Reed College Top Questions

There is a large homosexual community on campus that is open and unpersecuted. Reedies tend to be white, and a surprisingly large proportion are Jewish. People who practice religion aren't generally open about it. It seems like everyone is from the San Francisco Bay Area, and if not that, they are New Yorkers. We tend to be politically aware and have some activists on campus, but most people don't have time to get involved. We are stereotypically and practically uniformly leftists here. We mostly talk about how our great education will leave us starving.

The student body at Reed is liberal. Often times conservative viwepoints aren't voiced on campus. As for the mix of students, there's a large diversity of sub-cultures rather than a large ethnic diversity (reed college is working on this). YOu have your anarchist-folk punk activists organizing political rallies and playing bluegrass, fire-spinning hair-dyed kids who write theater productions, tight jean- thriftstore hopping coffee drinking hipsters, super techie bike-geeks, outdoor loving he-men and women, perky cute girlie girls, frisbee/rugby beer-drinking jocks, and so many others. Students are generally open and friendly to hanging out with anyone, i've rarely felt excluded from events on or off campus.

Students are... unique. Some of them try really hard to be unique, and some of them don't, but it's interesting anyways. I couldn't characterize what the "average" Reed student would look like... I think in terms of background they would probably be liberal, have at least one professor parent, dance awkwardly and often and have a secret passion for something odd that you would never guess from looking at them. Most likely they went to private school or alternative school or something, though I went to regular public school and I know one or two others. Students don't think about money in the future, but most have big ideas about their contribution to the world, either artistically, philosophically or scientifically. I think most would be willing to starve for those things, though apparently most alum go on to be comfortable and upper middle class.

Although people often claim that Reed is the most un-religious school in the nation, as a Christian, I have enjoyed my time here. Almost no one at Reed goes to church regularly, but I have had better discussions about the nature of God here than anywhere else. I've also realized that while a lot of kids put down that they're "agnostic" or "atheist," most of them have more nuanced and interesting ideas than that. And, while a few freshmen are sometimes rude to avowed theists, that really isn't part of the Reed culture: they realize that it's inappropriate to do that pretty quickly. We have shirts in the bookstore that read "Atheism, Communism, Free Love," but in 2008, it's normally more like "Agnosticism, Socialism, Safe Sex."

student groups: queer alliance, black and african student union, asian student union, activist organizations, etc.--plenty of similar organizations here. reed bends way, way, way to the left, bordering on pinko sometimes. i have not been personally involved in any political-ish group, but they are a presence on campus, and they are active. the feminist student union and the new men's feminist group, mr. fakk, are pretty vocal, and sometimes controversial. but not in any divisive or harmful way. difference of opinion and debate are not just tolerated here, they are revered. unless you're a republican. as for religion, their is a multi-faith council and a chaverim, and the christian group is called "oh for christ's sake." i think that's pretty telling. normal kids would feel out of place here. the types interested in frats and sororities and mega team sports. probably extremely observant or orthodox religious kids. ver conservative students who might be offended by the slightest hint of nudity. people who crave a more typical college social scene. however, if your are a biracial atheist transgender student interested in stopping the oppression in burma and metaphysics, come on over! another important note: reed is sadly not very racially diverse at all. it's largely white, with some asians, few black students, and even fewer hispanic students, though there are a surprising number of international students from places like bulgaria and algeria. what do students wear to class? what don't they wear to class? i recommend that you abide by the "no shirt, no shoes, no service" rule (even if some don't). at the very least wear pants. that's the best rule of reed dress i can think of. only applies in class. yes different types of students interact, but visible groups do emerge over time. most reedies come from california or the pacific northwest, followed by new york, the midwest, and probably the international scene before it even gets to the south. there is not a great deal of socio-economic diversity because reed is so pricey. however, with the little endowment reed does have, they provide full rides to a fair amount of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. on the flipside, this means that the lower-middle/middle class students (like myself) often do not receive the financial they need or might get more easily at a different institution. but i would say most of the people i know come from rather privellaged backgrounds. students are keenly aware of current sociopolitical issues and active as well. reed has a history of radical liberal activism, and that tradition is slowly being rekindled (even if it means unplugging our coke machines). LEFT.

A lot of Reedies dress like they're poor. Usually, these are the ones who are self-conscious about how much money they have. Reedies are generally pretty liberal, but are so caught up with academics that a sense of apathy pervades student life.

I would say that most are white, straight, from the middle to upper class strata, liberal, and nonreligious.

