February 21, 2025 – President Rick Bailey has a single topic for his February video message, and it gets straight to the heart of SOU: love. “We are built on a principle here at Southern Oregon University that everyone is deserving and worthy of love and respect and kindness and support,” President Bailey says. The university has love for all, regardless of where they are from, their last names, how they identify themselves, their abilities, their military status, their hometowns or how they choose to vote. “You still have a home here at SOU,” the president says. Current events have highlighted the divisions throughout society, but SOU provides an environment where people of all stripes can live and learn together with respect – and love. “This is not a political stance, and it certainly is not a political act of defiance,” President Bailey says. “I think we can do two things at the same time. We can be honorable, and we can make sure we’re following all of the federal and state laws. And at same time, we can hold true to the principle that everyone is deserving of love.”

January 14, 2025 – Why is President Rick Bailey sitting in an electric Volkswagen van on a video set at SOU’s Digital Media Center? It’s what his January video message is all about: partnerships. In this case, SOU’s partnership with Lithia Motors and its GreenCars division – the VW ID. Buzz electric bus is on loan to the university, part of an historic gift that created the Lithia & Driveway Scholarship program, the SOU Institute for Applied Sustainability and much more. President Bailey says that partnership has had “direct impact in the community and university and statewide. He also shares during this month’s video that he was a first-generation college student, and receiving college informational packets while he was in high schoo helped reinforced the idea that he was college material. Fast-forward to present day and SOU has forged data-sharing partnerships with 10 school districts around the state and region, giving SOU the opportunity to share information and encourage students to pursue their college aspirations. “That’s an example of a partnership where the more we get students into colleges in the state, the more everyone wins,” he says.

November 14, 2024 – Two timely topics are addressed in this month’s video update from President Rick Bailey: SOU’s attitude toward both and external politics and internal shared governance. The president said that “we just had a huge, huge election, and I would say we’re still in the middle of that election season.” The thing that has made him most proud is that SOU has students, faculty and staff who fall on both sides of the political spectrum – very progressive and very conservative – and that we are at our best “when we strive to listen to each other.” President Bailey said that even in his personal life, “as we have healthy and civil debates, there are points that I hadn’t even thought of before.” He also said that SOU’s shared governance model – which involves student, faculty and staff leaders – is particularly important as the university serves as a marketplace of ideas. The input and involvement of those groups help us get to better strategic decisions. He said the collective approach will continue to be strengthened and to serve SOU, because “authority is most effective when it is shared.”

October 17, 2024 – President Rick Bailey is joined by a “guest star” for this month’s video update: Rogue Community College President Randy Weber. The two presidents combine forces to emphasize what they describe as “the beauty that can come from community colleges and universities that are working together.” President Weber says that too often, “territorialism” replaces collaboration between community colleges and universities, and students lose. But he and President Bailey, who began their jobs within about six months of each other, are proponents of what they call “a co-advising model,” in which students are connected to both institutions. “In almost every case, there are classes you are taking at RCC that are building toward a potential bachelor’s degree at SOU, if that’s what you want,” President Bailey says. And President Weber adds, “That kind of a relationship between our institutions means students can get to and through their degree faster, which ultimately leads to entering the workforce sooner and in many cases decreasing the debt students are taking on to reach their educational goal.” Both presidents urge viewers to pay attention to an RCC bond measure on the November ballot, which would help pay for workforce training programs.