A bold sign labels the door to the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Big changes are happening within the College of Arts and Sciences. (Marissa Willke/Emerald)
On May 13, the University of Oregon announced that the College of Arts and Sciences received a commitment of $25 million from Portland real estate developer, philanthropist and UO alumnus Jordan Schnitzer and the Harold and Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation.
UO President John Karl Scholz sent out an email regarding the gift addressed to the UO community.
“This gift will accelerate UO’s impact on the world while centering student success and a flourishing community,” the email read.
The email also announced that the School of Global Studies and Languages will also be renamed to the Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages in recognition of Schnitzer’s contribution.
“The Schnitzer School will be home to the Center for Global Futures, bringing together interdisciplinary scholars and practitioners to address the complex global challenges of today and tomorrow,” the email said.
According to a press release regarding the gift, a total of $15 million will be given through 10 annual payments of $1.5 million. The first installment was received in spring 2025. An additional $10 million is committed as a “legacy gift” through Schnitzer’s estate.
The press release also said the commitment will be used to fund lectures, an annual academic conference, scholarship prizes, attracting new faculty and creating a new international relations major.
Schnitzer said that after discussing the School of Global Studies with Scholz, he met with Executive Director of the School of Global Studies and Languages Aneesh Aneesh and was impressed with his insights.
“That led to drafting and negotiation, which took some time, and back-and-forth and back-and- forth. We created this program, while the commitment is $25 million, it’s $1.5 million a year for 10 years, and we requested $10 million, in theory, for when I pass away,” Schnitzer said. “I would hope that we pay that off a lot sooner. (I hope) I live a long time.”
Schnitzer said he feels good about the renaming of the school because it will honor his late parents, and that he hopes the school will prepare younger generations for the future.
“(What) I’ll feel good about, and on behalf of my late parents, is that this school will go on, I would hope in perpetuity. Its classes will evolve and change upon the current times, but hopefully attract and excite younger people to realize that they need to be prepared to deal with not only domestic issues but their national issues and have a broader perspective than just our cities, our state (and) our country,” Schnitzer said.
Schnitzer also said he hopes the school will prepare students for the changing world.
“As they say, the world is getting to be a smaller and smaller place, both physically by air travel, but also by the Internet, media (and) communications. And people need to beware now that what happens in China or Russia, England, or in Pakistan or Canada or Mexico affects our democracy and our way of life,” Schnitzer said.
Vice Provost of Global Engagement Dennis Galvan said in an email statement to The Daily Emerald that the gift will allow UO students to become “global citizens.”
“The Schnitzer family’s extraordinary generosity implies the University of Oregon’s global engagement,” Galvan said. “This gift will empower generations of students in the School of Global Studies and Languages to become global citizens.”
Galvan also said the gift would help students in their careers by providing them with more opportunities.
“With multilingualism and cross-cultural experiences from Friendly Hall to experimental studying and interning abroad, they’ll be prepared to tackle global challenges and forge impactful careers,” Galvan said.
