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The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation Challenge Grant

A Letter From OPB Board Chair Sherwin Davidson

Dear Friend of OPB,

I'm so pleased to have this opportunity to recognize Harold and Arlene Schnitzer for investing in OPB as part of their vision for Oregon's future.

OPB calls people to give based on passion, and I'm guessing that you may have felt what an Oregonian headline heralded a week or so ago: a love for OPB.

Or perhaps, as a citizen who was recently quoted in the Eugene Register-Guard in an article on the 50th anniversary of the station, "I suppose OPB is responsible for making me into the smart aleck I was then, and still proudly am today." In OPB, the call to contribute is focused on pride of ownership as well as philanthropy.

I share that pride of ownership.

My husband Michael and I have spent our careers – our lives, really, in higher education, Michael as a Professor of Sociology for 42 years and I, a first-generation college student, now chairing PSU's Applied Psychology Department. It's no accident that OPB and higher education are the two major societal institutions with which we have allegiances and alliances.

Both work to counter the polarized debate that characterizes so much of public exchange today.

Both aim to raise the level of public discourse, to sponsor the development and activities of an informed public who can then critically frame the questions and thoughtfully integrate possible answers.

Both are focused on each of us as learners, aiming to bring alive our own roles – dare I say it – as public intellectuals. OPB gives us not just news and information, but a wealth of ideas that stimulate and provoke.

The United States has had a great tradition of public intellectuals – those knowledgeable persons who use their accumulated knowledge – ultimately their wisdom – to draw connections for us, illuminate larger themes, communicate ideas and influence debate.

Increasingly it is up to each of us to be a sponsor of that informed public debate. And it is public broadcasting, along with selected print media (not to omit higher education!) that assists us in our role as thoughtful citizens.

There are many ways of contributing to the future. One is investing in OPB, assuring not just financial stability for OPB's future, not just news and information for the next generation, but sponsoring the future of ideas in many realms – their intelligent presentation, their thoughtful debate, and all the ways they lead to further learning.

We encourage you to include OPB in your will or estate plans as Michael and I have done – or to consider a gift annuity – to give to the future of OPB in the way that fits you best.

Sincerely,

Sherwin Davidson OPB Board Chair

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