Disability Accommodation Process Leaves Students “Absolutely Stranded”

The disability accommodations process at Reed is lengthy and often opaque to students, leading junior Catherine Hoyle to “feel ostracized and feel like I’m in the process alone, as it’s hard to get help. It’s hard to get support, even if there are resources.” Getting accommodations is difficult in any academic setting, but there are…

Luxury Hotel Opens in Downtown Portland

At the end of October 2023, luxury hotel chain Ritz-Carlton opened its first Pacific Northwest location in downtown Portland. The developer, BMP Real Estate, calls it “one of the largest private sector developments downtown in Portland, and the most complex construction project in Portland’s history.” The most expensive penthouse, looking out on the whole city,…

A Brief Recap of the 2023 Nobel Prizes

(because I’m a chemistry major and the science prizes this year are mostly chemistry-related and my professors have been gushing about them) This information was synthesized from the Nobel Prize website press releases and other information found on their website about the background of the prize winners.  Nobel Prize in Physics 2023 Pierre Agostini, Ferenc…

Reed College Protest Ends in Four Student Arrests, President Bilger Calls For “Mutual Respect For Our Shared Humanity”

At 1:30pm on Thursday, November 9, approximately a hundred Reed College students, led by the Reed Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), walked out of class to demand “an immediate ceasefire, an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, [and] an end to the siege on Gaza.” Students marched behind a banner reading “Intifada Everywhere,”…

Cars Flying American and Israeli Flags Parade Through Campus, Accelerate Toward Students

At approximately 3:30pm on Sunday, November 19, about thirty cars bearing American and Israeli flags drove around Eliot Circle and the East Parking Lot while blaring their horns. Drivers verbally harassed students, and at least two reportedly accelerated toward pedestrians.  Earlier that week, a group named Oregon for Israel had advertised a “Car Rally” on…

Second Swastika Found On Campus

A copy of the following CSO report was provided to the Quest by Director of Community Safety. Gary Granger on Wednesday afternoon. More coverage to follow. This report was prepared by John Mathot, Community Safety Officer. On 2023-11-12 at around 1700 hours, I was notified by dispatch that a student, [Redacted] (Reed ID# [Redacted] they/them)…

Nazi and White Supremacist Graffiti Found in Library

As noted both in the breaking news edition of this story and an email from VP for Student Life Karnell McConnell-Black, the antisemitic graffiti found in a third-floor library bathroom on the afternoon of Friday, October 27 was confirmed to contain both a Nazi swastika and the numbers 1488, a combination of two popular white…

Externally Managed Portfolio Poses Challenge To Divestment Campaign

On September 2, Reed’s Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) clubs issued a joint Instagram post in which they urged Reed students to email Reed’s Board of Trustees, asking them to divest from corporations and institutions that are associated with the state of Israel, or the human rights…

2023 U.S. Elections: An Analysis

The gears of American Democracy turned once more on Tuesday, November 7, when Americans in a small but important handful of states went to the polls to elect governors, state legislators, local officials, and pass judgment on ballot measures. As usual with off-year elections, many of these races were seen as a gauge of voter…

Reed College Protest Ends in Four Student Arrests, Demonstrators Chant “Globalize the Intifada”

Thursday, November 9: Students march behind a banner reading “Intifada Everywhere” on Reed College’s campus. This is a breaking news story, full coverage is available here. Update (11/11, 5:52 PM): The original version of this article quoted Reed Professor Marat Grinberg on the history of the word “intifada.” At the time of the article’s publication,…

Nazi and White Supremacist Symbols Found in Reed College Library

The following story contains explicit descriptions of hate symbols. Reader discretion is advised. On the afternoon of Friday, November 3, VP for Student Life Karnell McConnell-Black confirmed in a campus-wide email that the hateful graffiti addressed by college administration in their October 30 email to the Reed community consisted of a Nazi swastika followed by…

