President’s speeches, letters, and articles
Subject: Welcome to the new academic year, 2018–19
August 23, 2018
Dear students, faculty, and staff,
I write to welcome you to the start of the 2018–19 academic year. Since I have a new job this year as acting president, I want to take the opportunity, at the start of my new role and the new academic year, to reflect briefly on change.
First-year and transfer students—all new to the Reed experience—most obviously face the excitement and uncertainty of discovery. I am reminded, however, that many other members of the Reed community will also explore unfamiliar territory. In addition to the introduction of a new curriculum for Humanities 110, Reed faculty will introduce more than 85 new courses this year, including many cross-disciplinary offerings. Sophomores will identify their majors for their final two years. They will choose from among many fields of study at Reed, including five new majors, one of which—Comparative Race and Ethnicity Studies—was added just last spring. Students contemplating their adventures beyond Reed will have the opportunity to partner with an expanded Center for Life Beyond Reed, which has new advisers who are eager to help every student understand the contributions they can make to companies, schools, and communities around the world. Staff at Reed have worked hard over the summer to ready the campus for a new academic year. They continue to take advantage of compelling new opportunities to support and enable Reed’s educational mission. In addition, we will all have opportunities to participate in the process of finding Reed’s next president, engaging in the important work of a presidential search committee led by Reed trustees and joined by faculty, staff, and students.
The college believes in the importance and usefulness of change, as evidenced by the immense efforts to enhance the Reed curriculum and provide better support for students. As we head into the new academic year together, I endeavor to remember that the antidote to fear of the unknown is the shared understanding of and excitement about the journey. Together, we will look for ways to embrace change.
I look forward to welcoming you in person at upcoming celebratory events that mark the beginning of what will be an invigorating and purposeful adventure.
Sincerely,
Hugh Porter
Acting President
Reed College