Reed College
- Diversity

Very Litle Racial/Economic Diversity

My experience of Reed's diversity has been *very* different from what others have described here. As someone who attended an economically and racially diverse public school for high school, I was shocked by Reed's monolithic whiteness and Reedies' overall privilege. There are definitely exceptions, but the dominant culture at Reed is very much upper-middle class. Most students (in my experience) attended expensive private high schools, and the vast majority of American students there are from California or the Northeast. While Reed is definitely accepting of quirkiness, different sexual orientations, and social awkwardness (and there's something to be said for those things), it lacks in the departments of socioeconomic and racial diversity. While Reedies are, or try to be, accepting of most people, in such a monolithic environment privilege is sometimes not noticed or called into question, resulting, at times, in a weird, pretentious, ivory-tower culture. Reedies have a tradition of proudly boasting that Reed isn't a trade school, for example (and one went so far as to shout this during a debate over whether or not the school newspaper should serve as a means of gaining experience in journalism). Most Reedies seem completely unaware of the classism inherent in demeaning trade schools. It's a small example, to be sure, but it's indicative of the way Reed's lack of diversity sometimes creeps into the public dialogue without being challenged.

Social, Not Ethnic, Diversity

Though Reed is not known for its Ethnic diversity, it is one of the most diverse environments I've met. People here come from different ages, socioeconomic classes, and mindsets. You will see every fashion sense, every learning disorder, and every type of crazy here, and you will love it. One of the things I tell people about Reed which I take pride in is how all of us are so accepting of sexuality that you might as well assume bisexuality. While I have learned a great deal of getting along with every different kind of person, I will not say that Reed is the most diverse campus, for it has almost a homogeneous White, USA-resident population.

Very Diverse and Accepting

One of the things Reed College is famous for is its social acceptance of people of many different backgrounds, but it does lack in ethnic/racial diversity although not because the environment is not accepting of it. Also, Reed is known as a very liberal campus so that does often mean there are few highly religious students and very few Republicans.