The University announced Thursday that a California couple pledged $1 million for a scholarship fund for needy students.
Joel and Colleen McCloud, of Torrance, Calif., both University graduates, said in
a University press release that they will
donate the money because they believe
everyone deserves the opportunity to get a good education.
“We both came from working class families that had great difficulties trying to help us through school,” said Joel McCloud, who got his MBA from the University in 1967. “We were luckier than the kids today. Tuition back then cost only $300 a quarter.”
Colleen McCloud graduated with a degree in speech in 1967.
The McClouds made their donation as part of Campaign Oregon, the University’s $600 million fundraising drive, which reached the $300 million mark in January.
According to Ed Dorsch, associate director of the office of development and Campaign Oregon spokesman, the money the McClouds donated will transfer from their possession after their deaths. At that time, the UO
Foundation will set up an endowment fund with the money.
The UO Foundation, an entity that operates independently from the University, invests money in the hope that the interest can be used to pay for scholarships in perpetuity.
The scholarship will be need-based rather than merit-based, Dorsch said.
Campaign Oregon began in 2001 and is expected to continue through 2008. A total of $322 million has been raised, according to the most recent status report released at the end of March.
Joel and Colleen McCloud met at a Friday night dance at the EMU and later married in 1968, according to the press release. Joel McCloud is president of McCloud Property Acquisitions. Colleen McCloud is retired executive vice president of Foote, Cone and Belding Advertising Agency’s Los Angeles office.
— Adam Cherry