The University launched a drive to raise $15 million for a new alumni center Monday with the announcement of a $5 million gift from the incoming president of the University of Oregon Alumni Association.
Cheryl Ramberg Ford, University alumna and incoming president of the University of Oregon Alumni Association, and her husband, Allyn Ford, made the initial donation to the proposed center, which will be built along Franklin Boulevard on the site of the current Oregon Hall parking lot.
Ramberg Ford, a 1966 University graduate who serves as a UOAA board member, said the University is the only school within the Pacific-10 Universities without an alumni center.
“We really hope and pray with this donation that we can encourage other alumni, other friends, other businesses and corporations to join us to help build this building because we certainly need help,” she said.
“An alumni center is meant to be the place where the alumni gather, the place on campus that’s home when you come back to campus,” University President Dave Frohnmayer said at a Monday meeting where the donation announcement was made.
The center will serve as a meeting and welcoming location for University alumni, visitors and students, according to project plans. It will house an assembly hall, a ballroom, meeting and conference rooms, catering facilities and space to display and showcase University history and alumni accomplishments.
The UOAA, the University of Oregon Foundation, and the Office of Development will also have offices in the center. Campaign Oregon co-Chairman Randy Papé said Agate Hall, which currently houses the organizations’ offices, is a challenging place to hold events because of the lack of ventilation, heating systems and meeting spaces.
“In the future, we’ll have a wonderful alumni center where we can meet and gather,” Papé said. “Beyond that, we’ll have a great location.”
UOAA Executive Director Dan Rodriguez said the alumni center will benefit alumni and current and future students.
“It will be more than a building,” he said. “It will also be a dynamic place where the partnerships among the UO Foundation, Development, and the Alumni Association will be strengthened, and a place where connections will be made and relationships will be cultivated.”
Allan Price, vice president of University Advancement, said construction on the center won’t begin until enough funds have been raised, but the University will start on designs for the center.