The affordability of public education and racial equality are two issues Oregon State University President F. King Alexander addressed following the projected outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Within the “Following election, let us move forward together” email sent to all students on Nov. 7, President Alexander stated that we must move forward to achieve a better future.

Michael Green, vice president for Finance and Administration and chief financial officer at OSU, supports President Alexander’s call to action to achieve a better future for all by collaborating with other university leaders to advance access to affordable public education.

Along with others at OSU, Green collaborates with Oregon’s public universities and the state of Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission to advocate for adequate levels of state and federal funding so students can graduate without significant debt. 

“OSU works to keep tuition affordable through careful budget management to keep costs as low as possible, with support from the OSU Foundation to provide scholarship funds for students,” Green said via email. 

Steve Clark, vice president of university relations and marketing, explained that by operating two campuses in Corvallis and in Bend, OSU is able to provide educational opportunity and access in a variety of ways to students. He also acknowledges that over the past two decades, support from the state of Oregon for public higher education has dropped significantly from two-thirds of the cost to 30%. 

As a result, the administration continues to work with the Oregon state legislature to provide more support while OSU continues to provide aid as well. 

“The OSU Foundation annually raises more than $125 million to support OSU programs and needs, including scholarships,” Clark said via email. “OSU also provides students financial assistance and expands admissions efforts to reach students from every walk of life.” 

According to Clark, OSU has transfer program partnerships with all of Oregon’s 17 community colleges. This allows some students the option to begin their college education while living at home and transfer without losing credits. OSU staff are also focused on reducing costs and providing improved services.

Charlene Alexander, vice president and chief diversity officer, stated that President Alexander outlined plans for advancing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in his Moving Forward Together initiative. This initiative outlines comprehensive anti-racist actions that are underway to improve access, belonging and success to Black, Indigenous and people of color at OSU. 

“Additionally, departments and many colleges, including the colleges of Science, Agricultural Sciences and Business, and Ecampus have laid out plans to address the university’s racial climate and racism,” Alexander said via email. “Extensive diversity education programs for faculty, staff and students have been developed and are underway including most recently our Leading Change initiative.”