The Riffin' Griffin – A blog by and for Reed College alumni. Find posts by category listed below!

Party at PIE to toast Reed Switchboard

Time flies when you’re incubating a fabulous idea! You may recall that last summer Reed Switchboard, the networking site created to share Reed love, was given a boost by Wieden & Kennedy as part of the ad firm’s Portland Incubator Experiment (PIE). The brainchild of Mara Zepeda ’02 and Sean Lerner ’10, Switchboard was one of only seven tech start-ups selected for this collaboration with tech entrepreneurs; it was given $20,000 in seed money, office space at Wieden+Kennedy, and three months of hands on mentorship from past PIE winners. Since then Switchboard has further polished its business plan and signed up Reed College as its first client!

To celebrate all of this growth and innovation, we invite you to an open house at the Switchboard pad within Wieden+Kennedy in Portland’s Pearl District:

Thursday, February 20, 6 – 8 p.m.
Wieden+Kennedy, 224 NW 13th Ave.
Note: Please enter on NW 12th, just north of Davis

RSVP to alumni@reed.edu.

We heart Reed Switchboard

This season of fresh starts and affectionate missives is the perfect time to announce our exciting new partnership with Reed Switchboard—an online forum for Reedies to connect with one another about jobs, housing, and other goods and services. Like Craigslist (but especially for Reedies), on Switchboard you can ask for what you need and offer what you have to give.

We are fortunate to have a student worker who serves as a public face and a wonderful advocate for Reed Switchboard. I am pleased to introduce our community manager, Kaori Frieda ’15, and share the announcement in her own words.

—Mike Teskey, director, alumni & parent relations

Kaori_Orientation_382

I’m Kaori Freda ‘15, a junior art major who loves Reed College. I’m writing to announce Reed’s official partnership with Switchboard.

If you haven’t heard of it: Switchboard is a networking site created by Reedies. It is a place where Reedies can ask for what they need, and offer what they have to give; examples include jobs, internships, mentorship, advice, places to stay in cities around the world, and even a chance to sail the Mediterranean. Students, alumni, staff, faculty, parents, and friends connect there to find opportunities and meet each other’s needs.

Alumni and students have logged countless success stories, from finding jobs at the World Health Organization to finding hosts in New York and San Francisco. Take me, for example. Through Switchboard, Mara ‘02 and Andrew ‘02 hosted me in Florence, Italy. Then they connected me with an internship with Harvard in Italy. These connections happen every day through Switchboard. Reedies share a special connection and as alumni, you have much to offer and ask of the Reed community.

Let me be the first to personally invite you to use Switchboard: post your own ask or offer, browse the site for opportunities, and see the successful connections being made by Reedies around the globe. On Switchboard you can help a Reedie out and strengthen what we mean when we say “Love Reed.” We have almost 1,000 posts, and more are added every day.

I look forward to sending you the occasional update, and watching the Reed community flourish and support one another on this new platform.

Warmest wishes,

Kaori Freda ‘15 and Alumni & Parent Relations

P.S. Mark your calendars for an open house celebrating this union on Thursday, February 20, 6-8 p.m. at the offices of Wieden+Kennedy in Portland’s Pearl District!

Thomas Lamb Eliot Award

What do Richard Danzig ’65, Barbara Ehrenreich ’63, and Gary Snyder ’51 have in common (other than being Reed College alumni)? They are the first three honorees of the college’s Thomas Lamb Eliot award (Danzig was the first recipient in 2011). Who will be the fourth? Help us grow the pool of potential recipients by nominating a worthy graduate.

Officially, the award is called the Thomas Lamb Eliot Award for Lifetime Achievement by a Reed College Graduate. Here are the criteria:

Achievement: The awardee should have achieved distinction in one or more fields of endeavor. That distinction should be based on the quality and importance of his or her contributions to those fields or to society. The awardee’s record of achievement should be both intrinsically impressive and importantly consequential for the world. Popular fame is not necessary, but recognition by experts in one’s field is necessary.
Record of achievement: The awardee should have produced a record of achievement over a sustained period. A single achievement, no matter how impressive, is unlikely to be enough to merit a nomination.
Exemplifies Reed values: In addition to the distinction of the awardee and the quality of his or her record of achievement, it is important that the awardee exemplify qualities that valued by the college, including intellectual rigor, independence, and integrity.

Each year, the past presidents of the alumni association provide the college with a list of names for the college to consider, and then a panel of faculty and staff forwards a recommendation to the president and the board of trustees.

We seek names and are open to nominations for this year until March 15. Nominations stay in the pool for consideration in subsequent years, so even if you miss this deadline, please consider submitting a name to alumni@reed.edu.

Reed Offspring at Orientation

New Reedies with alumni parents (or other relatives) qualify as members of a prestigious organization fondly referred to as O.R.G.Y (Offspring of Reed Generations of Yesteryear). They, along with family members, were invited to join other Reed legacies for a group photo on Wednesday, August 22. Gorgeous weather graced this photo shoot on the chapel steps, and everyone received an O.R.G.Y button to wear proudly!

Here’s a picture of some Reed alumni and their excited/nervous/non-plussed Reedie progeny (future alumni!).

Left to right (back): Jazz Weisman, Anthony Leong, Rose Gittel, Jody Hoffer-Gittel ’85, Galen Blair, Kurt Blair ’92; (middle) Joe Weisman ’65, Keith Allen ’83, Sarah Allen, Darryl Leong ’72, Ruben de la Huerga, Lafcadio Flint, Maria Blair ’91, Gavin Flint ’82; (front) Anne Gendler ’81, Naomi Gendler, Sandra Moffet ’79, Millie Dunn, Corinna Jackson, Holly Hurwitz ’79.

