University of Oregon

The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. The university also operates the Ballmer Institute for Children's Behavioral Health in Portland, Oregon; the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology in Charleston, Oregon; and Pine Mountain Observatory in Central Oregon.

UO's 295-acre campus is situated along the Willamette River. Most academic programs follow the 10-week quarter system. The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and is a member of the Association of American Universities. Since July 2014, UO has been governed by its own board of trustees.

UO student-athletes compete as the Oregon Ducks and are part of the Big Ten Conference in the NCAA Division I. With eighteen varsity teams, the Oregon Ducks are best known for their football team and track and field program. These two teams are even incorporated into the design of the school's "O" logo. In the summer of 2022, UO hosted the 2022 World Athletics Championships. It was the first time the event was held in the United States.

The university has a long and complex relationship with Nike, Inc., and the firm's co-founder Phil Knight. As a consequence of state higher-education disinvestment starting in the 1990s, UO has embraced a "University of Nike" image. Fueled by large investments in athletic infrastructure, this trend has accelerated in recent years. Knight, an alumnus, has advocated for both athletic prominence and increased privatisation of the university, and has donated over $2 billion to UO since the late-1980s, much of it going towards athletics. The school's "O" logo was designed by Nike in 1998 and sports facility projects on campus typically involve both Knight and Nike.

History

Establishment

Prior to the establishment of the university in 1872, most of Oregon's colleges were denominational. While the Oregon State Legislature drafted a bill in 1872 to form the university, a citizens group from Eugene, the Union University Association (UUA), formed and began campaigning to make the university non-denominational. During a legislative meeting in September 1872, the UUA would succeed in amending the bill to include a non-denominational clause. The bill eventually was passed by the state legislature in 1872, establishing the institution as Oregon State University. The residents of Eugene raised $27,500 to buy eighteen acres of land at a cost of $2,500.

Early years

The university opened in 1876 under the name of "Oregon State University" and University Hall as its sole building. The first year of enrollment contained 155 students taught by five faculty members. The first graduating class was in 1878, graduating five students. In 1881, the university was nearly closed; it was $8,000 in debt before Henry Villard donated $7,000 to help pay it. In 1913 and 1932, there were proposals to merge the university with what is now Oregon State University. Both proposals were defeated.

Maturity as a university

During Prince Lucien Campbell's tenure as president from 1902 to 1925, the university experienced tremendous growth. The budget, enrollment, facilities, and faculty members all grew several times its amount prior to his presidency. Numerous schools were also established during his tenure, including the School of Music in 1902, the School of Education in 1910, the School of Architecture, the College of Business in 1914, the School of Law in 1915, the School of Journalism in 1916, and the School of Health and Physical Education in 1920. However, the University of Oregon lost its School of Engineering to Oregon Agricultural College, now known as Oregon State University.

In 1917, a "three term" (quarter system) calendar was adopted by the university faculty as a war-time measure. This academic calendar has remained ever since then. However, it is now referred to as the Quarter System.

The Zorn-MacPherson Bill in 1932 proposed the University of Oregon and Oregon State College (now "University") merge. The bill lost in a landslide vote of over 6 to 1. The University of Oregon Medical School was founded in 1887 in Portland and merged with Willamette University's program in 1913. However, in 1974 it became an independent institution known as Oregon Health Sciences University.

The Institute of Molecular Biology was established at the university in 1959.

Campus

The campus is spread over 295 acres (119 ha) and includes eighty buildings. Additionally, the campus is an arboretum consisting of 500 species of trees. In total there are over 3,000 trees on campus. It is adjacent to the West University neighborhood and Pioneer Cemetery. Eugene is near many prominent geographic features such as the Willamette River, the Cascade Mountain Range, and the Pacific Ocean. Also, within a two-hour drive is the Portland metropolitan area.

The campus is occupied by approximately 80 buildings. However, there are several ongoing construction projects, as well as plans to build new facilities. The campus is the home of the Oregon Bach Festival.

