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Reed is a place of paradoxes: a traditional academic curriculum coupled with a progressive student body; a lack of emphasis on grades, while at the same time 3rd in the nation for production of future Ph.D.s; no divisional sports teams, but a P.E. credit requirement. And yet, despite these paradoxes—or maybe because of them—Reed continues to function as a coherent and successful institution of higher learning.
Academics at Reed are framed by Humanities 110—a year-long study of Greek and Roman civilization, required for all first-year students—and by the senior thesis—a research paper of personal interest, supervised by a faculty advisor. But between one's first day on campus and the day when one receives that diploma, much else happens in the life of a Reedie. There is Paideia, a week between semesters when students teach classes, and the curricular and extracurricular blend. There is Nitrogen Day, when we celebrate one of the universe's most abundant, and yet underappreciated, elements. And then there is Renn Fayre, when we recognize the seniors' completing their theses with a weekend-long celebration, beginning with a parade that runs through the library, up to the President's office, and beyond.
Reed teaches students how to learn, how to write, and how to think. It provides them with the solid knowledge base of a liberal arts education, coupled with the academic specialization of the senior thesis. And it encourages intellectual freedom by bidding students to constantly ask the hard questions, to challenge received opinions and norms, and to never forfeit a life-long love of learning.
Reed is not a place for everyone; but for those attracted to its unique quirk and fervent intellectualism, it can be the place that they have always dreamed of, and a place that changes them forever.
- Steve Jobs - Founder of Apple Computers
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Reed is home to a research nuclear reactor. We license and employ more student reactor operators than any college in the world, and have more licensed women operators than all other research reactors combined. Operators are trained through a year-long certification process, involving a weekly seminar and ending with a nationally administered exam. The reactor is used primarily on quantitative neutron activation analysis, a method of determining the elements present in a sample, but the reactor has been put to many other uses, such as investigating dark matter, studying lava flows in Oregon, and bone mass measurement for osteoporosis research.
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The Doyle Owl is a three-foot, 300-pound cement owl. A mere sighting calls forth an insatiable covetousness in otherwise reserved and intelligent Reedies. Studying stops. Chaos erupts. Since 1913, the Owl has been chained to buildings and people. It has been slathered with Crisco and thrown, on fire, out of the back of a car. It has witnessed legions of devoted worshippers at shrines built in its honor. Rumor has it that it was even airlifted from the top of the thesis tower via helicopter. Mere words can never do justice to the Owl; you must witness it for yourself.
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