Student Profile
Mae
- Class: Junior
- Major: Anthropology
- Gender:
- High School:
- Transfer Student: N
Big Picture
Academic Life
Academics were a big part of both why I went to Reed and why I dropped out. They are very good and very traditionally limited. There are none of the more recent interdisciplinary/identity politics/post-colonial theory inspired majors that other schools with similarly "left" leaning student bodies offer. Reed officially offers independent studies, but faculty are very reluctant to approve them. I wanted to work in urban studies and agroecology, and ultimately saw no other way to pursue my interests than to find another school. That said, within my field (at Reed) of anthropology and sociology, there is an abundance of resources available. Most faculty have enough energy, diversity of interests, and respect for their students to set up classes in such a way that we can explore our own interests through flexible semester projects. If I choose to go back, I can focus on urban sustainability studies simply by the research I do and papers I write. Reed's limited academic scope can feel very constraining, but there are definitely creative ways to work around it, and plenty of support, funding, and knowledge to draw on once you figure out what you want to do.
Student Body
Reed is very white, and very privileged. There is growing and productive critique of this, largely from organizations like the Feminist Student Union, Black and African Student Union, and Multicultural Resource Center. For the most part, though, most students and administration are very comfortable with their elite positioning and only give nominal attention to discussions of race and class. But on another topic, as a queer lady I found a huge amount of support at Reed. I felt comfortable, I felt visible, and I felt like we had space to organize and be heard. There is a large and welcoming queer and activist community of people doing amazing work and taking amazing care of one another. Of course there were plenty of issues that came up in dealing with administration and in navigating classrooms dominated by entitled, mostly male voices, but at the same time, those issues were continuously talked about and resisted.
The Best Things
Abundant resources and brilliant people
The Worst Things
lack of community
