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

Spring on Campus

As the winter transitions to spring, the snow (or rather, ice) on Reed campus is replaced with cherry blossom petals. The trees all blossom in an array of pinks and whites, and the students flock to the great lawn to enjoy the sunlight they so seldom see.

The trees in Eliot Circle were planted in 1973, and they are at the fullest time of their long lives.

In case you can’t make it to campus to view for yourself, here are some of my favorite photos from spring at Reed! Photo credit to Oscar Pulliam ’25.

A photograph of the cherry trees in Eliot Circle

A photo of the trees on the great lawn blossoming

Craving vitamin D,

Taliah Churchill ’25

Pi Day Comes Full Circle

The symbol π, as every Reedie knows, represents a fundamental geometrical constant—the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter—whose precise value is elusive, but which famously begins 3.14159. π has become a delightful excuse to celebrate in the spring with pizza, pie, and Euclidean tomfoolery–on March 14th, Pi Day.

Of course a holiday like Pi Day would take off at Reed! An excuse to eat Lauretta Jean’s pie, grab a slice from Commons, and argue about the validity of mathematical concepts fits right in with the Reed ethos. Folks around campus jump in–the Library historically went all out, and one could not even dip into any of the Pi Day pies until exactly 1:59 in the afternoon; pies might be found in any number of offices in Eliot; and the SU is often filled with students competing to recite the most digits.

What many don’t know is that Pi Day itself can be traced back to Reed as well, through Larry Shaw ’61. Larry was a physics major at Reed, before going on to be the technical curator for the Exploratorium, a science museum in San Francisco. In 1988, he came up with the idea of honoring the influential constant with an annual party. The Exploratorium celebrated its first Pi Day on March 14 at 1:59 p.m.

Larry believed the best part of Pi Day was its ability to make math seem accessible and fun to folks who may have suffered through it during their school days. He was honored that it became such a national holiday. π may be an irrational number, but Larry’s celebration of it was rational, civil, and orderly.

For 38 years, he donned his red cap emblazoned with the magic digits and led a parade of museumgoers, each of them holding a sign bearing one of the digits of π. They would march in strict order, with 3 in front, the decimal point next, and then 141592653489 . . . Of course the number of sign carriers was exhausted long before the infinite digits of pi.

Larry passed away in 2017, but his memory lives on as we celebrate the holiday. Rest assured, Larry condoned all varieties of pie; per his wife, “He didn’t have a favorite, he ate everything.” Grab a slice of your favorite and join us today in toasting Larry and π.

Larry Shaw ’61, with his Pi shirt and cap

Ye Olde Reed

Photo of graffiti in the steam tunnels from 2015 that reads, “Schrodinger’s old reed is alive. Schrodinger’s old reed is dead”

“Olde Reed is dead.”

A phrase every Reedie knows, but few truly understand. This sentiment has been shared for decades, from Reedies dating back to the classes of the 60s (likely even further) to present day (guilty as charged). We repeat it back for the incoming years to hear, we post it on social media, and dedicate entire blogs (blogception!) to it, so the mantra lives on unchanged while its meaning is ever evolving. You see, everybody knows that:

Olde Reed=n-1, where n is your freshman year.

While my time as a Reedie has been comparatively short, I’ve had the honor of hearing tales of Olde Reed from many an alum. Some, like the giant snowball of ‘14, are wild but believable, but many others, like the car supposedly buried underneath the library, are more in the vein of myths. While I fear the traditions I took part in at Reed are less eventful than those aforementioned, I hope that one day they too can become “Olde Reed” lore such that I have legends of Olde to pass down to young Reedies. What are your favorite tales of Olde Reed, either from your time here or that you heard when attending Reed? Submit your stories in the comments below!

Awaiting new rumors to spread,

Nü Reedie

Taliah Churchill ’25

Love Is In The Air

‘Tis the season…of love! Many a couple has been formed at Reed college, and while not all of them make it out of the bubble intact, there are still so many others with tales sure to make even the most cynical Reedie’s heart melt.

This Valentine’s Day I want to share with you the story of (to my knowledge) the oldest living Reed couple, Eva Labby ’51 and Arnold Labby ’51. Arnold recently celebrated his 100th birthday with his wife of 67 years, Eva, in their lovely home just outside of Portland and near their mutual alma mater: Reed College.

Arnold and Eva on vacation in the French Marquesas in 2006

For an oral history project with the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, Arnold recounts their first date: “…my brother Bob had a blind date with Lorie, his wife, Lorie Carrow. She wasn’t quite sure about him…So she brought along Eva, and the next thing I knew Bob was yelling up the stairs to me, “Get dressed! You’re going out.” “Who am I going out with?” “You’ll find out when you come down.” It was Eva, and that’s how we met.”

While they attended Reed at the same time, and even went on that date before they both graduated, they didn’t really get together until years later, when they reconnected in San Francisco.

In San Francisco, they were only “buddies” at first, as Eva called it. One day, Arnold mentioned he was going back up to Portland to visit family and offered Eva a ride if she wanted to come along. She ended up forgetting about his offer….until the next morning, when he showed up at her door with a pot of hot coffee. He told her “If you want to go, I’ll wait,” and that he did. They drove to Portland together and later in the week even attended the same party. On the way back down to San Francisco, Eva realized she suddenly saw Arnold in a new light.

Some time later, after a night in with a home cooked dinner, the pair was watching The Maltese Falcon and Arnold proposed! Three days later, Eva accepted, and the rest is history. The happy couple has since spent the last 6 and a half decades together, with their three children.

