Alumnus and former Reed admissions employee Duncan King ’20 knows just how valuable even the smallest gift can be.
By Cara Nixon
October 2, 2026
Duncan King ’20 has experienced Reed both in the classroom as a student and behind the scenes as an admission officer.
He’s seen both sides of the coin—where Reedies learn and grow, and where admission staff make that reality possible.
Even when Duncan left Reed to work in admission at Bard College—where he’s now Associate Director of West Coast Admission and Senior Assistant Director of Admission—he didn’t want to withdraw entirely from the institution he’d called home for so long.
“I remember feeling like I wasn't ready to completely detach from this place that I had spent eight years coming to every day,” he says, “and that donating was something I could do to maintain my connection and therefore continue helping make Reed a better place.”
As a loyal donor to Reed’s Annual Fund, Duncan has found a way to stay connected to Reed and be part of the college’s fundraising, which he says is a group effort.
“Even very small gifts are impactful,” he says. “When I chose to start donating, I did the math to find a number that I would be comfortable with giving every month, but I hope it adds up to be a meaningful drop in the bucket.”
And it does. Those who give to the Annual Fund help Reed meet the moment immediately—none of the gifts are invested in the endowment, meaning the funds go directly to ensuring students get the best Reed experience possible, right away.
For Duncan, the Reed experience was one of the most formative of his life. He met his best friends here, and even more valuable, those friends continue to shape how he sees the world around him today.
“When I look back at my time at Reed, one of the pieces of the experience I treasured the most was having friends in many different fields,” he says. “I think that's part of the magic of a liberal arts college. While I majored in art, my closest friends were studying biology, comparative literature, math, physics, political science, statistics, you name it. I felt that my worldview was enriched by the glimpses of understanding I got from hearing them talk about their various projects.”
With his gifts, Duncan’s goal is simple: He wants more Reedies in the world. And he wants Reed to meet the moment by making it more possible for more people to attend the institution that impacted him so much. Already, he sees Reed making greater commitments to affordability in admission—he hopes even more steps can be taken to create equity in that realm. Gifts help make that achievable.
“I believe strongly in the power of a rigorous liberal arts education,” Duncan says. “I think that that kind of education pushes people to become engaged, thoughtful, and moral people, and I think that Reed does a particularly good job at creating those kinds of people.”