Quest Wins National Award for DEI Reporting at ACP Fall Conference

At the National College Media Conference in Atlanta this week, the Quest was honored to receive a best of show award for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Reporting. The conference was organized by the Associated Collegiate Press — an association of college newspapers from across the country, of which the Quest is an active member. Quest…

House Advisor Union Recognized

On Friday, October 27, the Union of Reed College Housing Advisors (URCHA) was officially recognized as a union represented by the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 11.  Following Reed’s initial decision not to recognize URCHA as a labor union when they formed, the House Advisors (HAs) underwent an election through the National…

Institutional Review Board Introduces New Training Modules for Students, Faculty

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Reed helps students with monitoring ethics and privacy during research. Any institution that does research involving human subjects (research on the spectrum from injecting people with substances to simply asking them questions) has an IRB to help with ethics and privacy in addition to foreign research regulations. Even though…

Reedies Welcome New Foodtruck to Carte Diem Pod

Carte Diem Pod, the collection of food trucks that Reed students flock to whenever they need a convenient break from Bon Appétit, has added another delicious option to their ranks with Platter Division Indian Grill. This is Platter Division’s third location, with the other two being located in West Linn and Sellwood. The opening of…

Summer 2023 Plan to Fix Systems Security Flaw Halted by Administration Over Budget Concerns, Say Sources Within IT

According to leaked documents obtained by the Quest, the Reed IT Department was moving forward with plans to fix the systems flaw reported by the paper in late September — which exposed the campus IDs of all students, staff, faculty, and alumni — as early as May 2023, but was prevented from doing so over…

Grounds Crew Student Workers and Staff Members Report Negative Shift in Workplace Culture

At the beginning of the semester, six Reed College students working in Grounds Maintenance found out that their job positions had been eliminated and they were no longer employed at the college, a change that was not previously communicated to them by their employers. The students only discovered this after reaching out to Zachariah Perry,…

Office for Institutional Diversity Redistributes Funds for Indigenous Lecture Series

Correction (10/27/2023, 1:37pm) — A previous version of this article stated that Professor Kane spoke with OID staff member Jessika Chi, but in fact Professor Kane spoke with OID staff member Jen Whetham. The Quest regrets the error. During the faculty meeting on Monday, October 9, Visiting Associate Professor of Poetry Joan Naviyuk Kane brought…

Students Walkout for Palestine

Editors’ Note: Because students at other universities have previously had their personal information leaked as a result of their views on the conflict in the Middle East, the Quest will not publish participants’ names, identifying characteristics, or photos containing visible faces. Photography by Adrian Keller Feld On Wednesday, October 25, at 1:00pm, approximately a hundred…

Visiting CS Professor Meaw Namprempre Unexpectedly Leaves College, Planned Elective Course Canceled

By Ian Zotter-Barlow Over the summer, Reed’s Computer Science Department experienced a change in faculty when visiting professor Chanathip “Meaw” Namprempre unexpectedly chose not to return for the fall semester. According to the chair of the department, Adam Groce, Namprempre had a two-year contract with the college starting in the 2022–23 academic year, but she…

Department of Education Announces Changes to FAFSA

By Eli Ashcroft On August 4 2023, the U.S. Department of Education announced that the latest batch of changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) — requested by Congress two years ago in the FAFSA Simplification Act — would be implemented for the 2024-25 school year.  Students opening the updated FAFSA will…

College Will Not Voluntarily Recognize House Advisor Union Prior to Vote, Says VP For Student Life

By Lindsey Babcock, with additional reporting from Owen Fidler and Sam King Vice President of Student Life Dr. Karnell McConell-Black sent out an email to the Reed community in regards to the Union of Reed College Housing Advisors (URCHA) on the afternoon of October 11. Dr. McConnell-Black opens the email by acknowledging that the House…

WGA Strike Ends as Writers Reach Contract Agreement

By Rowan Horowitz As has been reported nationwide for the past several months, the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike for over 100 days. The strike, according to CNN, was due to “revenue streams from traditional linear television […] declining,” meaning less money for writers. So much less money, in fact that…

