Impact of $1.25 million gift for academic programs from Pat and Stephanie Kilkenny

$500,000: College Sports Research and Executive Education Initiative
This groundbreaking program will give current or aspiring athletic directors the business and communications fundamentals for a career in collegiate athletics. It will marry a traditional executive education curriculum with a tailored program focusing on the challenges of managing modern athletic departments. The program will be jointly operated by the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center in the Lundquist College of Business, the School of Journalism and Communication and the athletic department.

Highlights

• Executive training program for professionals covering such topics as corporate sponsorships, legal issues, community relations and financial decisions.
• Faculty research projects examining intercollegiate athletics issues.
• Hands-on learning opportunities for students, such as internships, research projects and collaboration between the journalism and business schools.

$460,000: Competition Not Conflict
Competition Not Conflict (CNC) will be housed in the law school, but will involve many academic disciplines and impact all of campus, as well as communities across Oregon. The program will promote will promote athletic competition as a healthy alternative to conflict and find ways to promote dispute resolution through athletics.

Highlights:

• Exploration of youth sports programs, athletics in schools and the role of sports in social and even international issues.
• Workshops, guest speakers, and symposia to address key issues.
• Training programs to teach youth coaches and referees how to promote sportsmanship and mitigate problems.
• University of Oregon athletes learning conflict resolution skills, then visiting community schools to promote healthy competition.

$250,000: Kilkenny Service and Leadership Fund
This new fund will expand the University of Oregon Service Learning Program (SLP), which gives students opportunities to learn (and earn credits) by helping the Eugene-Springfield community. The fund will support grants of up to $1,000 for student-initiated projects in perpetuity. This is the first time that SLP has offered such a “microgrant” program.

The Kilkenny Service and Leadership Fund will provide grants of up to $1,000 to help students participate in hands-on educational projects through the Service Learning Program (SLP). The SLP is affiliated with the university’s College of Education and Associated Students of the University of Oregon.
Since 1969, the SLP (one of the oldest such programs in the nation) has given students ways to earn credits through volunteer programs that help the community. But this is the first time the program has supported student-initiated projects. Examples include a mentorship program that pairs students with local school teachers, outdoor school and the Alternative Spring Break program that sends students to areas of need around the country during their traditional break period.

$27,500: PathwayOregon Scholarship Program
PathwayOregon guarantees that qualified Oregonians from lower income families can attend the UO tuition-free by covering any remaining tuition costs not picked up by federal and state financial aid. It also provides students with comprehensive academic support and in some cases room and board. PathwayOregon is the first program of its kind at a public university in Oregon.

Lower-income Oregonians who are eligible for federal Pell Grants and are entering the UO next fall as freshman qualify for the program, which ensures that a combination of federal, state, and institutional grants and scholarships cover tuition and fees. The program also provides special advisors and mentoring. An estimated 400 students will benefit from the program starting in fall 2008.

$12,500: "Coaches’ Fund" for University of Oregon Libraries
A new "Coaches Fund" will be used to build library collections and keep up with changing technology. The annual fund is part of an ongoing effort by the athletic department and UO libraries, which both serve the campus and the broader community, to build bridges between academics and athletics. The fund has drawn 100-percent participation from UO head athletic coaches in its first year and will benefit all students. Gifts to the fund this year are matched by donor Dave Petrone and his wife, Nancy. Dave Petrone is a 1966 UO graduate and longtime supporter of both athletics and academics at the university.