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"Renn Fayre"


Looking back, thinking ahead, loving Reed

By Mike Brody on May 03, 2013 09:18 AM
Mike Brody

Mike Brody, dean of student services
Photo by Orin Zyvan

I love Reed. And by virtue of the fact that you are reading this, I assume you too have strong and hopefully very positive feelings about this place. Don’t get me wrong; sometimes Reed kicks my butt. And I know I am not alone in this regard. While it may be painful in some moments, I almost invariably love Reed more after the smack down, because it seems to me that we keep getting stronger, especially when we face our challenges together. Even in the midst of our most acrimonious debates, we are fundamentally in this together.

As Renn Fayre kicks off, I’m taking a moment to think about the year we are celebrating, and I wanted to share some thoughts with you. When it comes down to it my primary focus at Reed is student success. Knowing full well that even the phrase “student success” may raise for some the specter of nannyism, I am nonetheless unapologetic about the college’s commitment to student health, safety, and success. In turn, I am very proud of our alcohol and other drugs (AOD) prevention and response efforts, and I figured this might be a good time to say a word or two in this regard.

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