Classes

This year we are honoring the reunion years ending in 3 and 8: 1938, 1943, 1948, 1953, 1958, 1963, 1968, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, and 2008. See below for a message from your class committee and let them know if you'd like to help with developing plans for the weekend (you may look up their contact info using the online directory within IRIS). Also, we encourage you to help locate lost classmates; if you have contact info for any of these lost alumni, please let us know at alumni@reed.edu so that we may invite them to the festivities.

Class of 1958

In 1954, Eisenhower was president, Elvis was gyrating, and we were about to embark on a unique experience. Four years later, we had passed through the Velde Committee, folk dancing, President Griffin, Gilbert and Sullivan, President Sullivan, Junior Quals, senior thesis, and a whole series of events in the Chapel. Having successfully (?) passed through these experiences, Reed College gave us a piece of paper and sent us into the real world. All of a sudden we had to face Eisenhower and Elvis alone.

It is now fifty years later and time to review the real world experience. Did we successfully transit from Eisenhower to Bush II? How about from Elvis to Bruce Springsteen? Did the Velde Committee make any real difference in our lives? Did Gilbert and Sullivan leave a lasting impression?   Was it better that in Hum. 101 we read The Odyssey than The Iliad ?

In June, it is time to attend our 50th reunion and research the answers to these questions. It is also a good time to find what is and is not still on campus along with what is new. For example: the Foster-Scholz dorm is no longer there, but new dorms built in 1970s have the same name. The Student Union is not what you remember; the Commons is, but not for food. And if you want to swim in the outdoor swimming pool, it disappeared a few years ago. Alas.

But you will be happy to find that the zucchini patch north of the canyon, from which we were fed multiple versions of that plant nightly, has been replaced with dorms and a soccer field. You may be unhappy to learn that the front steps of the library are gone. And for those of you that remember the chemistry building as the last real building before the trek to Foster-Scholz, you may not be able to find it hidden among other buildings.

So it is time for you to come and join us in rediscovering Reed and playing the game of recognizing old friends. After all, not all of us are as handsome or glamorous as we were in June 1958.  

One final persuasive voice, this time of the late Kurt Vonnegut, giving advice in a graduation address:

Understand that friends come and go. But with a precious few you should hang on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew when you were young.

As a bonus, the Alumni College prior to the reunion will feature music. By attending, you may actually be able to remember the words from those songs of 50 years ago.

The dates to put on your calendar now: June 3-8, 2008.

Donald Flanders '58
Lynn Mayer '58

Class of 1963

Dear Reedi(te)s of the esteemed Class of '63:

Barry "Dr. Demento" Hansen here...

You and I endured a lot together at Reed... the Columbus Day storm, the Cuban missile crisis, Commons food, and the ongoing intervisitation wars. (Was sex in the dorms really a de facto violation of the Honor Principle?) We survived, and sallied forth into the world.

Since then, I've had a bit of fame, a very little bit of fortune, and a lot of fun with my radio show. I'm heard on 100,000-watt radio stations. So why would I want to come back to a place whose radio station still has only 10 watts? I wondered that myself when I was first invited back to campus to speak in 1973. I've been back many times since, and have fallen in love with Reed all over again. When you don't have to worry about that next Hum paper, whether your classmates like you, or what the hell you're going to do with your life... the Reed campus is the most marvelous place to be. The grass is greener, friends are friendlier, and you can learn and marvel without stress and strain.

I'd really like to see you all again... trade old stories and new ones, maybe show you around the KRRC studios, now emerged from the basement where I used to hide. See how the trees have grown, and how gorgeous the canyon looks now. See some awesome new buildings. Enjoy some really good food and drink. Meet President Colin Diver, who has done some amazing things for the college. We're celebrating music this year with all sorts of tuneful performances and celebrations--folk, jazz, classical, world, even some rock 'n roll.

Reunions... Reed at its best. Registration opens in February.

Class of 1968

Forty years?! Children of the sixties, come prove we've still got the chops. For Reed Reunions 2008, it's all about the music--rock, folk, jazz, classical. . . . And the old friends. And the whackos who've turned into fascinating people. Wherever life has taken you, we'd like to hear about it. Rediscover the best of Reed, Portland, and the Northwest. Let's party!