Based on Ellis F. Lawrence's vision, many of the university's buildings are planned around several major quadrangles, many of which abut the 13th Avenue pedestrian mall. The university is known for being the site of a pioneering participatory planning experiment known as the Oregon Experiment, which is also the subject of a book of the same name that evolved into the well known book A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander. The project's two major principles are buildings should be designed, in part, by the people who will use them with the help of an "architect facilitator", and construction should occur over many small projects as opposed to a few large ones.

Although academic buildings are spread throughout the campus, most are along East 13th Avenue, with heavy pedestrian traffic at the intersection with Kincaid Street. Student recreation and union centers are toward the center of the campus, with residence halls on the east side. Sports facilities are grouped in the southern-central part of campus with the Autzen Stadium and PK Park complexes across the Willamette River. The university also owns and operates several satellite facilities, including a large facility in the White Stag Block of downtown Portland and the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology in Charleston, Oregon.

The University of Oregon is home to the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

The campus has been smoke and tobacco free since 2012.

Old campus and memorial quad

The oldest section of campus is in the northwest area of the current campus. The university's first building, University Hall, opened on October 16, 1876, when the university had an enrollment of 177 students. It was known as "the building" before being named after Judge Matthew Deady in 1893. In June 2020, Deady's name was removed from the building in and it was temporarily renamed University Hall. The second building on campus is known as Villard Hall and is home to the Theater Arts and Comparative Literature Departments. Completed in 1886, the hall was named after railroad magnate Henry Villard, who provided financial aid to the university in 1881. Before its naming, it was known as "the new building". Both University and Villard Halls were designated National Historic Landmarks in 1977.

Organization and administration

The university is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, which is recognized by the United States Department of Education.

Governance

The university's internal governance is conducted in accordance with The Constitution of the University of Oregon. The UO Constitution provides a collaborative process that ensures a strong voice for the faculty, acting through the University Senate. The representation of students, civil servants, and administrative employees in the senate ensures this predominantly faculty body operates in the best interests of the entire university community.

UO Board of Trustees assumed control in 2014. The trustees have the broad authority to supervise and manage the university and may exercise all the powers, rights, duties and privileges expressly granted by law or that are implied by law or are incident to the board's powers, rights, duties and privileges.

Former provost Scott Coltrane served as interim president, from August 6, 2014, through June 30, 2015, following the resignation of Michael Gottfredson. This resignation occurred with less than 24 hours notice amidst a number of controversies, including allegations of mishandling of sexual violence, a decline of $100 million in university donations, and the alienation of faculty members around unionization and academic freedom. Including one interim president, Gottfredson was the university's fourth president in six years, a situation that led Chronicle of Higher Education to label the position a "revolving door".

Michael H. Schill was president from 2015 to 2022. John Karl Scholz entered office as the 19th president in 2023.

Budget

UO's FY14 operating revenue total $905 million. As of January 2013, the estimated economic impact of the University of Oregon is $2.6 billion annually. Despite a large increase in undergraduate enrollment, state appropriations are less than what they were 10 years prior. The university also receives less state support than many of its peers. According to FY13-14 data from the AAU, UO ranks last in state funding and receives approximately $47.8 million from the state.

Campus safety and security

Campus security is enforced by the University of Oregon Police Department.

The University of Oregon appeared in the documentary The Hunting Ground after allowing three basketball players accused of sexual assault to play in an NCAA Tournament. The documentary focuses on campus rape in higher education institutions in the United States.

In 2018 there were 8 rapes reported on campus. In 2018 there were 364 drug abuse violations and 894 liquor law violations on campus.

Academics

As of 2024, UO offered 420 degree programs. The UO student body is composed of students from all 50 of the United States, the District of Columbia, four U.S. territories, and 91 countries around the world. As of Fall 2025, Pre-Business Administration was the most popular undergraduate major at UO (11.1% of all majors), followed by Psychology (9.3%), Business Administration (8.5%), Human Physiology (5.6%), and Journalism: Advertising (3.9%).

