Eliot Circular

$4.5M for Annual Fund

By Randall S. Barton

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap,” author Robert Louis Stevenson admonished, “but by the seeds that you plant.”

Alumni, parents, and friends of Reed seeded future generations of Reedies when they came together to give a record-breaking $4.545 million in the Annual Fund drive for fiscal year 2016, which ended in June. And no fewer than 4,446 alumni stepped up to make a gift to Reed.

Reasons for giving were as varied as the givers. Scott Beutel ’06 exemplified the motivation of many alumni who made a gift. “Reed taught me how to think and how to live,” he said. “Even if I can’t give a lot, I want to give something because Reed still influences me every day.”

Young alumni donors—those who have graduated within the last 10 years—continue to give to Reed in increasing numbers, with 911 giving to Reed this past year.

“Reed was an experience that shaped me into who I am, probably the most influential time of my life thus far,” adds Nik Smirnow ’15. “I am delighted to give back to that community, to provide the experience for others that others provided for me. It makes me feel connected again, and that’s worth so much.”

It is said that people don’t invest in institutions; they invest in the ideas and people in whom they believe. Thank you so much for believing in the idea of Reed and for your support in seeding future generations of Reedies.