Your reunion committee: Lisa Serbin '68, Deborah Guyol '68, Lee & Ann Parker Littlewood '68, and Deborah Ross ’68; consultants: Arthur Feinstein '68, David Denning '68, and Dennis Cochrane '68 (all of whom have gone to these things and had a blast--true story).

Class of 1973

We Humanities 110 . . . "All Hail Vic Rosenbloom!" . . . The Honor Code . . . Mystery Meat . . . The Bookstore 8 . . . Spider God . . . Carlos Castenada . . . KRRC . . . The Kinks . . . Baba Ram Dass   . . . Ken Kesey & the Merry Pranksters . . . The Masked Masturbator . . . Camp Westwind . . . Kent State & the Moratorium . . . The Tuition Boycott . . . Eliot Hall takeovers . . . Scroungers . . . Canyon rats . . . "Hippies, vagrants, undesirables" . . . The Quest . . . Running away with The Living Theater . . . Ramsay Clark Day . . . Charles Lloyd . . . The Ski Cabin . . . The Sauna . . . Funk House, Bed Bugs and Toad Hall ...Selling your records on the steps of Commons . . . Sailing Trips . . . "The unfit will be weeded out by the faculty" . . . Slime Art . . . Dogs with bandanas . . . "Would You Buy a Used College from this Man?" . . .   The Green Death . . . Marat/Sade . . . The Griffin . . . Communism, Atheism, and Free Love...The Senior Thesis . . .

Do you remember any or all of the above?   If you do remember--and even if you don't--then you probably went to Reed in the 1970s.   Did you work so hard at Reed that you never had a chance to play? Then come back to campus and party with the survivors: June 3-8, 2008.  

You'll find Reed is a much calmer, warmer, friendlier place than it was when we were students. And if you haven't been back recently, you'll appreciate what a great place Reed can be when you don't have to study. All that's required is to tip a few beers--or glasses of Oregon Pinot Noir--and re-connect with friends that either you haven't seen in years or never had in the first place. Good food, good conversation (when you talk to a Reedie, you're never bored), and--if we're lucky--good weather.  

This just in:
Jayne has created a group on Facebook, Reed-A-Palooza, which you are all invited to join at:

http://tinyurl.com/2qt4bf

It is open to all and a good place to post news, photos, videos, whatever you want! You must register for Facebook first, but this only takes a minute. Please spread the word!

Richard Cuthbert '73, Jayne Loader '73, David Perry '73, and Rosie Lapham Sumner '73

1. Spoken by student just before tossing a pie at the Reed College president, convocation,1969. Mr. Rosenbloom decided to return to Northwestern Law School a short time later.

2. Regular fare in Commons

3. Movie by Jim Webb & friends, premiered on campus,1969

4. Spoke on campus

5. Captured on campus by Olin Balch & friends,1969; had been previously arrested in the 1950s for exposing himself on (where else?) the Reed campus. One student is reported to have replied, after he asked "How about that?," "Well, it looks like a penis, only smaller."

6. Article in Klamath Falls newspaper describing 16 Reedies kicked off freight train, Thanksgiving 1969.

7. Various Reed houses. "Bedbugs" was the phone number, not a problem with insects.

8. Reed College Bulletin (Catalog), 1968-69 (yes, it really said that)

9. Portland billboard featuring pic of Ross Thompson, Acting President, by Webb & friends.

10. Rainier Ale, which came in green cans and had a higher alcohol content than most beers.

Class of 1978

Is it not difficult to believe that thirty years have passed since we left Reed?

Chronologically, this is so, but we find ourselves drawn back to the Reed of our memories. There may be much to be said for the Celtic belief that the souls of those whom we have lost are held captive in some inferior being, in an animal, in a plant, in some inanimate object, and so effectively lost to us until the day (which to many never comes) when we happen to pass by the tree or to obtain possession of the object which forms their prison. Then they start and tremble, they call us by our name, and as soon as we have recognized their voice the spell is broken. We have delivered them: they have overcome death and return to share our life. Perhaps a sight or smell will bring it all back--those high, giddy nights discussing serious issues, like the future of the Soviet Union or whether Rainier's Green Death was actually created with formaldehyde as one of its constituent parts? Not tea and petits madeleines' perhaps, yet possessing resonance nonetheless.

