Clackamas Community College President hits the Oregon trail

Published 3:26 pm Friday, August 1, 2025

1,500 miles, 17 colleges, 50 days, 1 cause.

Clackamas Community College President Tim Cook has gone through a lot of challenges in his 20-year distance running career, but his current journey might be the toughest yet.

After being inspired by Clatsop Community College staff member Fernando Rojas’s fundraising journey across Oregon in 2021, Cook decided to put his running skills to the test for a good cause.

 “In 2021, Fernando biked by himself to every community college in the state to raise money for students at Clatsop,” Cook said. “That’s what really inspired me to think if he can really do that, then I could go run and really elevate it. So the idea really started here in Astoria.”

Since Cook has seen first hand how many students are struggling to find affordable housing, food, childcare and transportation, he decided to team up with an organization called Running for Oregon Community College Students (ROCCS). He’s hoping his journey across the state will bring awareness to the issues so many college students face.

“I was really doing everything I could to bring awareness to this issue,” Cook said. “One of the ways I thought to do that was to try and unite all the community colleges, but also doing something this big would get some attention. … So it was really a way to grab people and make sure they understand the issue.”

According to a recent survey from The Hope Center, 41% of community college students in Oregon reported experiencing food insecurity within the previous 30 days. In addition, 52% of students faced housing insecurity in the past year, which includes such challenges as affording rent utilities or frequent moves — and nearly 20% of students experienced homelessness in the past year.

“As a first-generation college student, I understand the transformative power of education,” Cook said in a recent statement. “I aim to shed light on the significant challenges our students face, rally support to address these critical needs and raise awareness of the valuable role community colleges play in our state.”

Cook’s arrival in Astoria on Wednesday was his 13th stop on his 17-school journey. He started in Ontario at Treasure Valley Community College and will finish in Hood River at Columbia Gorge Community College. So far, Cook has run an average of about 32 miles per day.

“I’ve been out more than seven weeks and every day I go out and run more than a marathon everyday,” Cook said. “What’s been challenging about that is not just having my body deal with it, but some areas of the state will be 95 degrees or have 2,500 feet of elevation in a day over a mountain. It’s been consistently really challenging getting around the state to do all this.

“Being out here in Astoria has been fantastic, the weather is great. This has been perfect running weather this week.”

Cook is hopeful his journey will inspire others to take the issue of affordable housing seriously.

“I’ve heard from many faculty who were really appreciative for addressing this issue,” Cook said. “At some parts of my run I’ve had some students and faculty run with me, so it’s been pretty inspiring that way.”

Cook says his favorite part of running is arriving at the different community colleges. Despite arriving at Clatsop Community College at 8 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, he was greeted by a crowd of about 20 faculty and students.

 “I love the fact that people showed up at 8 o’clock on a Wednesday morning just to welcome me in and then the running out. I think it’s fantastic.”