Reed College
Reed College

New Alumni

Welcome!

Graduation marks a meaningful shift in your connection to the Reed community.

This moment of transition may come with new questions: What does it mean to build a life that is intellectually serious, ethically grounded, and deeply your own? When you stay connected to the Reed community, you don't just find help answering these questions, you ensure that the next generation of students will encounter the same seriousness of thought and freedom of inquiry that shaped you.

What’s Here for You

Career Networks That Open Doors

Professional networks help you find Reedies in fields like tech, law, finance, public policy, arts, business, and more. Career panels and alumni group discussions make pathways clearer and help you build real connections.

Mentorship That Meets You Where You Are

The Reed Alumni Mentor Program (RAMP) connects you with alumni across industries and stages of life. Exploring a pivot, considering grad school, or trying to figure out what’s next? You don't have to do it alone.

Events That Keep Us Together

From regional alumni gatherings and virtual events to annual reunions and alumni college discussions, there’s always a way to connect with your community around the questions that matter. Alumni lectures, panel discussions, and virtual programs give you space to wrestle with ideas alongside fellow Reedies.

Resources That Still Belong to You

You retain lifelong access to resources like

  • the alumni directory (where you can find Reedies by city, field, or interest);
  • Switchboard, a platform through which the Reed community can ask for and offer help;
  • the Reed library, which remains open to you, providing you with research access and JSTOR with your alumni credentials.

How You Shape Reed’s Future

Reed has always relied on alumni who believe in the value of rigorous education and independent thought. One day, you may be in a position to give back in transformative ways.

Today, you can begin by staying connected.

  • Serve as a RAMP mentor
  • Attend or host alumni events in your city
  • Support the Annual Fund. Whatever you find most meaningful about Reed, chances are, Annual Fund gifts help make it possible.

Every way you stay connected strengthens the community that makes Reed, Reed.

What’s Next

Update Your Alumni Profile

Updating your profile helps students and other alumni find you. You can share where you’re working, what you’re researching, and be in control of how you want to connect.

From Student to Alum

What do I need to do before I graduate?

Review the college’s senior checklist, then review the commencement website to make sure that you've covered everything.

What happens to my Reed accounts after I leave?

You retain access to your IRIS account, although the alum view is different from the student view. Through IRIS, you have access to the Alumni Directory, ski cabin reservations, and more. You can also use your IRIS account to access JSTOR and use on-campus computers. Your login information for Kerberos remains the same. Contact alumni@reed.edu for an account reset if you forget your login information.

Note: You will lose access to all other Reed accounts when your account transitions from student status to alumni status. Your Reed email and Google Drive files will be permanently deleted. Make sure that you transfer documents, emails, and non-Reed account login credentials to a personal account before you leave. Instructions for closing your Reed account are available on Reed's "account closing" page.

Am I automatically a member of the alumni association?

If you are no longer a student at Reed, completed at least seven units in a degree-seeking program at Reed, and were not expelled from the college or removed from the alumni association, then congratulations! You are a Reed alum and automatically a member of the college's alumni association.

I didn’t graduate. Am I still considered an alum?

Yes. Alumni status is given to former Reed students who completed seven units in a degree-seeking program, and this is usually accomplished within a student’s first year at Reed. 

Occasionally, the alumni board confers honorary alumni status upon community members who do not meet the seven unit criterion (usually a former Reed faculty or staff member). This is done to express appreciation for work an individual has done on behalf of the college.

What benefits does alumni status come with?

If you are a member of the alumni association, you have access to the following benefits. 

  • Career resources
  • Library access
  • Insurance discounts
  • Alumni directory access
  • JSTOR access
  • Local hotel discounts
  • Invitation to alumni events
  • Ski cabin access (limited)
  • Use of on-campus computers 

Please note the benefits listed above may be revoked at the discretion of alumni relations and community safety. See the question “Can alumni status be revoked?”

What campus facilities can I use?

  • Check out books from the Reed library with an alumni card. Summit and Inter-Library Loan are not available to alumni.
  • Sign into campus computers with your IRIS account. (Printing is not available to alumni.) You can also use your IRIS account to access JSTOR.
  • You can reserve a spot at the ski cabin the same way you did as a student, through IRIS. Student access takes priority.

How do I order a transcript or replace my diploma?

See the registrar's office website.

How do I audit a class?

Alumni are permitted to audit most classes at Reed with instructor approval and payment of a fee. Once you have the professor’s approval, you can pick up an auditing form from the admission office. Review the college’s policy on auditing courses.

Can alumni status be revoked?

Any person who was expelled from Reed is not considered an alum of the college.

If an alum has behaved in a way that makes another community member feel unsafe, they may be subject to removal from the community or exclusion from campus. 

The Alumni Community

What are alumni events?