The University of Oregon is organized into nine colleges and schools. UO's College of Arts and Sciences covers a large array of departments in the arts and sciences. The School of Global Studies and Languages is embedded within CAS. The Charles H. Lundquist College of Business was founded in 1884 and offers courses in fields such as accounting, decision sciences, entrepreneurship, finance, management, and marketing. The School of Accounting was established in 2017 to oversee the accounting program.

The College of Design was founded by Ellis F. Lawrence in 1914. The college offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in design and policy related fields. The college was known as the School of Allied Arts and Architecture and was renamed in 2017. The college is divided into three schools: School of Architecture & Environment, School of Art + Design, and the School of Planning, Public Policy and Management.

The College of Education was established in 1910 as the School of Education. The Robert D. Clark Honors College is a small honors college intended to complement the majors in place at the university by joining select students and faculty for a low student-to-teacher ratio (25:1 maximum). The School of Journalism and Communication is one of the oldest journalism schools in the United States; it began as a department in 1912 and became a professional school in 1916. The SOJC is located in Allen Hall on the University of Oregon's Eugene campus. The School of Law was formed in 1884 in Portland and moved to Eugene in early 1915. The School of Music and Dance was initially just the Department of Music in 1886, and developed into the School of Music in 1900.

The University of Oregon Medical School was founded in 1887 in Portland and merged with Willamette University's program in 1913. However, in 1974 it became an independent institution. It is now known as Oregon Health & Science University.

Undergraduate admissions

The University of Oregon's undergraduate admissions process is "selective" according to U.S. News & World Report. For students entering Fall 2019, 22,329 freshmen were accepted out of 27,358 applicants, an 81.6% acceptance rate, and 4,525 enrolled for a yield of 20.3%.

Student life

Special events

UO is home to various special events. One of the most popular and well-known events held on campus is the Oregon Bach Festival. The festival is a donor-sponsored program of the university and the only major music festival affiliated with an American university. Founded in 1970 by German conductor Helmuth Rilling and UO professor (and past president of the American Choral Directors Association) Royce Saltzman, the festival has grown into an international program that draws hundreds of musicians and over 40,000 attendees annually.

The festival has presented such artists as Frederica von Stade, Bobby McFerrin, Garrison Keillor, and Thomas Quasthoff, who made his American debut in Eugene in 1995. The festival actively commissions and premieres new choral-orchestra works, including pieces by Arvo Pärt, Osvaldo Golijov, and Tan Dun. A Bach Festival recording of the world-premiere performance of Krzyztof Penderecki's Credo won the 2001 Grammy Award for best choral performance.

Clubs and groups

There are more than 250 student groups at the University of Oregon, most of which are headquartered in the Erb Memorial Union.

The University of Oregon is home to three student-run a cappella groups: Divisi, a treble ensemble; On the Rocks, a TTBB ensemble; and Mind the Gap, a mixed ensemble.

Media

The University of Oregon has a diverse array of student-run and student-created media, including the Daily Emerald, the Oregon Commentator, and Ethos Magazine, among others.

The university is also home of two radio stations: KWAX (classical music) and KWVA (campus radio).

Government

There are two major governing bodies at the University of Oregon. The largest is the Associated Students of the University of Oregon. Its purpose is to provide for the social, cultural, educational and physical development of its members, and for the advancement of their individual and collective interests both within and without the university.

Student participation in governance of the university extends to membership in the University Senate, which has five student members with full voting rights plus the ASUO president as a nonvoting member. Students are also represented on the university's board of trustees by a voting member appointed by the Governor of Oregon.

The total FY2014-15 ASUO budget was $15.24 million.

The second-largest governing body is the Residence Hall Association (RHA), who advocate for all students living on-campus. Its purpose is to relay ideas and feedback as a way of communication with University Housing. RHA advocates for residence hall students; stimulates an environment of growth, learning, and development for all students in the residence halls through programming; submits recommendations and ideas regarding policy to University Housing.

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