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Prospective donors and others gathered under a large tent set up on UO's Hayward Field before an event to announce a $2 billion fund-raising campaign.

(The Oregonian)

The University of Oregon announced late Friday that it plans to raise $2 billion, double the record for fundraising by an Oregon university.

Interim University President Scott Coltrane made the announcement to hundreds of UO partisans gathered under a large tent at Hayward Field on the university's campus. Academic excellence, not athletics, will be the focus of the money-seeking, he and others said.

The ambitious goal is already one-third met, with $700 million raised in the four years of planning before Friday's public unveiling of the goal, Coltrane said.

More than 700 people attended the invitation-only event, an indication that the university intends to cast a wider net for philanthropy than just Phil and Penny Knight. The Knights, by far the most generous gift givers in the history of the university, did not attend the Hayward event, but were mentioned and thanked along with other donors.

The previous UO fundraising campaign, which raised $853 million from more than 90,000 donors, ended in early 2008.

Oregon State University wrapped up its successful capital campaign earlier this year with $1.01 billion raised. That made it one of only 35 U.S. public universities to surpass the billion-dollar mark in a fundraising campaign, OSU officials said.

UO officials said theirs will be the largest by any organization in Oregon history.

Chuck Lillis, chairman of the UO Board of Trustees, said it will require "the generous support of Ducks worldwide."

The campaign was launched despite the absence of a permanent UO president, in the wake of the trustees ousting Michael Gottfredson in August after just two years at the helm.

Phil and Penny Knight have given his alma mater more than $300 million, including for the law school, library and 27 endowed professorships as well as for higher-profile athletics-related projects.

Knight has been long-rumored as the future source of a significant endowment gift to the university, rumored to be at least $1 billion.

The Knights have donated more than $1 billion of their fortune over the years to medical centers, athletic facilities, university buildings and other endeavors. Forbes recently ranked Knight as the 23rd-richest person in the United States with a net worth of $21.2 billion.

UO's vice president for Advancement Mike Andreasen said this summer that during four "quiet" years of the campaign, UO already has raised roughly $700 million -- more than half of that for academics and the rest for athletics. Included in that figure is the $68 million (or higher) contribution Knight made in building and giving to UO a gleaming football complex.

Knight, who rarely grants interviews, gave a wide-ranging one over the course of an hour in 2006 to Helen Jung, then a reporter for The Oregonian and now one of its editorial writers.

Among other things, Knight talked about his approach to philanthropy. He said he was considering a more coordinated approach to distributing his wealth – then less than half of his current fortune – but declined to specify which causes he might support.

He did indicate, however, that he did not want to be alone in philanthropical giving, nor in setting a vision for his state.

Jung wrote:

Knight said he wishes his home state and its educational institutions were more ambitious about trying to compete and push themselves to the next level.

"Somebody once described Oregon as 'that soccer field between Washington and California,' and I hate that," he said. "I was born in this state, I love this state and as Bowerman used to say, 'You've got webs between your toes.'

"I think it bothers me that there isn't sometimes as much of a can-do attitude in this state as is possible. It's making progress and it just (needs) to keep it going."

Dave Petrone, a UO grad and executive at U.S. Bank subsidiary Housing Capital Corp. who has personally committed to giving $2 million, is heading the fundraising campaign.

-- Allan Brettman

-- Betsy Hammond

betsyhammond@oregonian.com