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Reed Takes Center Stage, Literally

By Ethan Knudson '11

Ten decades of Reed were celebrated at Centennial Reunions in one-act plays rife with academic jokes, historical references, and the tumultuous emotions that permeate a return to campus.

Reedies from several decades stepped on stage in the chapel to play stressed-out seniors, hesitant freshmen, and even legendary philosophy professor Marvin Levich. In one scene, merry prankster Ken Kesey wrestles Owen, the freshman from Idaho, at an early Renn Fayre.

Deal Faster, Cried the Losers

By Brandon Hamilton '11

No one likes to lose, and when the cost of defeat is an entire year's worth of timê, the stakes are high.

Continuing a long tradition, classmates sat down at the poker table in the Capehart room at Centennial Reunions to indulge in a little exercise in combinatorics.

Making Waves: Alumni Generate Mini Tsunami

Never underestimate the power of Reedies. At a Centennial Reunions class on Thursday, June 9, I learned firsthand that all we need to create a tidal wave in our very own sports center swimming pool is two dozen Reedies and a leader with an understanding of classical physics.

Okay, perhaps "tidal" is a bit of an exaggeration of the wave's size. But it's no overstatement to say that we managed to slosh water out of both ends of the pool by doing nothing more than hopping in and out of the shallow end at the direction of Brad Wright '61. Brad gave an explanation of the physics of wave-making before the experiment began (here is an extended version of the video above, complete with full scientific explanation). I confess that between the poor acoustics of the pool deck and the anticipation of jumping in the water, most of the science to passed me by. I can tell you that coordination of the physics of the event required someone to stand at the pool's edge swinging the so-called Pendulum of Destiny, a group of four rubber duckies with a golf balls attached to their bases floating in the middle of the pool, and our willingness to hop in when the wave was at its highest point only to hop back out each time it ebbed to its lowest.

Rugby: Eighties vs. The World!

Brandon Hamilton '11

It's an ancient debate--are youth and speed a match for age and guile? At Centennial Reunions, Reedies traded eye goggles for mouth guards and lab coats for cleats to settle the question on the pitch as alumni from the eighties (the "First Fifteen") faced off against younger grads for a little post-thesis physics experiment.

At the Helm: Bragdon, Koblik, Diver

By Ethan Knudson '11

Reed presidents past and present Paul Bragdon [1971-88], Steve Koblik [1992-2001], and Colin Diver [2002-] held a panel at Centennial Reunions to discuss how they surmounted immense challenges to preserve Reed College amidst financial and national turmoil (video).

Reed Breaks Ground for Performing Arts Building

By Alex Walker '12

President Colin Diver and several professors broke ground for Reed's new $28 million performing arts building before a crowd of alumni celebrating Centennial Reunions last week.

A Song of Two Syllabi with Prof. Wally Englert

The first lines of Homer's Iliad reverberated to the carved rafters of the chapel on Friday as Reedies of all generations were reunited in the shared experience of reliving their first Hum lecture during Centennial Reunions. However, there was a twist. On the back of the lecture handout (distributed by a beaming President Colin Diver, who marched up and down the aisles brandishing copies) was a timeline that began, not in Greece, but in Egypt. And the Homeric epic of choice for the semester was not the tale of Achilleus and his anger, but that of Odysseus and his quest to return home. As professor Wally Englert [classics 1981-] explained, the Hum syllabus has undergone some significant changes in the past year...

"We used to say 'The Greeks were strange,'" Englert noted, while discussing the inclusion of new material from other Mediterranean cultures on the reading list, "But I'm going to do something a little radical here and say: Ancient cultures were strange."

Olde Reed: Was It Better?

It's a cry familiar to freshmen from every decade of Reed's existence: "You're doing what? Hah! Back at Olde Reed..."

Yes, it's Olde Reed! That elusive golden age in which classes were harder, Renn Fayres were crazier, laurels were shinier, and hijinks were, er, jinkier. Olde Reed was always dead by your freshman year, unless you are telling the story, in which case it was dead by your listeners' freshman year. It was epic, it was extraordinary, and it was, in whatever indescribable fashion, better.

100 Years of the Canyon

Ask anyone about Reed's campus and they are sure to mention the canyon. The 28-acre watershed--a critical part of the Crystal Springs Creek--is a beautiful sanctuary for observing wildlife, taking a walk, or simply gathering your thoughts. It's also, as one alumna put it, "very romantic."

Biology professor Keith Karoly agrees. "That's biology, too," he quipped during his presentation on science in the canyon, a lecture he gave June 8, as part of Centennial Reunions. The participation of the audience--alumni from the 1940s to the present--made it clear that the canyon is a central part of both Reed's and Reedies' identities.

From Prometheus to Pork Shoulder

Steven Raichlen '75 knows more about barbeque than Prometheus knew about fire. His stat sheet includes 26 books, five James Beard Awards, three IACP awards, a PBS-TV series, his own line of grilling tools, the founding of Barbeque University, a beat-down of Bobby Flay in a barbeque cook-off, a BA in French literature from Reed, and his liver has never been eaten by a raptor. Not to gloat, but another advantage over Prometheus.

"I'm not a chef," Raichlen told alumni celebrating Centennial Reunions this week. "Food, for me, has always been a window into culture."

