Oklahoma State Receives Largest Gift In U.S. College History

Pickens Gives $165M To Oklahoma State Athletics

Mesa Petroleum Founder Boone Pickens has donated $165M to his alma mater, Oklahoma State Univ. (OSU), “the largest single gift in American collegiate history,” according to Arnold Hamilton of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. The donation, along with other gifts and investment interests, “is expected to underwrite $300[M] in new and improved athletic facilities.” The money will also go toward renovations at Boone Pickens Stadium and the construction of an athletic village. OSU officials said that Pickens’ gifts, which total more than $300M, will give the school “a chance to compete more effectively in a Big 12 Conference that features wealthier athletic programs” like Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. OSU officials added that the school spent only $11.7M on athletic facilities from ’67-99, and noted the $35M annual athletic department budget ranks ninth out of 12 conference schools and is “less than half” of Texas’ athletics budget. Hamilton notes Pickens’ donation tops the $100M that entrepreneur Ralph Engelstad gave to North Dakota in the late ’90s, and the $50M given by Nike Chair Phil Knight to the Oregon in the ’80s (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1/11). Pickens’ Q&A with the DAILY OKLAHOMAN.

KNIGHT RIDER: ESPN.com’s Mike Fish examined Knight’s influence at Oregon as part of ESPN.com’s series on the “role of the college booster.” Oregon AD Bill Moos said Knight since the ’95 Rose Bowl has given the school $60-70M, which has gone towards facility upgrades. Fish noted Knight, an Oregon alum, “doesn’t sit on university boards. Yet he routinely mingles in the football locker room after” games, where he has a $90,000-a year double suite above midfield. Moos “chats with him once or twice a week, and has deputized [Associate AD] Jim Bartko to ‘steward’ and brief Knight on an almost daily basis.” Fish noted Knight is “known to don headseats to stay abreast of the coaches’ play calling at home games,” and during the offseason, coach Mike Bellotti and his two coordinators visit Knight’s home near Portland, “spending a few hours talking football and drawing up plays” (ESPN.com, 1/10).