Organizing for OSUThe Beaver Caucus marks 10 years of advocacy in Salem and beyond.

For the past 10 years, the Beaver Caucus has helped Oregon State University supporters make their voices heard in the halls of government. What began as an effort to organize OSU’s influence in state policymaking has grown into a coalition that includes students, employees, alumni, donors and experts in the legislative process — all focused on advancing OSU’s priorities through coordinated advocacy.

When the Beaver Caucus launched in 2015, the university had no centralized system for mobilizing supporters. “We have always had good people rooting for us,” said Jill Eiland, ’73, vice president of the Beaver Caucus Board. “But we didn’t have an organized, orchestrated plan with messages people could help us deliver.” The Caucus was created in response to that need.  It serves to coordinate strategies and train volunteers to communicate effectively with elected leaders.

Caucus leaders point to a number of high-profile outcomes as evidence of the group’s impact. One is the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts, OSU’s new performing and visual arts center in Corvallis. Alumna Patricia Valian Reser, ’60, ’19 (Hon. Ph.D.), kicked off the construction project with a key $25 million gift. The Caucus used that momentum to launch a campaign for state funding. OSU students, employees and leaders spoke with decision-makers about the benefits an arts center would bring to the region. Legislators also heard from K-12 teachers in their districts about what the center would mean for arts education. In the end, the state provided $38 million to complete the project. 

“We’re effective because we’re all in the same boat, rowing together,” said Tony Williams, ’87, a professional advocate and Beaver Caucus board member. He said that once OSU’s leadership identifies priorities, the Caucus creates a unified approach for talking with legislators and activates its grassroots network of advocates.

In other sessions, Caucus advocates helped guarantee funds for capital projects including the Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex and the OSU-Cascades Student Success Center. The group has also continued to advocate for increased public university funding and expanded tuition assistance for Oregon students.

We’re effective because we’re all in the same boat, rowing together.

---

Such victories are never guaranteed. Oregon trails many other states in public university funding — ranking 46th nationally in 2024 according to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association — and federal funding for research has grown increasingly uncertain. In response to these pressures, the Caucus has diversified its focus, advocating for OSU interests at both local and federal levels.

For current board member and former state representative Greg Macpherson, one moment illustrates the Beaver Caucus’ power. After all but two member universities abandoned the Pac-12, OSU’s media rights revenue was expected to drop 44%, putting student-athletes’ scholarships at risk. The organization urged supporters to attend a pivotal legislative session sporting Beaver gear. Participants were already invested. They just needed to know what to do.

“We had that room nearly filled with people wearing orange,” said Macpherson. Lawmakers ultimately approved $10 million in state funding to fill the gap.

Learn more about the Beaver Caucus.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story stated that Oregon ranked 36th for public university funding. That ranking was for the state’s total public investment in higher education and included community college funding. For public university funding alone, actually Oregon ranks 46th in the nation.