Continue reading Reed Offspring at Orientation

The great griffin float emerges!

Dearest Comrades:

I have always wanted to write one of these letters, and they're finally letting me! And yes, it has been censored so you will have to use your decoders to get the real message. Reedfayre '12 (the event formally known as Reunions) is upon us, and there is a special treat for all: the griffin float! If you haven't heard already, Reed is entering a float in the Portland Rose Festival's Grand Floral Parade. All of the floats have traditionally been built by one company, but of course as Reedies we wanted to build our own.

I have been privileged to work with the group of "local" Reedies (for whom the apple didn't land far from the tree), and we have been working on it for a while now. It is pretty awesome. The fun never stops! I promise anyone who shows up to lend a hand a ride around campus. There will be fun and games, food and drink, and a late night viewing of Animal House while sitting on the float. The Rose Festival parade is the weekend after Reedfayre, and I would like to encourage everyone to stay the week, help decorate the float with flowers and come cheer or participate in the parade on Saturday, June 9.

It has been a fabulous time building this amazing vehicle, please come back for a ride down memory lane!* I know it is getting close, but if you are at all able to return for Reedfayre, this will be a most memorable experience, I assure you.

Sincerely looking forwards to a fabulous weekend,

–Rob Mack '93

*See one of Rob's earliest conveyances, the MOSPUD, as well as other creations from Renn Fayres past.

Reed’s Rose Festival Float

With Reed students’ propensity for recombinant construction and conveyance, it is no surprise that the college entered a float in Portland’s Rose Festival Parade as early as 1936. While the details are murky, we have this one photo, as well as this plaque commemorating Reed’s third-place “prize” position.

Fast forward to 2012, the close of our centennial year, and a merry band of intrepid engineers is hard at work on an automated griffin for the new century! Rob Mack ’93 and Mike Teskey, director of alumni relations, have led the effort to craft a unique float to roll in Portland’s 100th Grand Floral Parade on Saturday, June 9.

Assisted by Zac Perry, canyon restoration specialist, Ben Lund ’93 from mail services, Dan Schafer ’92, Martha Richards ’92, Lars Fjelstad ’92, and other alumni, this group of volunteers has been hammering out the creation over the past several weeks. See Dan’s photos, as well as this artist’s rendering that serves as inspiration and imagine a griffin that can flap its wings (and possibly more!).

An early model got a test run at Renn Fayre, delivering the Reed Meat Smoke victuals to the feast! There is yet more work to be done, and we welcome help from all members of the Reed community. Stay tuned for a decorating sign-up sheet to be available soon; we’ll begin the beautification process at Reunions ’12: Reedfayre, so sign up today!

Pop-Up Oyster Bar!

Jon Rowley ’69 rousted ten dozen Totten Inlet oysters out of bed in Olympia to bring to Reed’s “Working Weekend,” February 3-5. This “pop-up oyster bar” appeared in the library lobby late afternoon on Saturday and was met with much enthusiasm.

Jon is a marketing consultant for Taylor Shellfish Farms, and while on campus he met Lillian Kuehl ’09, lab manager at Taylor Shellfish, for the first time. “I had heard about this Reed student that worked at the Taylor hatchery but had never met her, so it was fun to work our pop-up oyster bar with her.” Soon enough, David Autrey ’89 and Amy Wesselman ’91 happened along with some of their Westrey wine to serve as a perfect complement for the marine feast.

Pleased that the impromptu oyster tasting was well received, Jon later commented that it “turned out to be a perfect little adjunct to Working Weekend, an example of how there is always room, with a little entrepenurial spirit, for a good idea.” Also, he was tickled that a good number of students had their first oyster that day. His old friend Hannah Fishman ’14 lent a hand, learning the art of shucking for the first time.

See photos of the lovely Totten Inlet Virginicas and Shigoku oysters, and their fans, on his Flickr page.

Reed Alumni Holiday Party 2011

More rapid than owls, his coursers they came.?

And he whistled and shouted, and called them by name;?

Now Diver! Now Doyle! Now Chittick and Ladd!?

On Foster! On Scholz! On Quincy in plaid!?

So up to the holiday party they flew

for dinner with friends and dancing too.

(with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore)

Alumni, faculty, staff, parents, and friends reveled at the annual Reed Alumni Holiday Party on Saturday, December 17, 2011. View photos of the general festivities as well as individual glamour shots for download (password: reed).

Continue reading Reed Alumni Holiday Party 2011

Call for Paideia ’12 classes led by alumni

A word from Reed’s Paideia czars:

We are students coordinating Paideia, and we are interested in offering a greater variety of classes this year. We would like to invite alumni to apply to teach a Paideia class on any subject you think students, faculty, and staff alike would find informative, interesting, or fun. It would be a great way to engage and connect with students.

Applications are due by Thursday, December 8. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Best,

Erin Appleby and Alison Chavez

Paideia Czars

paideiaczars2012@gmail.com

The evolution will be mapped

“Mateo Burtch ’82 has mapped out Reed’s dominance of a corner in Eastmoreland since 1950.” (John Sheehy ’82)

Enjoy viewing this history of the Reed College campus 1950-present, as told through maps. The maps from 1950 to 1996 were collected and combined by Mateo from the college catalogues sent out to prospective students during that period.

(It has come to our attention that there exists an aerial history of campus as well!)

Continue reading The evolution will be mapped