Annual Safety Report Released

On October 7, the Quest received a comment on this story pointing out that it could be read to imply that rape was not a violent crime. This was of course not the paper’s intention and the statement was corrected.  The original Clery report did provide a category of “Sex Offenses” — which includes reports…

Senator Meera Balan Talks Campus Lighting Petition

By Adrian Keller Feld and Rowan Horowitz Senator Meera Balan announced a petition for lighting on campus in the September 10 issue of SB Info, which has prompted significant debate in the weeks since. Many people have expressed strong opposition to the petition, both in person and most loudly in the Missed Connections, prompting Senator…

Reactor Training Becomes a No-Credit Course

By Vincent Tanforan On September 11, Reed’s reactor training program was granted approval by the Committee on Academic Policy and Planning for entry as an official course. This marks a major change for the Reed Research Reactor, which, in addition to functioning as the only reactor operated mainly by undergraduates, educates Reed students about nuclear…

Reed Van Gas Tank Tapping Continues

By Asta Rossi Over the past few years, some of the college’s fleet of sixteen vans have had their gas tanks tapped. Director of Facilities Operations Steve Yeadon revealed that during the last academic year, three vans were drilled into and needed their gas tanks replaced. During this new semester, two van gas tanks have…

Student Clubs and Organizations Compete in Funding “Hell” (Circus)

By Alex Diamond After their initial skirmishes at the engagement fair two weeks ago, Reed’s many student-led organizations went to war this week, battling for the votes of their fellow Reedies in a tradition lovingly referred to as Funding Circus. Within a five-day span, Reedies had the opportunity to select which organizations they would want…

Six Student Grounds Crew Workers Lose Their Jobs — By Accident

By Sam King On August 28, an anonymous student on campus reached out to Facilities Operations Manager Zac Perry. This student had spent the last three years working on the Grounds Crew with a number of other students, pulling garlic mustard, trimming blackberry bushes, and raking gum tree droppings, often with another student or full-time…

In Leaked Letter to the President, 70 Faculty Say They “No Longer Recognize the College”

On August 16th, seventy college faculty signed a joint letter to President Bilger expressing their concerns about the college’s ongoing handling of last spring’s staff pay protests, during which staff objected to proposed changes to their compensation structure which were then put on hold. In the letter, a copy of which was obtained by the…

Follow Live Coverage of Reed’s System Vulnerabilities

Reed Reactor is Thoroughly Protected, New Source Confirms September 29, 1:04 PM Quest reporters were approached by a new anonymous source associated with the Reed reactor, who was more willing to speak to the details of reactor security than those previously contacted by the paper. The Quest can now independently confirm that the Reed Research…

Flaw in Campus Directory Exposes ID Numbers of Students, Staff, Faculty, Alumni

Editors’ Note: The following story was scheduled to appear in print and online on Friday, September 29. On September 22, The Quest alerted IT in good faith that the article would go to print the following week to give the department time to fix the massive security vulnerabilities detailed within. Forty minutes ago, IT sent…

Student Body Funding Circus Results Fall ’23: Quest, Period Kollectiv, Pool Hall Make Top 3

Rank Organization Amount Requested Amount Allocated % allocated $169,156.61 $96,388.90 1 The Reed College Quest $11,583.00 $8,783.00 75.80% 2 Period Kollectiv $6,672.00 $6,372.00 95.50% 3 Pool Hall $4,352.97 $2,852.97 65.50% 4 KRRC $3,612.24 $3646.24* 100.90% 5 BSU $13,155.00 $8,319.00 63.20% 6 The Griffin Senior Yearbook $2,256.37 $1,181.42 52.30% 7 Print Shoppe $2,013.13 $2,013.13 100.00% 8…

L Mattson Joins Reed as New Director of SHARE Program

By Asta Rossi Yasodha Gopal, Associate Dean of Students for Health and Well-Being, recently reached out to the Quest to announce that the recently vacated post of SHARE Program Director will be filled by L Mattson beginning on September 25. Mattson comes to Reed with dance and psychology undergraduate degrees and a graduate degree in…

