2001: Reed's entering class

Reed's class of 2001 has the highest entering SAT scores in the history of the college. "While SAT scores can't function as the only index of the academic quality of the incoming class, this year's high scores reinforce the information we've gathered-- from the students' transcripts and essays, which indicate the entering students are intelligent, inquisitive, self-motivated, independent, and demanding," says Nancy Donehower, dean of admission. "Clearly, they will carry on the long-standing tradition of Reed students who thrive on active participation in their education and were attracted by Reed's breadth provided by both the academic program and the diversity of the Reed community."

Two members of the entering class had perfect SAT scores of 1600. The average SAT scores for the class were 690 verbal and 650 math. Median SAT scores were 700 verbal and 650 math. Seven percent of the entering class were their class valedictorians. Of 325 first-year enrollees, 56 percent are female and 44 percent are male. They come from 270 high schools in 43 states and 11 foreign countries. Fourteen percent are in the first generation in their family to attend college. Approximately 40 percent are receiving financial aid. Eleven percent identify themselves as ethnic minorities:
4 percent Asian, 4 percent Hispanic, 1 percent African American, 1 percent Native American, 1 percent other. In addition, there are 51 transfer students: 28 percent of these are in the first generation in their family to attend college.

Hancock participates in Brahms commemorations


1997 marked the centennial of the death of Johannes Brahms on April 3, 1897, and conferences and festivals have commemorated his death worldwide.Associate professor of music Virginia Oglesby Hancock '62, a prominent Brahms scholar specializing in choral music and songs, participated in several of these events.

She traveled to Germany for the largest of the academic conferences, Brahms-KongreB Hamburg, jointly sponsored by the Universities of Hamburg and Kiel and by the Hamburg Philharmonic. There she presented a paper, "Brahms, Daumer und die Lieder opp. 32 und 57," which examined the life of Georg Friedrich Daumer, the poet whose texts Brahms most often set to music, and a few of the great songs that resulted.

The Vancouver (British Columbia) Symphony's festival, held at the end of May, included all four Brahms symphonies, a concert by the Vancouver Chamber Choir, and recitals of songs, piano music, and chamber music. For this festival, Hancock presented a lecture before the choral concert and informal remarks at a song recital.

For another international conference, held at the University of Nottingham in July, Hancock presented "Editing can be fun: discoveries in the revision process of the Brahms motets," in which she recounted some of the most interesting aspects of her work on Brahms's a cappella choral music with sacred texts for a volume in the new critical collected edition.

The music department of Duke University held a final festival-conference, "Brahms and the Feminine," in October. In addition to a pre-concert lecture focusing on the composer's works for women's chorus, Hancock prepared a response to a paper, "Gender, Politics, and History: Perspective on Brahms's Choral Music for Women."

In addition, she has completed a number of short articles on Brahms's choral music for The Compleat Brahms, a book edited by Leon Botstein, to be published by Norton by the end of the year, and a review of a new book by Michael Musgrave, Brahms: The German Requiem (Cambridge University Press, 1996).

Musicians, unite!

The music department would like to identify alumni who were not music majors during their Reed years, but who have since made careers in music or music-related fields. We know there are a number of such people--including Virginia Oglesby Hancock '62, who was a chemistry major and is now a member of Reed's music department--but the college's database does not at present allow the retrieval of this kind of information.

If you are a member of this illustrious group, will you please get in touch with us? Email, phone, or write to Virginia Hancock, virginia.hancock@reed.edu; 503/771-1112, extension 7380. We are also always happy to hear from alumni who were music majors.



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