Reed Activists Stage "Sit-Down"

By Brandon Hamilton '11

Several generations of activists assembled in the Chapel to trade insights, strategies, and stories as a part of Social Justice 101, one of more than 200 events being held this week to celebrate Centennial Reunions.

Speakers ranged from Peter Bergel '65, executive director of Oregon PeaceWorks, whose self-styled "graduate education" took the form of years of living in a commune, to professor Kristi Hansen '96, an agricultural economist who teaches at the University of Wyoming.

President Diver Announces Retirement

President Colin S. Diver announced today that he will retire at the end of the next academic year.

"I have loved Reed College more than any other institution for which I have worked, and I have loved being its president more than any other job I have ever held," Diver wrote in an email to the community. "But the time is approaching when I need to seek new challenges, strike out in new directions, and, yes, smell the flowers."

Beyond the Letters

Great piece on Lloyd Reynolds by Brett Campbell in Willamette Week:

Click here for the full piece.

New Mathematical Model for HIV

By Ethan Knudson '11

Uganda 1993: Sociologist and statistician Martina Morris '80 had just presented her sophisticated mathematical model on the spread of HIV to a conference attended by African elders.

In the back, a man raised his hand and asked, "Can your models account for having more than one partner at a time?"

When Morris admitted they didn't, the man walked out.

Bringing the Humanities to Portland

Shanaquewa Finney admits the reason she signed up for the class was because the flyer advertised that it was free.

"That caught my attention. So I said, 'Let's see what this is about.'"

Get Your Kicks at Reunions

Yes, there's still time.

Register for our spectacular Centennial Reunions, June 6-12. And check out a sampling of the incredible delights that await you. Rugby. Dance. Basketry. Majuscules. A HOT-AIR BALLOON. Gary Snyder '51. Eggdog. (No, not eggnog. Eggdog.) Tikkler. Davis Rogan '90 and the Allstar New Orleans Rhythm & Blues Revue. FERRIS WHEEL. Stand-up economics. Gilbert & Sullivan. Fireworks!

For more about Reunions, especially the amazing art that will be be everywhere on campus, see more on our sister blog, the Riffin' Griffin.

Let the parade begin!

There was much jubilation and noise: Friday was thesis parade.

Congratulations to everyone completed a thesis this year. Wear your laurels with pride.

Poop Scoop

It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it.

On April 27 Sasha Kramer '99 returned to campus to give a talk on ecological sanitation-- the science of turning human waste (yes, we do mean poop!) into safe and sanitary fertilizer.

What does diversity mean to you?

That was one of the questions put to the Reed community at a photo booth event last month. As part of the creation of a comprehensive new diversity web presence, the Committee on Diversity set up shop in Commons and prompted students, faculty, and staff to ponder the following questions:

It's no surprise that Reedies took this task seriously. Over 100 people participated, contributing comments and posing for photos that are by turns thought-provoking, cheeky, irreverent, and bold.

Reed Prof on "Philosophy Talk"

For the last several years, listening to OPB radio on Thursday nights at 8 pm has become something of an obsession of mine. Maybe obsession is too strong a word; maybe it's more of a desire. Though, desire is a loaded word that would need a lot of unpacking before it can really explain my relationship to the show. Of course, my definition of desire is also conditional to my understanding of how I'm using it in the context of this given situation. Oh my, now I've stumbled into the theory of meaning, or is it meaning-theory, or semantics, and what's the difference anyway?

Luckily for me, Philosophy Talk hosts Ken Taylor and John Perry (two men, four first names) of Stanford University spend an hour each week explaining conundrums such as mine. The duo tackle philosophical concepts under titles like "Desire," "Money and Morality," and "What are Words Worth" in a way--as they say in the show's introduction--that questions everything but the audience's intelligence.

Which makes Reed poli-sci professor Tamara Metz the perfect guest. Metz is the author of Untying the Knot: Marriage, The State, and the Case for Their Divorce. Metz's book makes a powerful argument that marriage, like religion, should be separate from the state. I joined Tamara at the OPB studios as she talked with Ken and John during the April 14 live studio broadcast... "I think it was the ideal venue for me to introduce my work to a nonacademic audience," says Metz. "The show is a great combination of popular culture and philosophical thought."

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Archives

• The Debate over Hum 110
• Reed Faculty Adopts Anti-Racism Statement
• Reed Launches Neuroscience Major
• Reed College Supports DACA
• Hum 110: the Lost Lecture
• Is Gilgamesh Relevant?
• Total. Reed.
• Reed Welcomes the Class of ’21
• Physicists use AI to Probe Mystery of Subatomic Jets
• “You Can Do Anything,” a Business Writer’s Ode to the Liberal Arts
• Tyler Nordgren ’91 Sees the Solar Eclipse in its Totality
• RIP Prof. Scott Smith, Historian and Humanist
• Senior Wins Award for Thesis on Chilean Art Resisters
• 12,280 Feet Later: Reedies Summit Mt. Adams
• Senior Wins Award for Thesis on Cyberfeminism
• Annual Fund Raises Record $4.6 million
• Bio Profs Win NSF Grant to Study Shapeshifting Cells
• Defining Your Own Career
• Westwind’s Whisper Echoes Still
• New Initiative Helps Students Work for Social Justice

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