There's a clear lack of diversity in terms of racial, religious, and socio-economic groups. While students don't segregate themselves, it's a fairly homogeneous group.

Reed is very white, and middle-to upper middle class for the most part. it's definitely gay-friendly. I don't know that I can speak to racial issues. I'm white and most of my Reed friends are white. My friends in high school and after Reed are much more racially mixed than at Reed. As far as class goes, students dress badly were less concerned with money and clothes than how badass they are in writing and speaking well about complex academic ideas. Someone who is not interested in academics, or who is only interested in partying or shopping would be out of place at Reed. Four tables: 1. Freshmen talking about HUM reading, 2. More freshmen talking about how they have to finish the Hum paper before they can go kayaking this weekend, 3. seniors who moved back onto campus to be closer to the library, 4. Scroungers Most students are from the Pacific Northwest, California, the Northeast, and a few from various other place and international. Students are generally very politically aware and pretty far to the left.

Very accepting. The student body is quite polarized in terms of financial background. Politically left as left can be- this is no bad thing. Very visible and vocal LGBT community which was great.

Reed is 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} rich white people pretending not to be, 20{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} freegan hippies, 10{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} international students who just want an education and are confused by the weirdos around them, and the rest is everything else.

There's not really racism on campus, though there aren't many black or hispanic people at all. Most Reedies are militantly atheist, but there are student bodies on campus for religion. These are admittedly small. E.g., Instead of having a Catholic group and an Evangelical group, there's just one Christian group called Oh For Christ's Sake--you've got to admit, the name is pretty cool. LGBT perfectly acceptable on campus. I've not heard one controversy over this. Though, I'm told that the gay dating scene isn't what they hoped it would be. Reedies do tend to be white, upper-middle class (this place isn't cheap), but they're not insensitive about socio-economic problems. If anything, they're a bit ignorant, but not judgmental. The feminist movement is pretty strong here, and there are some problems on campus, surprisingly. However, it's not a big deal unless you decide to make it one. One girl who was in my dorm (she's left Reed, now), was very unhappy because people disliked her. She was, as they thought, the 'popular girl' from high school they'd gone to Reed to escape. If you're popular or preppy, you may want to reconsider. Also, if you have high moral standards that you expect other people to meet, Reed is not where you need to be. As I said, Reedies are very open about the things they do. There's nudity around campus. People do drugs and smoke and drink and fuck. There are homosexuals on campus. etc. If this bothers you, go elsewhere. Reed is extremely casual in dress. You can get away with wearing almost anything at Reed. No joke. If you want to dress up, no one will look at you funny. If you come in with muddy PJs and a torn shirt, you'll be fine as well. No, there are many tables of students in the dining hall and they're not characterized in any particular way. There really aren't cliques on campus. As I said before, you're likely to form a close group of friends within your dorm when you first get here. Most Reed students are actually from California. No lies. And most are pretty damn rich. Duh. Students are politically aware and active if they want to be. There's plenty of opportunity around campus to get involved in in politics or community service. Reed is mostly left, but not everyone has the same views. There's more variation that people probably give credit to. Reedies don't really talk about future salaries. It's not...as important to them as all the reading they have to do tonight, and the paper that's due in two days and the exam they have on Friday.

Students wear anything they want. Boys wear dresses, girls wear capes and fairy wings. Everything is accepted here. Everyone interacts with everyone because it is such a small school. Most kids here are liberal and very environmentally aware. We don't really talk about financial aid backgrounds openly here. The people that aren't on financial aid generally feel guilty about it and the students that are don't want to talk about their financial aid in fear of making the other kids feel guilty. We have a large white population, which is a problem. But I don't know how we'd solve that. Maybe by getting the name of the school more out there in less wealthy towns.

The student body is ostensibly fairly homozygous, but there are quite a few different groups of people represented if you really get to know the student body. The jock-type would certainly feel out of place if he or she attended Reed, and they would definitely look it. Students are from all over the country, and there are quite a few international students. Students are definitely leaning towards the left, and are very politically aware. There are many political activity groups that actively participate in political affairs at Reed and around Portland. I've never heard anyone speak about their financial future or brag about the background that they come from. Everyone at Reed seems to be focused on experiencing the now and learning, rather than anticipating how rich they will be in the future.