“This Changes the Face of Our Nation:” Faculty Discussion Admission, Affirmative Action, and New Courses

By Declan Bradley and Henry Kendrick President Audrey Bilger began the first faculty meeting of the 2023/24 academic year — which took place on September 11 — with a statement of remembrance for those killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, calling it a “solemn event.” President Bilger also expressed her admiration for the students who…

Professors Disagree on Grading Policy and Practice

By Cooper Hammond Section V.B.1 of the Faculty Code states that “The recommended distribution of passing grades over a period of years for all courses is as follows: A – 25%, B – 45%, C – 25%, D – 5%.” In other words, it asks professors to grade their students in such a way as…

Stuff Swap Switches to Open Access

In the September 10th issue of SB Info, it was announced that the Stuff Swap had switched to an open access model, meaning that it will now be open without a staff member. During its new hours of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, students will be able to gain access with their…

Reed Has No Official Policy on Generative AI in Admissions Essays, According to Dean of Admission

By Eli Ashcroft and Ian Zotter-Barlow According to Dean of Admission Milyon Trulove, Reed College currently has no formal policy on the use of generative AI in admissions essays. “[Reed doesn’t] have a policy regarding AI use in the admission process,” Dean Trulove said, “[but] we expect that everyone will write their college essays independently…

Introducing Reed’s (Potential) Newest Courses

By Parrish Johnson CAPP chair Meg Scharle introduced thirteen new course proposals at the September 11 faculty meeting (a full list is included at the end of this article.) These proposals, which hail from eight different departments, have only reached this point after a great deal of deliberation. As Scharle stated, “By the time the…

Powell’s Books Employees Strike on Labor Day

By Louis Chase and Griffin Turek This past Labor Day, workers at all three of Portland’s Powell’s Books locations went on a one-day Unfair Labor Practice strike to protest alleged stalling by management amidst negotiations for an 8th union contract. Workers at these Powell’s locations started picketing at 9:30 a.m., and subsequently converged on Powell’s…

News Beyond Reed

By Liz Organ Local: Measure 110 In early 2021, Measure 110 went into effect after being passed by Oregon voters in a 2020 referendum. This ballot initiative decriminalized possession of small amounts of most hard drugs, reclassifying it from a misdemeanor to a lower-level violation. The measure also set up a “Drug Treatment and Recovery…

Reed Adds New Identity-Based Essay Question to Writing Supplement for First-Year Applicants

By Declan Bradley In early August, Quest reporters discovered from Reed’s Common App listing that the college had added a new essay prompt to the writing supplement section of its application. The new prompt — which reads, “How might aspects of your identity positively influence the living and learning community at Reed?” — marks the…

Residence Life Alters Job Responsibilities for House Advisors

Feature photo by Owen Fidler By Lindsey Babcock On July 19th, while researching developmental neurobiology at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, junior biology major Alister Orozco received a call from Assistant Director of Residence Life Leo Cruz. Cruz inquired about Orozco’s plan to return to campus for HA training. Orozco informed Cruz that…

2023 Reed Summer Research Poster Session Showcases Student Work

By Griffin Turek; Photography by Ray Perry On a warm Friday afternoon, on the shaded plaza outside the language houses, STEM students gathered to present summer research projects to curious peers and faculty. Students set up posters as passers-by began to gather. At this annual summer research poster session, Reed students in the sciences come…

An Update on Masking on Campus

By Louis Chase New students arriving at Reed during Orientation Week were greeted by a campus with few visible signs of the COVID pandemic. Gone are the days of surveillance testing and the campus-wide mask mandate, both of which were phased out during summer 2022, as well as isolation housing for students diagnosed with COVID,…

