Regarding the news that Phil and Penny Knight are donating $1 billion to the University of Oregon to create an engineering college, the Knight Campus executive director, asked about the university’s $65 million budget deficit, said the donation is a “directed gift” to grow the Knight Campus and “not an immediate fix” to UO’s current shortfall. By the way, the UO has a massive endowment that never ever seems to be used to cover shortfalls!

The Knights appear to have the same urge to plaster their name onto major big-ticket projects at UO as Donald Trump does on everything else. Instead of giving large donations to the university to upgrade facilities for the bulk of the students and faculty over the years, it is only the massive projects that get the goods.

Uncle Phil doesn’t really care about all the extraordinary students who are already working toward becoming useful members of our country, only the “most promising” ones, who will partake in bioengineering and master’s programs on semiconductors, bioinformatics and polymer engineering, in buildings with his name on them.

Phil, stop building monuments to yourself, and instead help the overall university that you say you love!

Robin Bloomgarden
Eugene