Our next school was probably the one I felt most knowledgeable about prior to the tour. Reed College's reputation precedes it. It is known as an ultra-rigorous intellectual liberal arts college and indeed that is the place I got to see in person yesterday evening and this morning.
Reed is a school full of bright students that aren't so much after grades as they are after knowledge. They are smart without needing to brag about it or be rewarded for it through gold stars or pats on the back. That isn't to say they are completely cynical or jaded all the time (of all our student panels so far, when the Reed students got jazzed about a topic they smiled the biggest, giggled the loudest, and showed great amounts of enthusiasm) but they are seemingly not here just to go through the motions. They value process as much as they value product.
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| Thesis Tower |
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| Sample Thesis about the Physics of Skipping Stones |
Learning is taken very seriously at Reed. There is an 'Honor Principle" that is intentionally not written down in order to emphasize the nature of being part of the Reed community. Students are to treat others as they would want to be treated (NOT 'they' as in themselves 'they as in the other person). This urges students to be good community members, taking the perspective of their peers and professors and acting in their best interests. This includes a universal academic honesty policy, where all exams are self-proctored and students don't cheat. I suspect this is both because they don't need to and because it doesn't benefit them. Most Reed students don't even know their grades or GPAs. That sort of quantification of intelligence are overshadowed by the pursuit of inquiry, creativity of thought, and exploration of knowledge.
This is a place that breaks the mold in a lot of ways. Things like not participating in college rankings (and thus not having a giant focus or motivation toward things like yield rates, acceptance rates, or driving up application numbers). They also don't employ adjunct professors, a practice that is widespread across most other institutions of higher education. They don't have NCAA sports, but reminded us, more than once, that high school student athletes can and should still apply and are welcome with open arms.
The only school on the tour to meet full demonstrated financial need of admitted students, Reed can be grouped with its other philosophical peer schools like Amherst, University of Chicago, and Williams. But unlike those schools, their acceptance rate hovers around 35%, meaning they are a much more realistic option for the right fit student. I also observed that the place Reed puts its money is into the people and the classroom experience (read: financial aid and high quality engaging professors) as opposed to facilities. Case in point: I was expecting a gorgeous brochure-worthy 100 year old library for a school this chock full of voracious readers and was instead met with a space last renovated in the (aesthetically painful) timeframe of 1989.
I would classify that 'right fit' student as someone who aims to be a lifelong learner. A person for whom thinking deeply brings joy. I very much value schools like this because they really do have an identity that sets them apart from the rest.
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| A study hearth at Willamette U. |
The overarching themes of this school were clear: community/civic engagement and teaching. Students raved about their professors and we met the most faculty here than of any school so far. The school motto is: "not unto ourselves alone are we born." A message that hearkens back to their past affiliation with the Methodist church, but more so appears to embody the ongoing commitment to teaching students to grow both academically and as human beings, responsible for bettering the world and building bridges of understanding with others.
Willamette is the oldest school in the Western US (founded in 1842) and occupies a unique space within the world of higher ed. With a firm commitment to the liberal arts, Willamette is also a place with graduate programs (including 3-3 and 3-2 combined degree programs in fields like law, business, and engineering) but with a size that is much smaller and more intimate than other universities. No undergraduate class here is over 50 students. They are testing optional and offer merit aid to all applicants, even those who don't submit scores.
Perhaps the more than any of the other three schools we've seen so far, Willamette was transparent about their areas for growth. To be frank, this part of the country is not very racially/ethnically diverse and each of the schools we have seen have a ways to go before their schools accurately represent the makeup of our country (both in terms of Pell eligible students and underrepresented students of color). That said, I was most impressed with the answers Willamette gave on this topic. They were reflective and gave real action items and ways their community is striving to do better. The initiatives appear to genuinely be from the top down and there is an ongoing dialogue between students, faculty, and the administration around areas of diversity, access, and inclusion. Bravo to them for not shying away from these difficult conversations, not skirting these topics with visitors like us, and seeking out ways to move forward together as leaders in the West.
Willamette struck me as a place where, in the true spirit of a CTCL school, a typical student can come to be the best version of themselves. The energy is positive and I found it to be more bubbly than the other schools we've seen so far.
Our final school awaits us tomorrow - excited to finish out this great week!
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