Richard W. Lariviere
All seven public colleges in Oregon are run by a single Oregon state board of higher education. Lariviere agreed to work with other public colleges to seek more independence in a plan that resulted in Senate Bill 242. Governor Kitzhaber signed that law on July 20, 2011 to give public college more control over how they spend money. At the same time, OU developed a separate legislative proposal (the "New Partnership") to start a separate 15-person board of trustees for OU and a $800 million state bond issue to match private donations to a new OU endowment fund. The governor and state board asked Lariviere to delay pushing for the OU legislation while Senate Bill 242 went through the legislature first.  Because Lariviere and OU seemed to be working separately from the Governor and state board, the board voted to fire him on November 28, 2011. He was given 30 days to leave his office. The board hired Robert M. Berdahl as interim president.