The Riffin' Griffin

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.

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

“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

As noted on our sister blog, Sallyportal (‘Think Different”), the death of Steve Jobs (an “almost” alumnus) has occasioned many tributes to his “archetypal Reedie” persona.  He was unconventional, driven, and a bit subversive.  Reed coursework influenced him deeply, whether or not he was officially enrolled, especially his study of calligraphy at the hand of Robert Palladino. An article on Smithsonian.com has gone so far as to suggest that mastering the lettered hand led Jobs to think like an artist.

Steve Jobs’ sense of design and artistry set him apart from other engineers, to be sure, but I like to think that his intuition and personal taste are what made the first Macintosh, and consequent inventions, so distinctive.  He is quoted as observing that “Taste is trying to expose yourself to the best things humans have done and then trying to bring those things into what you are doing.”  This concept of applying human qualities to technological devices may be at the heart of the appeal.  While the Smithsonian article talks about typography triggering emotion, an essay by Adam Penenberg ’85 takes this idea further by arguing that the design of Apple products moves people to “ascribe human values” to them.

Continue reading Feel Different.