Alumni events are hosted by Reed alumni or the alumni relations and parent engagement office specifically for a Reed alumni audience. You can also attend other events at Reed. For new grads in particular, alumni events can be great networking opportunities.

You'll also get emails about chapter events in your area, which means wherever we think you live, so make sure you update your address in IRIS if you move!

What is the biggest alumni event?

Reunions, which happens in June, sees over a thousand alumni from all over the country return to campus. This is a fun opportunity to reconnect with old friends!

What is the alumni travel program?

Alumni relations plans a number of travel experiences available to Reed alumni every year. Most of these trips are planned in-house, though some are run through outside agencies—if this is the case, it will be noted in the trip description. 

How can I connect with Reedies for assistance?

New alumni (those within one year of leaving Reed) have full access to all services provided by the Center for Life Beyond Reed (CLBR), as though they were still students, in addition to the career resources provided by the alumni office.

If you are more than one year out from Reed, we still have resources for you! CLBR is available for graduate school, medical school, and law school advising no matter your class year or graduation status. You also have access to the Alumni Directory, which you can use to connect with alumni in your city, profession, or academic area of study. Reed Switchboard is an invaluable resource for alumni as well. Reedies are usually thrilled to help out new alumni, so don’t hesitate to contact alumni relations if there is a specific alum you want to get in touch with. We'll be glad to help you make the connection.

If you want resume help or an introduction to Reedies working in specific industries, our Career Coaches may be able to help.

How can I get involved in the alumni community?

There are many ways to help out and get involved! 

Those are just a few of the volunteer opportunities alumni relations offers. We also have one-off volunteer initiatives like Orientation Move-In and Reed Alumni Connect, as well as the possibility of volunteering on alumni board committees as an ad-hoc member. If you’re not sure of the best fit for your interests and schedule, please email us at alumni@reed.edu. We’re happy to chat with you about what alumni relations has to offer!

What are the functions of the alumni board and alumni chapters?

The alumni board is distinct from the Reed College Board of Trustees. The alumni board is a volunteer board that advises college relations on policy and serves as the leadership of the alumni volunteer community. 

Chapters are groups of alumni in eleven cities throughout the United States (and Europe!) that work to support the Reed community in the region. They put on social events and help alumni make local connections.

Staying in Touch

How do I update my contact information?

You can update your contact information (and set privacy controls for who sees it) in IRIS. If you cannot log into IRIS, you can update your information using the quick update form. If that also is not an option, you can email your updated information to alumni@reed.edu and we can take care of it for you. 

When you depart from Reed, whatever contact information you provided as a student will automatically be moved into the alumni database. This includes your non-Reed email address, mailing address, and phone number. If you haven’t updated your contact information recently, now is the time! If you get Reed emails about events in an area you no longer live in, haven’t seen Reed in your inbox for a while, or haven’t received Reed Magazine in the mail, those are good indicators you may need to update your contact information.

How do I receive news about what is going on at the college?

Once you’ve left Reed, you’ll begin to receive various communications automatically, including Reed Magazine and various emails. You can unsubscribe from these communications at any time. If you believe you should be receiving Reed Magazine or a certain email and you are not, please ensure your contact information is current in IRIS and then contact alumni@reed.edu. We will do our best to fix the problem.

Who will contact me from Reed and why?

Any contact information in your IRIS account that is not specifically unchecked as viewable in the “Alumni Directory Prefs” section will be visible to all alumni. You can control who can see your contact information using your IRIS privacy settings.

You will also receive communications from the college. Most of this contact is not related to fundraising, but about keeping you up to date on upcoming alumni events and opportunities as well as important updates from campus. We do our best to ensure that this contact provides helpful information rather than spamming you, but if you want to be removed from any email lists, contact our office at alumni@reed.edu or select the “unsubscribe” button on the bottom of our emails.

How do I manage my communication preferences?

You can opt in or out of any alumni communications (email, print, and phone) by sending a request to alumni@reed.edu. We are also able to remove you from any of the specific kinds of communications while keeping you in the other emails you’d like to see.

To preserve the privacy of your email address from the Alumni Directory, you can set your email address to not be publicly visible on IRIS. Instead, you can display an alumni email forwarding address or no email address at all. IRIS has a number of ways to alter what subgroups of people can see your information—feel free to peruse and customize to your preference.

Alumni relations staff will never release your contact information without your consent,* regardless of whether or not the requesting party is affiliated with Reed. However, if you wish to not be contacted by Reed community members under any circumstance, please contact alumni@reed.edu for information on being noted as “confidential.” Reedies who are "confidential" may still be contacted by the college, but their information will never be shared outside of the college staff.

*Please note that having your contact information public in the Alumni Directory equates to consenting to those with access to the directory (i.e., Reed students, staff/faculty, and alumni) being able to contact you. You can change these settings in IRIS.

If you can't find the answer to your question, email us at alumni@reed.edu. We would love to hear from you and will respond within one to two business days.