We are too white. When I got to Reed as a freshman I thought the campus had gotten more diverse in the past few years, but it turns out that "African American" and "African" are put into the same demographic pool. It's kind of pathetic. Almost all of the kids I know who aren't white are international students. I do also feel like a lot of the students are from pretty privileged backgrounds. The school is not cheap. The campus is extremely liberal. Though you might say that any liberal arts college is liberal, Reed is the most liberal. The closest thing we have to a frat is communist group RKSK (or Reed Kommunal Shit Kollectiv). I don't care for them too much, but they are a popular group on campus and host the stimulant table during Finals week. Though we are very liberal, most people I think are too busy with work to anything other than politically apathetic. We are trying to change that by bringing the New York Times to campus this semester.

I go in and out of participating in the Queer Alliance on campus. Students who are not comfortable with other people doing things (like drugs or drinking) they don't like would feel out of place here. Students wear a variety of things to class, from dress clothes to bathrobes to the same thing for many days. Most Reedies are from the Bay Area in California, or the West Coast in general. It seems like most students get a large amount of financial aid. A small handful of students are politically active, and the rest try to stay aware. They are predominantly left. Students don't generally talk about how much they will make, except maybe to make a joke about living in a cardboard box someday because their major won't make them a lot of money

The only kind of student who would feel out of place a Reed is an extremely conservative right wing christian. They might have some trouble finding people who relate to their beliefs. There are plenty of religious people, but I don't think they find that they are treated differently. As I said, Reedies love Reedies. As long as you're respectful of others beliefs, they will be respectful of yours. Students are unconventional some of the time and completely "normal" some of the time, so you can see someone going to class in jeans and a tee-shirt, or you can see someone going to class wearing a cape and a cowboy hat. There's no "groups" at Reed, there are definitely groups of friends, but there's nothing that defines them as "popular", "geeks" or "wierdos". We're all pretty much all of the above. Reedies are from all over. I've noticed a lot come from california, washington, and oregon...but in no way is that the majority. It's really fun seeing the Californians or any other people from a sunny state experience their first North West fall and winter. They just don't understand...but they learn to! And then they love it. Reedies are pretty much mostly far left, politically. Students are fairly politically aware, but sometimes they are too laden down with work to read the news. So we are left in the dark a lot of the time as far as the rest of the world goes.

reed is a very politically active campus, and is very liberal. there are no conservative students, to my knowledge, and i would know because they would stick out. it's not so much that reedies aren't accepting of conservatives (granted that they are well-researched and well-reasoning), but they just challenge each other constantly anyway, so a conservative student might feel bombarded, even though it would be done in the spirit of exploration. also, most reedies tend to be athiest or agnostic. there are a couple unitarians, but students with fervent religious beliefs are few and far between. reed is also predominantly caucasian, despite efforts from the administration to diversify. i've heard that when minority students transfer, they often cite drug use as one of the reasons. most students are from california, but washington and new york also have large representations at reed, and there are a good number of international students. there's a prompt for this question that asks "What do most students wear to class?" that's an interesting question to answer. some students roll out of bed and throw on a pair of jeans before they head to class (and others wear their pajamas). a lot of students shop at thrift stores, and a lot of other students shop at urban outfitters. living in a dorm i've noticed that many people don't shower daily, and emphasis isn't really placed on physical appearance. also, many students wear outrageous clothing daily, and many students have brightly colored hair.

Fairly limited diversity on campus. Religious students in particular would feel out of place. Most students wear ratty clothes to class, or else the same thing they wore yesterday. Hair is usually not brushed. High heels are rare. Most students come from well-off family. Mostly liberal students here. We do not talk about potential earnings.

Reed is a campus full of diverse liberal white people. I'm from the Southwest where I feel comfortable being in the white minority. Here, however, it's less like a stewing pot, or even a mixed dish, it's really like a bowl of white rice, with a tiny sprinkling of spices on top. I'm sure it's really great for the students who aren't white- because they're rarer and thus somehow more exciting. It's honestly exciting to talk to someone who doesn't look just like you, and so they get an automatic status upgrade. Unfortunately, however, the actual exchange and International students tend to group together and not mix with the rest of the students, because I suppose we look like a tough group to crack into. Reed would not be a particularly fun place to be as a staunch conservative, but I suppose that it's reputation would prevent most people fitting this description form even considering it. It's a good place to be reaffirmed politically if you're liberal- and even to expand the way you feel and think about things. It's a great place to be passionate about politics. Let's just say that Super Tuesday turns out WAY larger crowds than the SuperBowl.