President Bailey’s Video Update for June 2026

President Bailey visits Laurel Field at Raider Stadium for this month’s video message, focusing on the upcoming SOU Commencement. “It’s always our best day of the year, where we celebrate our graduates with their families and the community,” President Bailey says. “We get to see students achieve their educational dreams.” He acknowledges that this year’s graduation ceremony comes at an unsettled time. “There are a lot of questions about the future of higher education – not just at SOU, but across the state and around the country,” he says. But he emphasizes that SOU is stable, operational and will continue serving students and the southern Oregon region for many years. The university’s current transformation requires reducing SOU’s $100 million annual budget by about a fifth, but President Bailey is leading an effort to gain positive results from that painful process. “You are going to start to see some plans for how we are going to do that, and likely become a role model – really for the rest of the state, and probably for the rest of the country – in terms of regional public universities,” he says. “There is a path for SOU, and one worth fighting for.” He tells viewers that there are “so many ways” supporters can help the university, from student recruitment and retention to advocacy and philanthropy.