How have you been living on Turtle Island the past score and ten years?   Yes, time has passed by since leaving Reed College, and we have grown older, and perhaps wiser, in our lives. Come back to the Class of 1978 reunion in June 2008 to reminisce and reconnect with classmates and Reedies from other class years!   We can discuss whether or not the poet's vision of Turtle Island has come true.

We grow older, and yet within us all the hopeful student of the past still lurks. Let us conduct an awakening of our earlier selves, and see together how Reed has affected us, and how we may still affect one another. This reunion will resound with the tunes that we recall--from Clapton to Coltrane, the sounds of our Reed years call us back. So let's get together, exchange memories, laugh over dreams imagined and dreams achieved, and recall that we can begin again. Come, my friends, 'tis not too late to seek a newer world!

Bill Nicholson '78, Jonathan Kim '78, Ana Marquez Brown '78, and Amy Kurland '78

This just in:
Join the MacNaughton-III (+Quincy/Doyle/vintage) 33rd reunion on Friday evening (after the class dinner), June 6, in the Bragdon dorm social room and patio (after a trek to the old homestead, Mac-III, we can hang out at Bragdon until midnight or longer).

For more information, and to RSVP, please contact any one of us:

Kim Lambert '78 at klambert@utica.edu

Holly Gudmundson Leighton '78 at gudmundson78@alumni.reed.edu

Barbara Pijan '79 at barbarapijan@alumni.reed.edu

Class of 1983

Do Not Even Think About Not Coming!

We have a big job to do this summer, June 6-8, 2008.   We have to prove to Reed that we still can turn out the largest participation of a single class ever at reunions, first achieved in 2003. It was fun. There was there was dancing in the SU, dancing on the lawn, dancing on the tables, and besides that, there were fireworks, the super slide, the silly noisemakers (kazoo central, if I recall), and classmates from around the country.

Here are some highlights on the boards for 2008:

**Music is the theme this year and Richard Crandall and the Chameleons will NOT be one of the bands reuniting. Who will, though? Come hear or play some amazing professional and amateur music.

**Can we beat another Reed class in softball on the front lawn?

**Great conversations (the kind only Reedies have, regardless of when they went and who they turned out to be)

**Official celebration of the Class of 1983 Well-Endowed Scholarship Fund (and perhaps, meet the recipient!)

Sara Nichols '83, Sally Snyder Brunette '83, and Patrick Pruyne '83

Class of 1993

While we were at Reed, a Bush was President, a Clinton was running for office and a new cross-canyon bridge was built to accommodate the seemingly endless number of "new Reed" students. Though some things never seem to change, 15 years of life after Reed might have given us the perspective to enjoy it when we return. Reunions takes place June 3-8, after the incessant cold rains are over and Oregon's locavore culture is in full bloom. Instead of "The Administration" forcing us to eat at Commons, local wines and delicacies will be served. No need to wonder whether someone will allow you to sneak in to the beer garden with that fake ID, there will be a keg in the pool hall for al to enjoy. And this time around, your toothbrush won't end up in front of Vollum.

Fellow Reedies who have remained in Portland after graduation already know there is plenty to enjoy on campus. If it's been a while since you've left, it's time to consider returning to enjoy some good times with old and new friends!

Jessica Stern Benjamin '93, Heinrich Gompf '93, Rob Mack '93, Jennifer Mitchell '93

Class of 2003

It's been five years since our graduation from Reed! Whether or not the time has flown, and no matter where you find yourself, we hope that you'll join us to celebrate being away long enough to have forgotten the traumatic parts. This is a great chance for us to catch up, talk about old times (remember Regina Mooney? Or the appearance of the Doyle Owl at the Glo Opera? Or Andy Bruno's successful write-in campaign for Student Body President? And, of course, the thesis tower, the SU, the canyon, the front lawn and all the rest of it?) And see what's happened to everyone over the last five years. It's time to pull out your best pair of rose-colored glasses and come reconnect with classmates, reminisce about our time at Reed, and make some new friends!

Jane Davis '03