Dear Raider family,
I want to share a letter of support we received earlier today from the governor.
Our team has been working closely with state leaders since the discovery of our current cash flow issue to identify both short-term and long-term funding solutions for SOU, and we are encouraged by the governor’s words from her letter:
“When SOU receives support from the state to navigate the current financial challenge, I ask that you respond with urgency and transparency in reporting how you plan to use those funds to strengthen the prospect of sustaining your foothold for tomorrow. Use of state funding must identify programs and functions that are essential to the region or state and demonstrate how they can be delivered sustainably….“
We are continuing to work diligently with the governor and our legislative champions during the current session, which ends March 8. We will keep you updated and share more as the 2026 short session of the Oregon Legislature comes to a close.
As the governor points out in her letter, stabilizing SOU for today does not mean the end of our challenges. There is hard work ahead to develop a long-term, sustainable plan in collaboration with our shared governance partners. We are working to create a transparent and inclusive framework for a mission-centered, student-focused, community-responsive and state-oriented plan.
Thank you for your continued dedication to our students and to one another. Your professionalism and commitment – and love for this institution, our students and each other – form the foundation of what we are working to stabilize and protect. Those are the reasons our university is worth fighting for.
Respectfully,
