President’s speeches, letters, and articles
Subject: Thank You to Vice President for Student Life Mike Brody
June 29, 2020
Dear students, faculty, and staff,
I write today to thank Mike Brody, outgoing vice president for student life, for 17 years of extraordinary service to our community. Mike brought a unique combination of life experiences to his time at Reed. A trained psychiatric nurse practitioner, he first came to campus in 2002 as a counselor in the Health and Counseling Center, which he later led as director. In 2009, he became vice president and dean of students and began to oversee a talented team that makes transformative contributions to the care and well-being of 1,450 Reedies.
Throughout the years, Mike has been a tireless advocate for students, believing that they should not only flourish in their studies but grow and thrive in all aspects of their lives—mind and body, on campus and beyond, now and after graduation. During times of stress, illness, and tragedy, Mike’s caring outreach to students and their families and friends has helped to support them, heal them, and move them forward.
Mike made lasting changes to the college’s policies on alcohol and other drugs by emphasizing harm reduction and health promotion. Mike also helped Reed revise its approach to sexual assault prevention and response by creating the office of Sexual Health, Advocacy, and Relationship Education (SHARE) and serving as Title IX Coordinator for several years.
Mike helped Reed overhaul its governance processes, leading the Legislation Committee that ultimately produced significant amendments to the community constitution and adopted by the board of trustees in 2017.
Most recently, Mike co-chaired the Student Success Committee, undertaking a three-year process to better understand the Reed student experience from the students’ perspective and how that experience influences their success at and beyond Reed. The committee’s work included partnering with Keeling & Associates, experts in improving learning and outcomes for students and institutions. Following a deep dive into data collection and analysis, the findings helped identify goals related to community, diversity, academics, advising, health, well-being, and life beyond Reed. The work initiated by Mike in these areas will have a lasting impact on student satisfaction and retention.
I am grateful for the empathy, insight, and humor that Mike brought to his work at Reed. Please join me in wishing Mike a fond farewell.
All my best,
Audrey
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Audrey Bilger
President