You can read more about these sweethearts and others here in the Winter 2007 edition of the Reed Magazine.

Are you a #Reedie4Reedies person? Refuse to ever date another Reedie? Married four times but just keep coming back to other Reedies? Tell me about it and give me hope?

Awaiting my reed romance,

Taliah Churchill ’25

Reedies Volunteer!

In Greek, “Xenia” embodies hospitality between a host and a guest, centering generosity and reciprocity. In this spirit, we celebrate the volunteer and community work done by Reedies throughout this past year through the Alumni Board’s Xenia Initiative. We’d like to share a few of our favorite photos and comments from this year! Comments have been edited for length and format.

Tina Le ’08 writes:

“Over the past 12 months, I led Nasdaq’s Green Team, a supportive employee group for people with environmentalist values. We invited speakers from nonprofits like The Nature Conservancy, Environmental Voter Project, Climate Voice, etc. and carried out local volunteer activities around the world. We also held an Environmental Justice series in collaboration with another support group called GLOBE (Global Link of Black Employees), because minority groups are almost always victims of environmental destruction.”

Tina Le, class of 2008, picture second from the left, poses with fellow volunteers for Nasdaq's Green Team during a local volunteer cleanup event. — Tina Le ’08 leads Nasdaq’s Green Team.

Lawrence Sherman ’86 (BA); ’87 (MALS) writes:

“I have been a volunteer manager and coach for Southwest Portland Little League or other Little Leagues since 2005 when my kids played baseball/softball, and after they moved on continued coaching softball every year. I also have been a volunteer coach and manager for a travel softball team for the past six years (the players are now seniors in high school), and even managed to get the players through the pandemic, providing them with an opportunity to get outdoors and play the sport they love.”

Lawrence Sherman, class of 1986, pictured center, poses with his Southwest Portland Little League team. Lawrence has been a volunteer coach for Little League since 2005. — Lawrence Sherman ’86 (BA); ’87 (MALS) has coached for Southwest Portland Little League since 2005.

Duncan Parks ’92 writes:

“[I am the] Team Director and level 3 coach for youth mountain bike team (Portland Metro Composite), part of the Oregon Interscholastic Cycling League and National Interscholastic Cycling Association.”

Duncan Parks, class of 1992 pictured center, fist bumps a member of the Portland Metro Composite youth mountain bike team. Duncan volunteers as a team director and level 3 coach. — Duncan Parks ’92 coaches the Portland Metro Composite Youth Mountain Bike Team.

Sharon Toji ’58 writes:

“I represent the Hearing Loss Association of America as a voting delegate and Co-Chair of the Communications Task Group on the American National Standards Association (ANSI) A117.1 Committee on Accessible and Usable Buildings and Sites.”

Sharon Toji, class of 1958, works to represent the Hearing Loss Association of America and the Communications Task Group on the American National Standards Association (ANSI) A117.1 Committee on Accessible and Usable Buildings and Sites. — Sharon Toji ’58 is a leader on Hearing Loss representation and Accessible and Usable Buildings and Sites.

Barbara Bates ’67 writes:

“JourneySongs Hospice Choir where I run the Google Workspace for the group and also sing at the bedsides of folx in hospice; Newton Conservators (a land trust preserving open space in Newton) where I maintain the website (Newtonconservators.org) and their Google Workspace, as well as lead nature walks in Newton, give nature talks, and tech host webinars on nature.”

Barbara Bates, class of 1967, pictured on the left, leads a nature walk for Newton Conservators. Barbara also spends time volunteering for a hospice choir. — Barbara Bates ’67 leads a nature walk for Newton Conservators.

The world needs more Reedies!

Love Reed,

The Prexy Ghost

Reed’s Annual Festival Of Learning

If there’s one thing that unites Reedies, it’s our love for learning, and that’s what Paideia is all about. This year, Paideia will take place from Saturday, January 18, to Sunday, January 26, and will include an array of classes taught by students, professors, and alumni. With some returning courses such as “Building Reed College in Minecraft”, “Reed College Survivor,” and “The Art of Pokemon Battling” along with some new ones like “World Domination 110: the Reed Alumni Agenda”, there’s classes for everyone!

As we move towards post-pandemic life, Paideia is once again open for all Reed community members, which includes alumni, so we hope to see you there!

Excited to take classes with no exams,

Taliah Churchill ’25

Ft: some pictures from years past:

Riffin’ Griffin Returns

The Riffin’ Griffin is SO back; did you miss us? After a many year hiatus, there’s much to catch up on, and while blogs may not be as hip and happening as they were when I was on Tumblr 10 years ago, I think it’s prime time they came back. This blog was created back in 2010 to serve as a home for news and announcements, multimedia offerings, and observations from our staff and colleagues. We’re proud to announce that in addition to all the classics, the new and improved Riffin’ Griffin will also include news about your fellow alumni, tales from ye Olde Reed, and whatever else tickles our nostalgia bone! We hope you’ll join us on our journey down memory lane and maybe even rekindle some friendships along the way.

To give you a glance at the disembodied voice behind the screen, I’m Taliah, a current senior and the Alumni Relations student assistant! I’ll be posting a lot of the content for this blog (other staff members may also blog from time to time), and hopefully in a few weeks you all will have the opportunity to submit posts too! We’re working on an easy to fill out form so that if you have any stories about Reed or otherwise Reedie related content you can submit it to us and we can post it on the blog.

TTYL,
The New Riffin’ Griffin Editor
Taliah Churchill ’25

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.