Capitol Words a project of the Sunlight Foundation

Sen. Jeff Merkley

Mr. President, with great pride I wish to congratulate Reed College in Portland, OR, on its 100 years of delivering excellent higher education. Reed College has consistently demonstrated its devotion to academia and to developing the intellectual spirit of its students through demanding curricula, insightful research and stimulating classroom conversation. I am certain that the next century will prove to be as fruitful as the last for Reed and its students and that the strong academic tradition will continue to thrive in the Eastmoreland neighborhood of Portland.

Reed's story is much like the city of Portland's. The founders of Reed wanted to approach higher education differently. They wanted to focus on creating leaders who think outside the box and who know that the answers of the past are not necessarily the answers of the future. Reed has put an emphasis on the progress of the individual student, emphasizing intellectual development over the pursuit of grades.

Colleges and universities like Reed allow people to continue their pursuit of knowledge, to debate problems and to develop ideas. Higher education is also a driving force behind social mobility and has broken down divisions of race, religion, gender and socio-economic class. Reed College embraces this mission, as reflected in the small class sizes filled with diverse students.

One hundred years of commitment to liberal arts education has produced 31 Rhodes Scholars, a great number of Fulbright grant recipients and countless well-educated members of the Oregon community and our Nation. To Colin Diver, the President of Reed College, and to the faculty and students of Reed: congratulations on a century of academic excellence.