News Releases
News from
Lane Community College, Eugene, Oregon
Contact: Joan Aschim, public information officer, 463-5591, aschimj@lanecc.edu
or Janet Anderson, director, Lane Community College Foundation, 463-5803
for release February 25, 2004
$1 million gift to create first endowed chair at Lane Community College
EUGENE - An anonymous donor from the local area has given Lane Community College $1 million to establish the college's first endowed chair.
"An endowed chair is one of the highest honors bestowed on an academic institution," notes President Mary Spilde. "This is a long term investment in the students and the community for generations to come. It reflects the trust and regard this donor has for Lane and the work we do in the community.”
The gift will increase Lane's flexibility to respond to the educational needs of a changing community and workforce and to create innovative approaches to student learning. The gift will enhance student learning by recognizing, promoting and developing excellence in teaching. In contrast to endowed chair programs at four-year institutions that aim to attract preeminent researchers, this program recognizes and supports faculty for instructional leadership.
The donor intends the chair to be used wherever it can best help the college, says Spilde. Possible uses include attracting nationally and internationally recognized faculty with expertise in selected areas of learning; helping develop new fields of study at Lane; increasing the number of faculty in programs with high demand for graduates; or bringing a visiting scholar to Lane.
Janet Anderson, Foundation director, says the donor attended Lane in the mid-'60s before main campus was constructed. "She remembers traveling back and forth between LCC classes held in Bethel and Springfield, and going to JC Penney to buy bloomers for her gym outfit. But most of all, she remembers the wonderful teaching and being made welcome as an older student." The donor enrolled after her children reached high school age.
The gift is in the form of a charitable remainder unitrust. A unitrust is a legal document that allows a donor to transfer property to the Lane Foundation, giving the donor a tax deduction and income for life. When the trust terminates, the earnings will fund the endowed chair.
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