Sallyportal: Madly Blogging Reed

Alumni Give “In Honor Of” Reed

By Matt Kelly on April 10, 2017 11:36 AM

Honor is making a comeback.

Last month, Reed launched the In Honor Of campaign to encourage friends of the college to honor their favorite professor, tradition, or place on campus. In the twilight hours of the campaign, momentum crested and a total of 1,226 donors gave $219,728, exceeding the donor goal that triggered an additional $50,000 match from trustee Linda Matthews ’67.

An enormous heartfelt thank-you goes out to all the donors who made the campaign a success. The Class of 2004 earned timê with the most gifts during the month of March. Inspirations for giving, like Reedies, came in every stripe:

  • I give because Pancho Savery and Catherine Witt changed my life. —Nikki Georgopulos ’12
  • I had my best ideas in the stacks. I give in honor of my thesis desk, tucked away in the basement of the library.—Nina Johnson ’99
  • The registrar’s office.—Jenn Hubbs ’06
  • Learning for the sake of learning.—Alexis Pott ’00
  • The political science department.—Dylan Rivera ’95
  • Mela Kunitz ’87 (Associate Director of Alumni Programs) and how Reunions reminds me of everything that I love about Reed.—Kristen Earl ’05
  • My wife, Martha Bair Steinbock ’71; we met at Reed 50 years ago this year!—Joseph Steinbock ’69
  • Olde Reed. —Todd Curtis ’03
  • The ideal of true freedom of thought. And, of course, the otter.—Laramie Silber ’13
  • Those who came to Reed as the first in the family to attend college, whether they graduated from Reed or not.—Barbara West ’64
  • Prof. Judy Massee [dance] and the psychology dude with the monkey.—Lenné Musarra Holden ’73
  • My daughter’s Reed thesis.  –Rachel Cox ’84, parent of Sara ’17

 

Most gifts to the In Honor Of campaign support the Annual Fund. Annual Fund donations are critical to Reed’s success because these funds support all the operations of the college, such as:

  • financial aid;
  • books, technology, and new resources for the library;
  • materials for student and faculty research;
  • faculty salaries;
  • classroom technology;
  • canyon restoration;
  • services that help students thrive at Reed, such as the academic resource center, health and counseling, and programs at the Center for Life Beyond Reed.

 

The March effort added major momentum to this year’s Annual Fund campaign, which seeks 4,600 alumni donors and $4.8 million by the end of the fiscal year on June 30. If you have not yet made your Annual Fund gift, there’s still time. 

In Honor Of reflected what so many love about Reed. Giving to the college is only one way to honor the people, places, and traditions that make up our community, but it’s a meaningful one, and it makes an impact.

Tags: philanthropy,