Paul Boaden BS’77 was 16 years old when he and a friend arrived in Salem for a college visit. As soon as they set foot on campus, people stepped up to help — and it made all the difference.
Taking notice of their overnight bags, Willamette students offered directions and advice. Then, members of Kappa Sigma fraternity hosted them overnight. At breakfast the next morning, fraternity brothers invited the two high schoolers to shadow them in class.
“One of the guys thought his 8 o’clock class would be interesting, so he took us with him to Gatke,” Paul recalls. “Another member picked us up at Gatke and took us to Eaton for his 9 o’clock. Another took us to his 10 o’clock.”
In those classes, professors welcomed the visitors and invited them to participate.
After a morning of classes, Paul and his friend headed to Admissions, where legendary dean Richard “Buzz” Yocum BA’49 stepped up to personally lead their campus tour.
By the time the two teenagers boarded a bus and rode away from campus, Paul was sold on Willamette. “That ended my college search,” he recalls. “Willamette became the only school to which I applied.”
As a Willamette student, Paul majored in sociology and American studies and joined Kappa Sigma, where he gained invaluable lessons in leadership, adaptability, and teamwork. He would use those lessons daily in his long career at United Airlines.
The spirit of generosity Paul found at Willamette has guided him ever since. Over the years, he’s stepped up time and again for Willamette — through service, leadership, and philanthropy.
A transformative bequest
Paul has now made an unrestricted estate bequest to Willamette. This flexible, forward-looking gift will empower the university to use the funds wherever they are most needed in the future, for generations to come.
“I'm the last leaf on the tree, and Willamette provided me with so many openings,” Paul says. “My bequest is a way of saying thank you, and of ensuring that future students will have similar openings for success. I also hope my gift encourages others to see how each of us can leave a lasting mark on the university and help carry its mission forward.”
For decades, Paul has acted when and where the university needs him most, whether by closing the funding gap for the Career Center, revitalizing the Springer Garden, or, with his estate bequest, providing the ultimate resource for the future. His approach is simple: if the need is clear, he is ready to help.
