Your New Alumni Relations

BY AURORE GIGUET

Reed’s Alumni Programs & Annual Fund is changing. Last year, we divided into two departments: Advancement Communications and Alumni Relations & Volunteer Engagement.

In partnership with colleagues across campus, the advancement communications team engages the broader Reed community through meaningful, inspirational, impactful, and relevant communications in support of the college’s mission.

The alumni relations team provides resources, programs, and events that foster lifelong relationships and partnership with the global Reed community. How we work with our community has changed, too. We believe that alumni serve as bridges between students and the college, between recent graduates and careers, between the world and the college, and between each other. Ours is a lifelong community united by a shared curiosity and commitment to exploring fundamental questions.

Over the coming months and years, we will continue to evaluate how we can best help keep alumni connected to Reed and to each other while inspiring action on behalf of the college. As we seek ways to meet the needs of our alumni, we ask your help in meeting the needs of current and future students through advocacy, philanthropy, and volunteerism.

please consider getting involved to support fellow Reedies.

Rachel Armitage

ALUMNI SUPPORT OF THE COLLEGE, REGARDLESS OF THE AMOUNT OF TIME OR MONEY INVOLVED, IS CRITICAL TO ITS CONTINUED SUCCESS.

Reedies contribute to the college’s vitalityand represent the college’s chief contribution to society. We need alumni to talk about Reed to the people within their sphere of influence to inspire future generations to attend and continue the Reed legacy. We want to engage more volunteers and encourage a culture of philanthropy. This culture of connection is vital to supporting current and future students in a changing world.

If you are an alum who perhaps has not been engaged with the college recently,

If you have any questions about alumni relations, I would be happy to answer them, and if you’d like to schedule a meeting, please reach out. Our goal is a strong alumni culture that shows a student’s departure is not the end of their time at Reed. Hearing alums’ stories, concerns, and ideas is key to achieving it. We strive to build lifelong, mutually beneficial relationships with current and future alumni, showcase Reedies’ pride, and increase resources and activities for our community.

The new structure in Alumni Relations & Volunteer Engagement allows us to focus on each cohort of alumni, including their likes and dislikes and the culture and events on campus during each particular era. We have a point person for every alum based on their class year. Our team includes familiar faces and new ones—including me, who joined the staff as director of alumni relations.

Each of the four volunteer managers works with a cohort of alums:

FIRST COHORT: YOUNG ALUMNI GRADUATE TO 10 YEARS OUT FROM REED REUNIONS: 1ST, 5TH, 10TH

Rachel has worked at Reed since 2019 supporting Alumni Fundraising for Reed volunteers and helping Reedies throw great parties at Reunions. As an associate director, she will also work with young alumni, helping recent graduates remain connected with the college, and will continue to work with local winemakers on events such as Reedies Drink Reedie Wine for Reed. She loves hot turkey sandwiches and stories about Reed days of old.

Fiona Simms

SECOND COHORT

11 YEARS TO 25 YEARS OUT FROM REED REUNIONS: 15TH, 20TH, 25TH

Fiona has worked at Reed for six years as part of the gift planning team. She joined alumni relations as an assistant director and will support the global Reed community by connecting with alumni through chapters. She is excited to work with alumni and deepen their connection with each other and the college. She loves disc golf, her dog, and hearing about the adventures and accomplishments of Reedies.

Amy Hesse ’03

THIRD COHORT

26 YEARS TO 40 YEARS OUT FROM REED REUNIONS: 30TH, 35TH

Amy has worked at Reed since 2018 and has supported alumni chapters, professional and affinity networks of the Reed Career Alliance (RCA), Reed Remote, Alumni College, Reunions, and Camp Westwind. As an associate director, Amy will continue supporting the RCA with a focus on expanding and building robust alumni professional and affinity network programs. When she’s not working at Reed, she’s likely out camping, hiking, skiing, swimming, or foraging for wild mushrooms and plants.

Tess Buchannan ’21

FOURTH COHORT

40+ YEARS OUT FROM REED REUNIONS: 40TH, 45TH, 50TH, 55TH+

Tess returned to Reed in 2022 as an assistant director of alumni relations to support the Foster-Scholz Club as part of the gift planning and alumni relations teams. Tess loves to compare notes on the Reed experience with other alumni.

Braden DenHerder EVENTS

Braden just finished his first year at Reed as associate director of events. He serves as the primary event manager for events hosted by alumni relations, including the annual Forum for Advancing Reed, Reunions, Reed on the Road, and others.

needs your help to increase our collections relating to the Multicultural Resource Center’s activities. Anyone with programs, written memories about past speakers, invitations, news clippings, photographs, ephemera, audio, or related archival memorabilia that they would like to donate is encouraged to contact Tracy Drake, head of archives & special collections, at draket@reed.edu.

ALUMNI CHAPTERS

Alumni chapters are a great way to connect with other Reedies in your area. Local alumni think up creative and fun events such as museum visits, happy hours, book clubs, and holiday parties. Chapters are also helpful for networking with other Reed alumni for jobs, navigating a new city, and more.

Give back to Reed and develop your network and fundraising skills. Alumni Fundraising for Reed (AFR) is a group of volunteers living across the globe and working to promote philanthropy at Reed. Volunteers contact donors to thank them and encourage future gifts to the college. Outreach is easy, takes little time, and greatly impacts Reed’s financial health.

The Committee for Young Alumni (CYA) helps young alumni connect, continue their intellectual journey, and collaborate in their post-Reed lives in meaningful ways. Consider joining the committee if you graduated from Reed less than 10 years ago.

Contribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion work being done in the alumni community. The Diversity and Inclusion Committee (DIC) works with alumni relations to reach, engage, and support Reed’s diverse alumni. The committee works to create alumni spaces that both recognize past harm and encourage healing and uplift; promotes college programming that emphasizes equity and justice; and builds a strong sense of community and (re)connection among alumni and students from historically marginalized and minoritized backgrounds.

The Foster-Scholz Club is a social group that provides older alumni with opportunities to maintain and renew ties to the college and a setting for fellowship among older alumni whose preferred class year was 40 or more years ago. This group traditionally meets several times per year for faculty lectures, theatre showings, workshops, and an annual luncheon during Reunions.

The Reed Career Alliance (RCA) supports fellow alums in developing meaningful careers through virtual and in-person events, professional and affinity networks, peer mentoring, and other alumni-led initiatives. Reed alumni may well be other Reedies’ secret weapon in navigating the working world.

For more information about any of these opportunities, please call alumni relations at 503-777-7589 or email alumni@reed.edu.