Osher Foundation Ups SOU’s OLLI Endowment to $2 Million

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(Ashland, Ore.) — The Bernard Osher Foundation of San Francisco has awarded the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Southern Oregon University (SOU) an additional $1 million endowment. The news came to SOU President Mary Cullinan in a phone call from Osher Foundation President Mary Bitterman.

“The Osher Foundation is so strongly supportive of OLLI,” says SOU President Mary Cullinan. “They recognize the truly outstanding work that OLLI and SOU are doing together. In providing $2 million to OLLI in the last three years, the Osher Foundation underscores the importance of lifelong learning and adult learners to our university and our southern Oregon communities.”

SOU’s Executive Director for Outreach and Engagement Jeanne Stallman adds, “Once on campus for OLLI classes, members frequently go on to participate in other parts of SOU campus life—one-credit classes, campus lectures and theatre and musical performances.” Read more

Duo SOU Heads to New York’s Carnegie Hall

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Ashland, Ore. — It’s not every day an undergraduate music major has the opportunity to sing at Carnegie Hall—twice.
It hasn’t really sunk in for her, but that’s exactly what Southern Oregon University music student Beatriz Abella, 21, will do before she graduates.
“I still can’t believe it,” she said, shaking her head in amazement. Her first trip to Carnegie Hall was in April, when she sang during the National Young Musicians Showcase Competition’s Winners Recital after receiving the Grand Winner prize. Read more

SOU Showcases the Rise of Credit Unions with Rogue Federal Credit Union CEO Gene Pelham Nov. 17

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Gene Pelham


Ashland, Ore. — As large banks continue to see a decline in customers, credit unions across the United States are signing up members in record numbers.
It’s no different in southern Oregon, where Rogue Federal Credit Union is increasing its numbers at a rapid rate. To find out more about this movement and what it means on a local and national scale, Gene Pelham, Chief Executive Officer at Rogue Federal Credit Union will share his thoughts during Southern Oregon University’s Masters in Management Distinguished Alumni Series event Nov. 17. Pelham is an SOU graduate, earning his undergraduate degree in 1983 and his Masters in Management in 2006. Read more

SOU Hosts Oxfam Banquet to Benefit Ashland Food Angels

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Ashland, Ore. — Southern Oregon University’s Civic Engagement Program will be hosting an educational banquet on local and global issues of hunger to benefit the Ashland Food Angels on Thursday, Nov. 17 in the Stevenson Union’s Rogue River Room at 7 p.m. Donations will gladly be accepted.

The Oxfam Banquet is an event held worldwide by the organization, an international collective of groups and countries working to end world hunger. Oxfam provides information and support to raise awareness through hunger banquets, which have become renowned as the banquet where participants leave hungry, but with a larger perspective on hunger and access to food.

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SOU Sets Another Enrollment Record

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RCC Transfers, Californians and Hispanic Students Lead Growth

(Ashland, Ore.) –Southern Oregon University is experiencing the largest and most diverse fall enrollment in its history. Headcount has reached 6,744, a 4.7 percent increase over last fall’s figure that was up a dramatic 26 percent over fall 2009. The categories showing the strongest growth were transfers – especially from Rogue Community College, Hispanic students, Californians and international students. Read more

Archaeology at Fort Lane State Heritage Site opens to public viewing

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Oregon State Parks Shield
The Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology (SOULA), in collaboration with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD), will be conducting archaeological investigations at Fort Lane, a U.S. Army post occupied from 1853-1856 that was used during the Rogue River Wars. The site opens to the public on Sunday, November 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Visitors are invited to take the opportunity to learn about the importance of protecting Oregon’s archaeological sites and some of the aspects of archaeological field work. They will have the opportunity to walk around the site and talk with members of the archaeology team and OPRD staff, view uncovered artifacts, learn how they are cared for and how archaeological sites are treated with minimal impact to the environment. Read more

SOU Alum Jeff McJunkin Takes Top Honors

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Cultivating Civility at Home and Abroad Subject of SOU Civility Series

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(Ashland, Ore.) – Is “agreeing to disagree” a sufficient goal for citizens in an increasingly pluralistic society? Can individuals or groups who disagree passionately about certain issues reach a point where they can listen to and learn from one another? These and other questions will be the subject of an interactive presentation by SOU professors John King and Margaret Perrow Thursday, November 3, at 7 p.m. in the Meese Room of the Hannon Library on the SOU campus. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Dr. Margaret Perrow, assistant professor of English education.

Drs. King and Perrow will draw upon research from Northern Ireland and South Africa, areas recovering from years of conflict and opposition over racial or religious differences. The presentation will examine educational efforts to help students listen to and learn from those whom they have been conditioned to distrust, demean, or even dehumanize. By drawing on the experiences from these areas of intense conflict and disagreement, professors King and Perrow explore implications for our own daily interactions. Read more