SHARE Program Struggles Through Change of Leadership

Former Director Rowan Frost leaves college after voicing concerns that administration was not “committed to supporting survivors”; students and staff acknowledge difficulty protecting confidentiality. After more than nine years directing Reed’s Sexual Health, Advocacy, and Relationship Education program (SHARE), former director Rowan Frost left Reed at the end of June, leaving students uncertain about the…

President Bilger Uses Special Authority to Pass Anti-Roofie Amendment to AOD Policy

On August 17th, Reed President Audrey Bilger invoked the special authority granted to her under the community constitution to add a fifth policy clause to the college’s Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) policy. The new article, which was first put forward by student advocates from the Sexual Health Advocacy and Relationship Education (SHARE) program last…

Reed Student Lily Larsen, who initiated the protest at Bilger’s office, contacted the Quest to apologize to the President’s secretaries and make clear that the majority of those present did not intend to antagonize college staff

“[We] decided that it would be a good idea to take some of the signs and leave them in the foyer for when Audrey Bilger returned to her office to see,” Larsen said, “My intention behind this was more quietly occupying the space or just leaving the signs, and the majority of people there came…

The Quest has previously covered staff pay issues, including staff discontent and a data-based explanation of the proposed changes

In Staff Pay Explained, Declan Bradley does his best to clarify what the proposed changes would have meant for staff across Reed’s campus. In Staff Continue Objections to Proposed Pay Changes, Declan and L Urena recount the events of an all staff and faculty meeting, and the questions, comments, and concerns staff raised for HR. And in Faculty…

A group of students who contacted the Quest claimed to have witnessed a meeting between what they believed to be staff and administrators while the protest was taking place

The students arrived outside of President Bilger’s office shortly before 3:19 PM (Quest reporters arrived at 3:22), and took several photographs of the meeting and what seems to be an agenda written on the white board. “Pay evaluation” and “replicable job descriptions” are two notable agenda items.

In a speech, faculty member Aaron Ramirez said that a Reed Union had been discussed in recent weeks

Professor Ramirez said that they had been approached about the idea of calling a Reed Union, a public forum for discussion traditional to Reed which is unrelated to a labor union, but that the idea was not currently being actively pursued. Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly suggested that the organization being called…

Renn Fayre 2023: “The Divine Comedy” Is Coming

Renn Fayre is BACK and with the traditions of years past, including with over fifteen live music performance groups, twenty seven student projects, and a whole lotof EXCITEMENT FOR THE GRADUATING SENIORS! Especially for this week’s edition of the Quest, here’s a teaser of the Renn Fayre schedule, withthe full Renn Fayre Edition of the…

Former ResLife Director No Longer Suing Reed College

In January 2023, Former Director of Residence Life Clea Taylor, who filed a lawsuit against Reed in June 2022 alleging disability discrimination and retaliation, reached an out-of-court settlement with the College. Taylor’s suit claimed that Reed discriminated against her by refusing her medical accommodation requests for remote work, and that they had retaliated against her…

Faculty Discuss Grade Distributions and Workload

The April 17 faculty meeting opened on what college President Audrey Bilger called a “beautiful-ish” April day, with dozens of faculty in attendance in the foyer of Kaul Auditorium. The Administration Committee (AdComm) brought forward a proposal to strike part of section V.B.1 from the college’s Faculty Code. This policy lays out a “recommended distribution”…

Trillium Residents Relocated Due to Mold Infestation

Update 4/14 at 1:19 PM: Residence Life responded to a request for comment on Thursday morning, but will not be able to meet with reporters until next week. Disclaimer: the author of this story formerly lived in Trillium and was among the residents required to relocate due to mold. On Friday, March 31, Residence Life…

Trulove Talks Admission and Affirmative Action

Last Thursday (4/6), Vice President and Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Milyon Trulove hosted a session discussing the upcoming Supreme Court decision regarding race-based admission — otherwise known as affirmative action — and how Reed plans to face the decision. Additionally, Trulove discussed current Reed enrollment trends, as well as current recruitment methods the…

