April 8, 2021
Dear members of the Reed Community,
Last Sunday morning, students found a number of commercially produced stickers attached to campus structures depicting slogans and symbols associated with the White supremacist group known as the Patriot Front. The Patriot Front espouses the superiority of White Christians and their entitlement to sole dominion over United States’ lands by excluding all others. We regret that community members were subjected to slogans and symbols celebrating disdain for and exclusion of over half of the nation’s population.
The sentiments of the Patriot Front are antithetical to the core values of Reed as expressed in our Diversity and Anti-racism statements. We are moved to once again assert Reed’s commitment to becoming an ever more anit-racist and inclusive community, celebrating the unique identities, backgrounds, and lived experiences of all community members that contribute so much to Reed’s vibrant intellectual and social life.
As part of the college’s efforts to address the impact, we have provided support to the students who made us aware of the stickers. Additionally, we recognize that this type of intentional harm to the campus community requires collective action to address. We welcome your thoughts, perspectives, and ideas about approaches to address this situation further.
If you have information regarding the origin of the stickers, please contact the Office for Institutional Diversity at institutional.diversity@reed.edu.
Sincerely,
Mary James
Dean for Institutional Diversity
Karnell McConnell-Black
Vice President for Student Life