A temporary building for events set to open Oct. 14 is under construction, taking up the whole Memorial Union Quad on Oregon State University’s Corvallis Ore. campus.

According to a press release sent by OSU, the OSU foundation is hosting a university-wide campaign to fundraise for student scholarships, endowed faculty positions, construction of buildings, and Beaver athletics.

“The OSU foundation is about to announce our public phase of the campaign for OSU, the theme of which is ‘Believe It.’” said Wendy Aronson, director of events at OSU. “We’ll be hosting an event, a series of events on campus over homecoming weekend, including a large event that’ll be in this temporary structure that is quite impressive to look at, on Friday night, October 14.” 

Events will be held in appreciation for donors, stakeholders and volunteers that aids OSU students, faculty, programs, strategic initiatives and facilities.

“‘Believe It’ will be OSU’s second university-wide fundraising campaign. The first one concluded in 2014 and raised $1.1 billion to support students, faculty, programs and university priorities,” said Molly Brown, assistant vice president of Marketing and Communications for the OSU Foundation.  

“The goals for our second campaign — Believe It — will be announced on Oct. 14. There will be an ambitious fundraising goal but also a goal for engaging alumni and friends in meaningful ways – like serving as career mentors for students and new alumni,” Brown said. 

The events inside the tent include a campaign launch dinner, a series of speakers, musical performances and surprises for those part of the festivities. It will also be home to an art exhibition on the north side of the Memorial Union. 

The tent and events are funded through sponsorships and private philanthropy through the OSU Foundation, Brown said. 

“The kickoff events that will take place on the Quad are focused primarily on our external audiences–alumni and supporters of OSU. We are happy to have several dozen students and faculty participating in the kickoff event programming–appearing in videos, on stage and in musical performances, and helping us host guests,” Brown said. 

The campaign will also concur with the reveal of a lighted public art sculpture by artist John Grade, sponsored by the Provost’s Office, the College of Liberal Arts and other OSU partners in association with the College of Forestry. The sculpture will be available to view on campus until December 31, 2023.

The walkways through the MU quad are no longer open due to construction safety.

“Starting today we have several giveaways students can enter when they scan the QR codes on the signs in the Quad, and we’ll be offering several pop-up events on the Quad for students over the next couple of weeks,” Brown said. “We’ll post more about those and other offerings on our website. We’ll also be featuring ways for students to get involved with the Believe It campaign on the OSU Foundation’s and OSU Alumni Association’s social channels.”

“We’re just really hoping to get the whole campus community excited about what we’re doing here about this amazing research institution, and what philanthropic dollars can do to better the student experience at OSU,” Aronson said.