Quest App Now Available for Android and iOS

You’ve searched. You’ve scrolled. You’ve tried, hazily, to remember the URL for the Quest site, and then given up and picked up a paper in the library. But now, at long last, it’s here: the Quest app. Built for Android and iOS, the Quest app provides all the features of our online publication and more,…

Q&A with Director of HR Heather Quinn-Barron

As part of our coverage of recently proposed changes to staff pay scales, The Quest reached out to Director of Human Resources Heather Quinn-Barron over email with questions about the new system. Among other things, The Quest asked about the released pay grades, their suspension, staff reactions, and the introduction of job descriptions. This article…

A Thunderous Canyon Day

Canyon Day 2023 was a smashing success despite the thunder and waves of quarter-inch hail crashing the party last Saturday. In Reed’s second Canyon Day event since the virus shutdown, students, staff, faculty, alumni, and other community members gathered near the Grove dorms to continue the college’s longest-running community event, dating back to the earliest…

The OWL Program is Confirmed to Return Next Year with Some Changes

Many of us know about the OWL program, or Orientation and Wayfinding Leaders, that assists incoming freshmen with their social and academic transition to Reed through group activities and discussions.  Rumors of its uncertain future began circulating, so the Quest reached out to Janice Yang, the Director of the Office for Student Engagement, and current…

Staff Express Overall Discontent Following Pay-Range Changes

Note: interviews with staff discussed in this article have been anonymized as a result of alleged implied threats of retaliation from higher administration towards individuals who directly speak up, as described by staff. Staff members are an integral part of the Reed community, and their contributions can be seen in all aspects of the way…

“Rapturous” Hail Bombards Canyon Day

Students during the hailstorm, by Aspen, dancing to Canyon day scheduled live music. Midday on April 1, 2023, a clap of thunder sounded across the Canyon. Curious students turned their heads to the sky, with some howling in response to the echoing omen, and others simply shrugging, continuing their activities of pulling ivy, grilling bean…

Reed College Announces, Then Suspends, Overhaul of Staff Pay System

Over the last several weeks, Reed College staff and faculty have raised ongoing objections to the college’s proposed changes to the staff compensation system, changes that have been placed on indefinite hold for “further review” at the time of this writing. We understand, of course, that this coverage is both incomplete and rushed, as breaking…

Staff Continue Objections to Proposed Pay Changes, Now on Hold

At an all staff meeting on Tuesday, college employees expressed ongoing concerns about proposed changes to staff pay, which had been paused and placed “under review until further notice” by the time the meeting began. College President Audrey Bilger began the meeting by addressing the roughly 100 staff present (as estimated by two Quest reporters…

The Quest goes to SF!!!

The week before spring break, the Quest traveled to San Francisco to attend the Associated College Press conference (ACP). In attendance were more than 750 other collegiate journalists and journalism professors. The Quest then competed against other universities at a national level.  On March 9, Declan Bradley, L Urena, and Henry Kendrick began their journey…

Faculty Raise Concerns Over Staff Pay-Scale Reconfiguration

Monday’s faculty meeting opened on a full house, and on top of other things, included discussions of additions of academic buildings and new classes, inclusive classroom dynamics, equitable distributions of work, and a lengthy discussion about the recent overhaul in the pay scale for the staff here at Reed. With the bang of a gavel…

Sea Otters: Their Long History With People and How They Shaped Pacific Coastal Communities

Introducing Dr. Shawn Larson: Last Friday, Dr. Shawn Larson, a Senior Conservation Research Manager at the Seattle Aquarium, gave a talk as part of the Friday Biology Seminar Series about the population, history, and recovery of sea otters (Enhydra lutris). Having studied sea otters for over two decades, Dr. Larson started her academic journey studying…

Faculty Discourse Over Possible Summer Work

Correction: This article incorrectly stated that Faculty Parliamentarian Peter Ksander had interpreted faculty policy to mean that the motion passed to send a proposed policy back to ASC for reconsideration “had no binding power.” However, Ksander has since stated that this does not reflect his interpretation, and that, “the quote expresses Metz’s understanding of my…

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