EUGENE–The University of Oregon Alumni Association Board of Directors approved $250,000 to establish a UO Presidential Scholarship endowment. The gift makes the Alumni Association’s presidential scholarship endowment one of the largest at the University of Oregon.

"Presidential scholarships are good for students, good for the university and good for the state," says UO President Dave Frohnmayer. "We greatly appreciate the Alumni Association’s generosity."

The UOAA endowment will award its first two scholarships for the academic year that begins in fall 2001. More scholarships will be funded as the endowment grows.

Presidential scholarships are awarded annually to the state’s brightest high school students. More than 1,000 Oregon high school seniors apply for the scholarships and 50 are selected. The award covers university tuition and fees plus a $450 book stipend, renewable for up to four years of study. For 1999—2000, each presidential scholarship was worth $4,215.

"This endowment allows the Alumni Association to help the university keep Oregon’s best and brightest students where they belong–in Oregon," says John Halgren, M.Ed. ’68, president of the UOAA Board of Directors. "As alumni, we’re proud to be able to offer a University of Oregon education to Oregonians."

The decision to establish a presidential scholarship endowment is a result of the Alumni Association’s recently completed strategic plan, which charged the association with increasing its scholarship giving. The Alumni Association also awards scholarships through its 11 domestic alumni chapters. In 2000—2001, chapters will award $41,000 to incoming UO freshmen.

"We’re doing our best to help entice the best students to attend the University of Oregon," says Dan Rodriguez, executive director of the UO Alumni Association. "As our presidential scholarship endowment grows, and as our chapters raise more money for scholarships, we’ll be able to offer more students what our alumni cherish–a University of Oregon education."

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