OSU-Cascades receives gifts from Bend Foundation, Brooks Resources toward campus expansion

concept illustration-for-future-buildings
Conceptual image of future building on Oregon State University – Cascades campus.
May 31, 2017

Oregon State University – Cascades has received a $500,000 gift from the Bend Foundation and a $75,000 gift from Brooks Resources Corporation toward its next academic building. The future building will include classrooms and laboratories, and focus on the STEAM disciplines of science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

“The Bend Foundation’s and Brooks Resources’ generous gifts are both a commitment to the vision for an expanded campus and an investment in our students,” said Becky Johnson, vice president of OSU-Cascades. “The gifts also convey to our legislators the continued support for higher education in Central Oregon and for OSU-Cascades’ expansion.

The gifts increase the total funds raised for OSU-Cascades’ capital expansion to $6.9 million. The Oregon State Legislature requires a $10 million philanthropic match for the campus’s $69.5 million capital request.

Other donations toward the expansion include a $5 million gift from an anonymous donor and a $1 million gift from the Tykeson Family Foundation. With the commitment of state funding, the donations will be applied to construction costs for the new academic building.

The Bend Foundation has a 70-year legacy of supporting the Central Oregon community and improving the livability of Bend and Central Oregon. The Foundation was established by Brooks-Scanlon, Inc. and shareholders of Brooks-Scanlon and Brooks Resources.

Brooks Resources Corporation has been a leading real estate developer in the region for over 40 years, developing communities including NorthWest Crossing, Awbrey Butte, and Mount Bachelor Village Resort.

About OSU-Cascades: Oregon State University’s branch campus in Bend, Ore., features outstanding faculty in degree programs that reflect Central Oregon’s vibrant economy and abundant natural resources. Nearly 20 undergraduate majors, 30 minors and options, and four graduate programs include computer science, energy systems engineering, kinesiology, hospitality management, and tourism and outdoor leadership. The branch campus expanded to a four-year university in fall 2015; its new campus opened in fall 2016.