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On Research

Since I began reading Reed Magazine (rather than simply recycling it unread), I have read letters from alums praising the education they got at Reed, and I have not been able to relate. Don’t get me wrong, I gained a lot from my Reed experience, I just didn’t see what good the formal education part of it did for me—until this recent issue focused on research. Then I understood. I realized that since the late ’70s, I’ve been engaged in a research project. That’s when I tossed a challenge to the Mystery. The Mystery has responded with a progression of challenges to me. I, in turn, have used my growing sense of the Mystery in my response to these challenges. Something like a relationship has developed. At times it feels like a dance.

There is a clear-headed integrity to the process that has Reed’s fingerprints all over it. Thank you.

Martha Holden ’68 Montpelier, Vermont

That Storied Day in ’62

The account in the September 2021 “In Memoriam” for Jack Scrivens of the halftime entertainment for the 1962 Columbus Day football game was correct. Those of us who experienced the 1962 Columbus Day storm aren’t likely to forget the day: the football game, halftime show, motorcycle, the garbage can lids, the student bearing a cross, and the singing (lamenting?) students. I know because I was on the football team that year (the only year that I attended Reed), and we Reed players enjoyed the spectacle from our sideline. There may have been a similar halftime show in 1959, but the 1962 show definitely occurred. B. Giles Larrabee ’66 Alexandria, Virginia

Divestment

I’m glad to hear that Reed’s trustees decided to end investments in planet-destroying fossil fuel corporations. Heartwarming as the decision is, it stops short of another important target for divestment, namely, the institutions that finance the capital-intensive activities leading to climate change.

Every major US bank continues to fund the expansion of the fossil fuel industry, despite the fact that even the International Energy Agency has stated that we must immediately stop investing in new fossil fuel operations to avert catastrophic climate change.

In Seattle and elsewhere 350.org has campaigned to stop the big banks and investment houses from funding the climate destroyers. Reed needs to steer clear of the enablers as well as the fossil fuel companies on the front lines. Roger Lippman ’69 Seattle, Washington

It’s on the Syllabus

Enjoyed the articles on Hum 211/212. I think you should print the syllabus in your next issue. Paul Spitzer ’59 Seattle, Washington

From the Editor: Great idea. The syllabus is so chock-full of readings, works of art, and more that it wouldn’t fit here. But you can see it in its entirety at reed.edu/humanities/hum211-212 /syllabus/index.html.

Correction

A Reediana brief in the March 2022 issue about The Diaries of Judith Malina, 1958–1971 by Prof. Kate Bredeson, gave incorrect information, including publisher details. Please stay tuned! Corrected information and more are forthcoming.