The day of Paideia-style classes centered on the best ways we can care for ourselves and each other during challenging times.
By Cara Nixon
February 18, 2026
Sometimes you need to scream into the canyon.
Or bake cookies as an act of care for yourself or your community. Or write to your representatives, expressing your concerns. Or hold space for grief in dialogue with others.
Sometimes, when things in the world seem untenable or unsolvable, the best thing to do is to just do something—whether it be a productive action, an act of self care, or an opportunity to be in community.
That’s why Reed hosted a Day of Reflection and Community Action this week. Students, staff, faculty, and alumni gathered to teach and attend an assortment of Paideia-like classes focused on academic learning, reflection, dialogue, creative expression, rest, and collective imagination about how we care for one another during difficult times.
“There is no single or ‘right’ way to respond,” said the Presidential Council on Campus Climate, which organized the day. “Some may feel overwhelmed or afraid; others may feel compelled to act; many may be holding all of these feelings at once.”
To account for this diversity of feelings and reactions, events varied widely. Community members knit red hats, historically a symbol of protest in Nazi-occupied Norway. During the lunch hour, yoga instructor Daniel Shaw taught attendees how to use mindful movement and rest as resistance. Others examined and learned the approaches and consequences of federal agencies' reactions to protests in a lecture. Throughout the day, by the Commons fireplace, markers and stickers and paper were set out for anyone to write words of positivity for a paper chain—in bright colors, messages read “Love Reed,” “Together we can do this,” and “The only thing stronger than hate is love.”
And, of course, at 1:30 p.m., community members from all over campus joined in the canyon for a collective scream followed by ice cream. It was so cathartic that everyone screamed not once, but twice, likely disturbing the ducks and beavers and squirrels, but also allowing for a chance to reflect and release as a community, which can only better prepare us to take on tomorrow—whatever may come our way.