Empire of the Griffin

Life Beyond Reed

Comment

By Jay Hubert ’66, alumni association president

Centennial Reunions, celebrated last June, was a great success. It brought more than 1500 alumni to campus, making it the biggest reunion ever—about 10 percent of all living Reed alumni attended! It is satisfying to review Reed’s history and to celebrate its success, but it is just as important to look forward to the future. To that end, the alumni association is beginning a new program to support career development for current students and recent graduates. The main motives for this program are the current economic environment and the desire of many older alumni to support younger ones in their quest for satisfying employment.

After Centennial Reunions, the college commissioned a survey of 1,436 alumni attendees who provided an email address. The request received a very high response rate of 52 percent. One of the most significant results is that 45 percent of the respondents said that Centennial Reunions enhanced or reaffirmed their desire to volunteer for Reed in some capacity. In response to an open-ended question, many alumni expressed a particular interest in helping younger alumni advance their careers.

To tap into the incredible energy demonstrated on campus in June, the alumni board has established a new committee called Life Beyond Reed. Together with Reed’s career services, the committee will sponsor a series of Working Weekends. The first one will be February 2–4, 2012. During these few days, alumni speakers will organize and lead skills workshops for students and recent graduates, meet with students one on one or in groups, sit on industry or expertise panels that address specific topics, and share job and internship opportunities. This weekend was chosen because many alumni will already be on campus for board of trustees and alumni board meetings.

There will be a special focus on nonacademic careers. The majority of Reed alumni do not pursue careers in academia, so it should not surprise any of us that many alumni have successful careers in jobs seemingly unrelated to their undergraduate major. However, sometimes it takes a while to get a good start. Furthermore, the demands of the workplace are changing faster and faster. The Working Weekend will provide forums that explore how to apply a Reed education to a broad array of job opportunities, including employment in nonprofits or as entrepreneurs.

Working Weekends will require significant coordination. Alumni are needed to organize panels and lead workshops. Career services will handle publicity to current students. Email notices have been sent to many recent graduates. The early volunteers will have the most influence on which themes and topics are covered. If you want to participate or assist, please send email to the organizer of the Working Weekends, Adam Riggs ’95. Also, update your IRIS profile and consider adding a LinkedIn profile to provide a snapshot of your professional accomplishments. We believe Working Weekends will strengthen cross-pollination and networking within the alumni community and between alumni and current students. This will strengthen the Reed community as a whole and all those who participate.

The Life Beyond Reed committee also plans to expand alumni support for recent graduates beyond the immediate Portland area. We welcome your thoughts on how to do this effectively. If you are interested, send email to the chair of Life Beyond Reed, Gloria Johnson ’79.

The Nitty Gritty

What: Working Weekend
When: Feb 2–4, 2012
Contact: Adam Riggs ’95

Spotlight on: Cleveland

Comment

Almost a dozen Reedies gathered for a wonderful tour of rare Indian Kalighat paintings at the Cleveland Art Museum in August. This tour was led by guest-curator Deepak Sarma ’91, who teaches philosophy and religion at Case Western. The paintings were produced by anonymous artists between the 1830s and 1880s and were sold as souvenirs in bazaars around Calcutta and around the Kalighat Temple.

Deepak’s insight, engagement, and thoughtful dissection led to an animated discussion. After the tour, many in the group stayed for drinks and conversation on a nearby patio. Deepak joined Reed’s alumni board in July and was on campus in September for volunteer weekend. While there, he spoke to students in Professor Mari Jyvasjarvi’s introductory course in South Asian religions and gave a lecture with the marvelous and provocative title “Natural Born Killers: Karma and Predestination in one Hindu tradition.”

Live in the Cleveland area? Want to join in? Send email to Chantal Sudbrack ’97.

Boar’s Head

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Mark your calendar for the alumni holiday party on Saturday, December 17. Reed’s own Boar’s Head procession is still observed with accustomed ceremony (See "Hog Wild."). Help us keep this beloved tradition strong by joining the Boar’s Head Ensemble singers! For more information, send email to alumni & parent relations, call 503/777-7589, or go to the holiday party website.

Alumni board bylaws

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To provide the nominations committee more time to solicit and deliberate on nominations, the alumni board approved the following revisions to the Constitution of the Alumni Association.

ARTICLE VII Nominations and Elections

Section 5. The nominating committee, on or before November 15, shall nominate one candidate for each position to be filled except for representatives of local chapters.

Section 6. As soon as possible after November 15, notice of the nominees, including a brief biographical sketch of each, and procedure for proposing alternate nominees, will be printed in a college publication sent to all alumni. Additional nominations for each vacant position may be submitted by petition from the membership. Said petitions must contain the name and a brief biographical sketch of the nominee, the office to be filled, and the signatures of 50 or more members of the Alumni Association. Petitions must be received in the alumni relations office on or before April 1.

Section 7. Petitioners for each of the officer positions shall indicate the office for which they seek nomination. Those seeking one of the vacant at-large positions on the board of directors should indicate only that they seek one of these seats, and are not to indicate that they wish to stand for election in opposition to any specific nominee.

Section 8. In all offices for which there is only one nominee on April 1, the nominee shall be considered elected as of that date.

Section 9. Election for all offices for which there are more nominees than positions available shall be by ballot. On or before May 1, ballots shall be mailed to all members of the Alumni Association. The nominees shall appear on the ballot by name and class only. All ballots shall be accompanied by a copy of the appropriate constitutional provisions and a list of the nominees, with a brief biographical summary listing the nominees’ professional, civic, and alumni activities prepared by the alumni director. Candidates may submit a statement on behalf of their candidacy of not more than 300 words. This statement will be transmitted with the ballot and other information by the college at no cost to the petitioners.

Section 11. All ballots must be received by the alumni relations office by May 24 in order to be counted. The supervision of the election and the counting of the ballots shall be by the board of directors. The nominees receiving the greatest number of votes for each office shall be elected. Candidates for the vacant at-large seats on the board of directors will be ranked according to the number of votes received, and the vacancies filled beginning with the candidate receiving the greatest number of votes. In the event of a tie vote, the board of directors shall elect the candidate from among the tied candidates.