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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 11, 2001)
University continued from page 10 faculty are a diverse group in the future? AL: The most important consid eration I have around diversity is focusing on never being compla cent. The greatest anxiety I would have about feeling we do a good job is that we never thought we could divert our attention and not focus on it. When we talk about di versity, we talk about international students, students of color, stu dents with different geographic origins and students with different sexual orientations. You need to be pretty vigilant and proactive in these areas. I think we have to stay on a high level of diversity. I think our students, both incoming and returning, very much pick the Uni versity because we honor and speak about diversity. PR: The University’s leadership is completely sincere and commit ted to increasing diversity. I came from the most ethnically diverse state in the nation, California, but I find the climate at the University inclusive and tolerant. Much of each dean’s council retreats have been devoted to diversity discus sions. And [University] President [Dave] Frohnmayer has made a sig nificant commitment to the pro posed interdisciplinary center. In my opinion, our challenge is even greater for faculty than for stu dents. Q: Are you concerned with the ever-growing importance of sports in higher education, and the fund ing that reflects that? AL: I see today’s incoming stu dent as very orientated toward fit ness and participation. And a large number of our students are inter ested in playing sports on the club sports level or the intramural lev el. So often in the conversation about athletics and academics is the juxtaposition of the big sports, which would be men’s football, men’s, and to a growing amount, women’s basketball juxtaposed with academics and it’s described in terms of where the discretionary dollars are going. And many peo ple who are worried about the in terplay between athletics and aca demics are worried about the The most important consideration I have around diversity is focusing on never being complacent Anne Leavitt associate vice president, Student Affairs and dean of students tl erosion of dollars away from learn ing and to these big money sports. And that would worry me as well if it drained the dollars available for the academy. But those in the business of advancement tell me that the first dollar from a sports fan is often to athletics. But the second dollar and the third dollar is quite possible coming to our ac ademic mission. So if athletics coaxes in a donor dollar that then is distributed toward academics then there is some value even in the big money sports in terms of the contribution it is making to the University as a whole. PR: Athletics does not detract from the University’s academic mission, it adds to it. First, athletic challenges discipline many of our students and foster leadership skills. Second, many University friends and alumni know the Uni versity first through athletics, but then deepen their relationship into academic programs. However, in my opinion these benefits do not justify a perpetual subsidy, which occurs at many universities, so I am happy that the University lead ership is committed to ending the athletic financial deficit. Q: What are some of the things the University needs to do to en sure a successful future? AL: I think we need to believe in ourselves. I think we need to tell our story to incoming students and their families, to the legislature, to our graduates and to the residents of Oregon about what it is the Uni versity of Oregon is doing that changes peoples’ lives. The lives of the students who are here, the lives of the families that they come from and the communities that they are going off to live and work within are what we need to be come much more articulate, pur poseful and demonstrative about what a difference in the quality of community life and education can make. And I think we need to be extremely nimble and resourceful and strategic about our dollars be cause the state dollars are not go ing around very well for educa tion. Individuals getting ready to come to school today don’t have lifetime family savings to give to higher education. PR: The most important thing the University needs to do is to se cure a sizable continued revenue stream to backfill the huge reduc tions in state funding that have oc curred over the past dozen years. This can occur by renewing the Legislature’s commitment to high er education, which is the key pri ority for Oregon’s business com munity, or by expanding the University’s endowment very sig nificantly. 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