In Our Own Words

Reed Magazine surveyed Black alumni across the years about their experience at the college. In an attempt to capture the variety of lives impacted and enriched, here’s a sample of the responses, edited for brevity and clarity.

WHAT WAS YOUR LIFE LIKE ON CAMPUS? HOW DID YOUR BLACKNESS INFLUENCE YOUR EXPERIENCE OF REED RITES LIKE PAIDEIA, THESIS PARADE, HUM CONFERENCE, AND/OR DANCES ON CAMPUS?

I really loved being a student at Reed, but it definitely wasn’t a place where I felt affirmed as a Black student. Even now, 20 years later, I can remember walking into the Hum lecture hall, and there was this sea of white students, and this older white guy at the podium below, and me. The feeling of being out of place really hit home in my first seminar following that lecture. Students were discussing The Iliad as if they’d been groomed to have these sorts of discussions all the time. Reed was a place where I felt free to explore who I was and how I wanted to be in the world, but it wasn’t an environment where ideas about what it meant to be minoritized in white spaces was explored. And the dances? Wow, that was

MILESTONES IN BLACK HISTORY AT REED 1932

Geraldine Turner ’32 becomes Reed’s first Black graduate.

1947

Eastmoreland bar refuses to serve Inez Freeman ’48 because she is Black. Incident sparks the “Fair Rose” movement to end discrimination by hotels and restaurants in Portland.

1953

Prof William Couch Jr. becomes Reed’s first Black professor.

1958

Paul Robeson holds a concert at Reed in the face of McCarthy discrimination.

1964

Rockefeller Foundation makes $275,000 grant to help Reed recruit minority students.

like an anthropological study on non-rhythmic flailing. It was, um, different. ALICIA BRIZZI ’02

I am from the San Francisco Bay Area, which is very diverse, but I had gone to a wealthy private school in Portland for my last three years of high school. So I had already experienced the culture shock of being in a mostly white learning community, in a mostly white city and state, before getting to Reed. In fact, compared to my high school, the students at Reed were friendlier and easier to relate to. KATHRYN MAPPS ’86

It was unlike anything I’d ever gone through before. I grew up outside of DC in one of the most diverse areas in the country. Moving to Portland and then attending Reed, where I was one of a very small handful of Black students in my year, was jarring. Being a Black woman was even harder—I spent a lot of time not really knowing how to navigate romantic relationships or even friendships. There were a lot of cultural shocks during my first year— I didn’t really know how to culturally relate to a lot of my classmates. MAYA CAMPBELL ’15

I lived on campus two out my four years at Reed. During my freshman year, I was harassed so often by CSOs that I chose to live off campus. I was routinely asked leading questions, followed off campus, not believed when I told the truth. Reed didn’t do a great job at educating its students on racism. We had kids who wanted to fight for black liberation and study in CRES [Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies] courses; we also had a kid who called me a “negroid.” One other experience I had was when Thesis Parade had the theme ‘Bling Bling’ or something like that. That was a lot… NICK FRANGENBERG ’19

1968

Formation of the Black Students Union. BSU goes on to occupy Eliot Hall to demand a Black Studies Program.

IN OUR OWN WORDS

It was definitely eye opening. All of the campus events showed me how much Black creations are appreciated, but how little Black students are cared for. For example, playing early-2000s hip hop/RnB while banning Lewis and Clark students (the majority of whom were Black) from campus. TESSA VERBAL ’19

The Reed college experience was a major change for me. Coming from Oakland, I was used to a diverse high school (teachers, staff and students). I was not as academically prepared as many of the white students, their backgrounds and experiences were so different from mine, but I was a hard worker. Being the only black in classes at Reed did not bother me, except when a student used the “N” word just one time. Humanities did not make sense, seeming irrelevant. I did participate in many of the school activities and enjoyed them. Joining the Black Student Union and taking a few Black Studies classes gave me a feeling of belonging as well. However I remember so many black students were unhappy and left Reed because they did not feel that they belonged.

I would not say I felt “out of place” at Reed but at times I did not feel “in place” either.

To this day, I still question whether Reed is a good place for black students. MARY FRANKIE FORTE ’71

At the time, I was too naive to realize how alienating my blackness was. I was eager to be part of the community and internalized any negative experiences. From a professor telling me I was dyslexic to other Black students telling me it was not possible to be friends at Reed. While I know the education I received at Reed was topnotch and sparked something in me, it’s hard to put into words what that experience was and whether or not I would have done it differently. The further I get from graduation the more confused I am about Reed as an institution. JENNIFER YVETTE TERRELL ’98

I didn’t participate. Too busy being married and working and studying.... CLIFFORD MCGLOTTEN ’70

1969

Prof. William McClendon is hired to lead the Black Studies Center.

1975

The faculty’s Educational Policy Committee declares that Black Studies is not an essential part of a liberal arts education, effectively ending the program.

Black enrollment hovers near zero.

1985

Students occupy President Bragdon’s office to put pressure on Reed to divest endowment from US multinationals operating in South Africa. The trustees ultimately adopt the Sullivan Principles, but do not take the step of full divestment.

Horrible. Constant micro-aggressions or fullblown racism from professors and students alike. Absolutely no support for or understanding of Black students. I went at a time when [the] BLM [protest movement] was just starting. In an effort to show “solidarity,” white and nonblack Reedies were constantly posting and talking about Black death. It caused a lot of anxiety and rage. It felt like the only way I was allowed to be Black was through being angry at racism. JAELIN COLA ’17

While I was thrilled to be accepted to Reed, my campus experiences were severely detached from the mainstream. I’m certain this was attributed to my not living on campus, attending college in my late 20’s and early 30’s and being Black. Neither of my parents had attended college, so I didn’t arrive with the same foundation as many of my contemporaries. The Reed rites were simply foreign to me; I didn’t understand them, and no one seemed to care if I participated or not. KIMBERLY LOVING ’00 My Blackness was a major influence on life on campus. Campus had a handful of Black students who were spread far and wide on campus. In regards to the other events, being Black impacted my participation because there was no emphasis or recognition of Black people, so I was more a guest in the white culture on campus. MILES CRUMLEY ’07

I struggled in Hum because it felt like a study in white identity. Many students at Reed at that time were from the coasts and imposed their narrow beliefs about the South onto their perception of who I was. It took a long time for me to build up the confidence to speak up. ERICA LEE ’12

I sometimes thought that Reed had a hard time understanding that “Black” is very culturally diverse; we are a diaspora all over the world. One who didn’t grow up in the United States is not going to understand the perspectives and experiences of one who did. MELODY HARVEY ’10

1988

BSU organizer Linda Howard ’70 (who also founded Renn Fayre) joins board of trustees and pushes for more diversity.

1993

Students create the Multicultural Resource Center (MRC) as a home base to address issues of identity, culture, and oppression.

1995

Prof. Pancho Savery [English] joins the faculty. For many years, his Black Athena lecture in Hum 110 is one of the only moments when the Eurocentric nature of the course is challenged.