Reimagining Leadership at Reed

How the college’s student groups have enriched campus life.

Every fall, Reed College hosts the Student Clubs Fair, featuring student groups from the athletic (Volleyball Club) to the rhythmic (Reed Slam and Spoken Word Poetry) to the many-legged (Bug Club).

“There’s a real authenticity to our students,” says President Audrey Bilger. “They gravitate toward their interests and passions. That’s probably a good description of a club: You’re committed to your passion and you want to bring other people in.”

At Reed, there are 90-plus groups led by students whose work encompasses the totality of campus life: academics, activism, art, dance, fitness, identity, and much more. That’s expected at a college that has been home to a sweeping variety of student-run organizations throughout its history, from Mock Trial to Transfemme Pickle Club.

“There’s a wide range of interests within the Reed community,” says Student Body President Andrew Happy ’27. “I think that creates such a unique space for such unique groups. Even then, so many of them share similar members—you have students who are members of nine different groups. They feel called to them.”

For Bilger, empowering student groups and their leaders goes beyond filling campus with clubs old and new. It’s about advancing a theory of leadership built on the nurturing of communities that transcend the traditional boundaries between leaders and followers.

“Leadership can be talked about in very clichéd ways: You’re the one at the front of the room, you’re striving to be in charge,” Bilger says. “That’s really not the way we frame leadership at Reed.”

Bilger regularly meets with leaders like Student Body Vice President Taylor Barth ’27, a quantitative economics major who has helped shape Reed’s student group ecosystem—as a Peer Mentor Program coordinator and as a member of the Asian & Pacific Islander Student Union (APISU).

“APISU has over 100 members,” Taylor says. “I think the affinity groups have really been a huge, integral part of my Reed experience.” Thanks to Reedies like Taylor, such groups are part of many Reedies’ experiences (the college’s affinity groups include the Jewish Student Union, the Low SES/First Generation Student Group, and Students of Color Union).

As Andrew sees it, Reed’s student groups are a testament to the college’s ethos. “We’re not just learning to earn a degree,” he says. “Reed places so much emphasis on learning for learning’s sake. With student groups as well, that’s the kickstart to putting learning into direct action.”

Among the many Reedies who have personified that commitment to engaged learning are the members of the Student Committee on Academic Policy and Planning (SCAPP)—which advises the faculty’s Committee on Academic Policy and Planning (CAPP)—and the student body leaders who advocated for international students to receive credit for internship opportunities.

“It was student body leadership who really helped the faculty understand why helping international students get credit for internship opportunities would be really important in terms of equity,” Bilger says. “It was student energy and eloquence that helped faculty really see what was at stake for students in thinking about making this change.”

The belief that students can enact meaningful change defines Bilger’s interactions with student leaders, including a memorable meeting she had with Taylor and other peer mentors. “That really solidified in me that leaders are supposed to have diverse perspectives,” Taylor says. “Knowing what college is and can be and was provides great insight.”

When Reed’s student groups travel, they get to share that insight with the world—as the college’s Mock Trial team did when they competed in March at Opening Round Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota, triumphing during a Midwestern blizzard that covered some areas with over 20 inches of snow. “That’s honestly extraordinary, considering the fact that they don’t have a team coach,” Taylor says. “This is all student run. There’s a lot of school pride.” It’s a sense of pride familiar to many members of Reed’s student groups, who may pursue disparate interests, but are united in their quest to make sure that student voices are heard.

Tags: Campus Life, Institutional, Students