91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ

Letter from the Alumni President

Earl

“Eye of the Tiger” in the library, Gilbert and Sullivan, formals, the House F Owl, Nitrogen Day, Epistemology Forever, Canyon Day, Chem for Pyros, folk dancing, River Day, Friday at Four, Thesis Parade.

At 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ, there is a saying: If it happens once, it’s a tradition.

Some of these traditions are recognizable today and some would be familiar to the 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ class of 1915. (As I write this, I wonder what traditions the class of 2019 will invent.) The 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Alumni Association is a tradition created by the class of 1915, and this year we celebrate its 100th anniversary. Its purpose is:

to foster the continuing welfare of both the college and its alumni by promoting mutually beneficial interaction and a sense of community among alumni and between the college and its alumni.

But what does that mean? How does that happen? How did we get here?

A common thread that joins us all when we become, in the words of 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ’s founding president William Trufant Foster, “Comrades of the Quest,” is the belief among those who have come before us in the potential of the next generation of 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ and 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵies. You see it in Amanda 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ’s will establishing 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ, in the admissions volunteer who interviews prospective students, in the Loyal Owl who makes a donation every year, in the alumni who welcome recent graduates into the fold.

Building on Amanda 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ’s generosity, the alumni association came into being with the adoption of the constitution by the first graduating class of 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ—the class of 1915. Four years later, the alumni welfare committee writes to alumni: “Now as to what all of us as Alumni can be doing.” 

In the first organizing of the alumni association you see the idea that carries through to today—that it is our special opportunity as alumni to support 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ and 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵies so that each class can create its own 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ and its own traditions. 

Today 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ alumni, to quote that report from 1919, show their “interest and belief in the future of 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ” and a “sense of community” in numerous ways. The volunteers of Alumni Fundraising for 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ give their time and resources to create more opportunities for 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ. The 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Career Alliance connects students with alumni mentors in similar fields, Outreach Committee brings us together across the globe and helps other 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵies figure out how to connect, our Chapter Cities and  Reunions volunteers reminds us all that we are certainly more interesting when all in one place. 

That spirit is there when as a student you connect with an alumnus who helps you get a job, access research, takes an informational interview with you. And it is there in the tremendous feeling of honor when as an alumnus you receive that call from a current student asking for your help.  

Our opportunity as students is to make our own 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ. And our privilege as alumni is to support each other and each generation of 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ. Olde 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ creating New 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ—a tradition started by the class of 1915.

To participate in the tradition of volunteerism, please contact Todd Hesse at hesset@reed.edu or 503/777-7215.

By Kristen Earl ’05