Translating the Value of a Reed Liberal Arts Education in the 21st Century

President Audrey Bilger, Center for Life Beyond Reed’s Alice Harra and Nate Martin ’16 Talk about how students find their purpose.

For more than a century, Reed has graduated lifelong learners into the world. Students come to engage with a world-renowned academic program that supports their intellectual development. For the past decade, Reedies have had another partner to support their development and success: the Center for Life Beyond Reed (CLBR), where students learn how to extend their education beyond the academic year into three summers and four winter breaks, with opportunities beyond Reed such as internships, research, clinical experience, job shadowing, conference attendance, creative endeavors, and more.

“Reedies love to ask big questions, tackle hard problems, and dedicate time to their community to solve intellectually and morally challenging issues facing the world,” said Reed President Audrey Bilger. “CLBR is really good at helping students talk about what they’ve learned at Reed so that their talents can become legible to people. Thanks to significant growth in donations to this program, we are now able to support more students to help them make the impact on the world they hope to have.” 

CLBR’s integrated advising model is unlike any in the country. Advising for graduate schools, careers, and national fellowships is woven together so that students are exposed to a broad range of opportunities outside of the Reed campus. Associate Director of Data and Systems Nate Martin ’16 leads the CLBR fellowship operations and works closely with the faculty on these prestigious awards requiring institutional nomination. Reed was this year again named a Fulbright Top Producer.

“CLBR believes deeply in a Reed education as a strong foundation for success in any field,” said Center for Life Beyond Reed Director Alice Harra. “We are committed to helping students express the value of the liberal arts in the 21st century. When we do our work well, students have clarity of purpose, skills, connections, and confidence to translate their Reed education into any postbaccalaureate outcome, including graduate school, work, a national fellowship, and more.”

Many colleges and universities require students to seek out support and to largely know what they want to do after they graduate in order to access resources. At Reed, CLBR’s four professional advisors are aligned by Communities of Purpose, a Reed-like framework which looks at careers through a lens of problems solved in community with others who share their purpose, such as Sustainable Life on Earth, Scientific and Technical Innovation, Art and Beauty in the World, or many others (see sidebar).

“We start with students’ ‘why’ and help them articulate why they want to do what they want to do, and that can lead to a lot of different worlds,” Martin said. “That is really my favorite part.”

Students can apply for funding from CLBR even in their first year to explore their purpose during summer or winter break, when they can engage in experiences to determine whether a specific field or career is right for them. 

“What I’ve seen from students who come back from these experiences is sometimes they come to a realization and say, ‘I didn’t know I wanted to do that, but this internship really opened my eyes,’” Bilger said. “Or conversely, ‘I was sure about what I wanted to do when I came to Reed, but a summer internship convinced me that I want to reach back and think about some other areas of interest because I’d rather do that.’”

CLBR advisors seek to help students find paid summer opportunities—and when students want to gain valuable experience with nonprofit or government organizations focused on social work, education, social justice, journalism, and more, Reed is able to support some students with the Summer Internship Fund for internships in fields that are historically unpaid.

In addition, the Career Advancement Fund helps students year-round with up to $500 to explore their purpose through conferences, professional clothes for internship or job interviews, and more. Reed’s Annual Fund contributes to the College’s operating budget, allowing services such as CLBR to support students’ career exploration.

CLBR programs have expanded significantly because of generous support from Reed alumni and friends. Alumni in particular have long expressed eagerness to help Reed students take those critical first steps after graduation. Donations of all sizes have impacted these programs, including leadership gifts to create endowments to support student internships, career-based exploration treks, the career advancement fund, and a signature endowment to establish the President’s Summer Fellowship. 

“We are very grateful for Reed’s engaged alumni and parent community who generously provide funding for student opportunities, especially for those students who would be unable to pursue their purpose without it,” Harra said.

The CLBR model is being noticed by colleges around the country, who reach out wanting to learn more about it after hearing about Reed’s approach at national professional conferences where the CLBR staff present.

Bilger appreciates CLBR’s engagement with students to help them succeed and thrive after graduation. 

“We want our students to find their path to an enriched life in which they feel satisfied, and the concept of purpose particularly resonates,” she said. “Feeling like you’re living a fulfilled life as a lifelong learner is really key. That is conveyed by the name and the work of the Center for Life Beyond Reed.”

Tags: Institutional, Life Beyond Reed