NOAA Novemberspring2006

reunions image15th Reunion Chatter

Dreaming of Reed

 


Hangin’ out, 15 years on:
(clockwise from upper left) Lauren Creany of Reed’s development office, Althea Gregory ’91, Hiroshi Ogura ’89, David Gossett ’91, Erik Speckman ’91, Andy McLain ’92

The Class of ’91 traded stories of creative pranks, old and new traditions, and the quintessential Reedie “condition” that stays with you long after you graduate. Permission to eavesdrop was granted in exchange for getting to call the interloper “New Reed” several times in a somewhat derisive tone. It seemed a small price to pay.

Most alumni who gathered for the reunion dinner barely knew each other at Reed, but their stories nonetheless had common reference points: pants-stealing roommates, the couple who got together during orientation week and are still together, the guy who moved his bed onto the lawn.

Class reunion chair Althea Gregory discovered another shared experience: everyone seems to be having the same anxiety dream. Returning to campus, a Reedie lazes around, has a good time, and then realizes that academic doom is looming. Gregory described her own version: “I’m not going to class, not studying, and suddenly someone says to me, ‘You know, we have finals in three days.’” Sandra Hung-Cleary picked up mid-dream: “And I don’t even have books! Where are all my study materials?” Erik Speckman’s subconscious had cut him a bit more slack. “I’m afraid I missed the thesis proposal deadline, and I’ll have to repeat my whole thesis. But then I figure, they already let me graduate! I have my diploma!”

Later, conversation turned to Reed past and present. Comparing the old and new cafeteria food, all agreed that the Class of ’91 freshman diet of rice and ranch dressing was the least appetizing. Someone mentioned the legend of the biology major who wrote his thesis on how pizza burns the roof of your mouth. Several people recalled that the library’s “old pit” (the current periodicals area adjacent to the research section) was one of the most procrastination-friendly areas of the library (it still is); Speckman remembered finding a fellow student hunkered down there watching baseball on a miniature TV. Everyone remembered walking through the old library entrance (now a fire exit) during thesis parade.

The class experienced its share of “where are they now?” surprises. David Gossett recently argued his second case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Fernandez-Vargas v. Gonzales (see page 22). And Zack Dubnoff is now a professional magician specializing in sleight-of-hand tricks. “While we all hung out in Doyle lamenting how few of us actually got to live in Old Dorm Block,” Gregory recounted, “Zack did some impressive card tricks.”

—Emily Mentzer ’08

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