Sallyportal: Madly Blogging Reed

Pass the Torch. Make a Gift.

By Chris Lydgate ’90 on June 15, 2016 11:22 AM

PHOTO BY AIMÉE SISCO

Summertime. The dorms are silent, the seniors have marched, reunions have come and gone. History professors are breaking out their bicycle shorts. The school year is well and truly over, except for one extremely important detail—your gift to Reed.

Make no mistake, your gift matters. One of the many delights of spending time on campus is that I witness the impact of your generosity every day. When I read an essay by a political science major who grew up in a family of farmworkers. When I listen to a sophomore in a math class slicing her way through a topological conundrum. When I watch a physics major powering up a giant laser to analyse the harmonics of a Tibetan singing bowl.

Last year, your gifts helped 304 seniors write their theses. Let us grant $26.5 million in financial aid to more than half our students. Bought 8,000 new library books and let us subscribe to 315 online resources. Practically everything at Reed—from the DoJo to the philosophy department—is made possible by your philanthropy.

To provide our incoming freshmen with the same kind of outstanding educational experience that lies at the heart of Reed’s academic mission, we need to raise $4.67 million by June 30.

But this isn’t just about Reed. It’s also about you.

When you make a gift, you are making a powerful statement about the impact Reed has had on your life. You are honoring your professors. Acknowledging your intellectual debts. Strengthening your community. And perhaps most important, you are passing the torch—the gift of Reed—to a new generation.

So in addition to our monetary goal, we have another goal that is, to my mind, even more crucial: to earn donations from 4,600 alumni. Unlike the dollar total, this goal cannot be reached by the extraordinary efforts of a small crew of diehards. Instead, it can only be achieved by a collective act of will from alumni from around the globe who cherish Reed and the ideals for which it stands.

After all, if we don’t support Reed, why should anyone else?

So please join me in making a gift by June 30.

Every gift counts.

Tags: philanthropy, alumni, tibetan singing bowl,