other buildings that were used during filming include Johnson Hall, Gerlinger Hall, Fenton Hall, Carson Hall, and the Erb Memorial Union (EMU). The EMU dining facility known as "The Fishbowl" was the site of the famous food-fight scene. The Knight Library and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art can also be seen in the movie.

Other films shot at the university include

• Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)
• Five Easy Pieces (1970)
• Drive, He Said (1970)
• How to Beat the High Cost of Living (1980)
• Personal Best (1982)
• Stand By Me (1986) (shot primarily in nearby Brownsville, Oregon)
• Without Limits (1998)

Notable alumni, faculty, and staff