SOU Students Honored at Capitol
(Ashland, Ore.) —The Oregon House approved a resolution Tuesday honoring the Southern Oregon University football team for winning the NAIA National Championship last December. House Concurrent Resolution 17, which was sponsored by Representatives Peter Buckley, Sal Esquivel, Wayne Krieger, Duane Stark, and Senators Alan Bates and Jeff Kruse passed the Oregon House by unanimous vote.
The text of the Resolution reads in part, “Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Oregon: That we, the members of the Seventy-eighth Legislative Assembly, honor the Southern Oregon University Raiders football team for their victory at the 2014 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Football National Championship.”
SOU students, staff, and Board members on the steps of the Oregon Capitol. Photo by Al Case
The team was also recognized and honored by the Oregon Senate, which gave team members and coaches a standing ovation on the Senate Floor.
Members of the Raiders football team, along other student athletes and representatives of the student body as a whole, and accompanied by President Saigo and three SOU Trustees, traveled by bus to Salem to take part in “SOU Raider Day at the Capitol” on Tuesday. In addition to the actions taken by the Oregon House and Senate, SOU students met with Governor Kate Brown, Representative Buckley, Senator Bates, Senator Baertschiger, and other individual legislators.
Members of the SOU volleyball team meet Oregon Governor Kate Brown. Photo by Al Case.
Students also took the opportunity to express support for increased state funding for Oregon’s public universities during meetings with legislators, calling for the Legislature to meet the public university presidents’ request of $755 million in state support for higher education, and Sports Lottery funding for athletic programs.
President Roy Saigo, head football coach Craig Howard, and members of the NAIA Championship Football team meet with Oregon Governor Kate Brown and Oregon Senator Herman Baertschiger. Photo by Al Case.
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About Southern Oregon University
Southern Oregon University provides outstanding student experiences, valued degrees, and successful graduates. SOU is known for excellence in faculty, intellectual creativity and rigor, quality and innovation in connected learning programs, and the educational benefits of its unique geographic location. SOU was the first university in Oregon—and one of the first in the nation—to offset 100 percent of its energy use with clean, renewable power, and it is the first university in the nation to balance 100% of its water consumption. Visit sou.edu.