What and education when my dear friend S took me on a tour of the Reed College Campus recently. In 1908 forward thinking Portlanders fostered this liberal arts school that has produced the second highest number of Rhode scholars for any liberal arts college- 31, over 50 Fullbright Scholars and two MacArthur (Genuis) Award winners. With all the controversy swirling around the Reed campus for drug use, perhaps we have forgotten that the campus students are serious scholars, often filling the library evening after evening and into the weekends.

The campus includes a natural area and wildlife preserve known as Reed Canyon, filled by Crystal Springs. The most recognizable building, the Old Dorm Block, was designed by A.E. Doyle and it's Gothic-Tudor style looks the ideal prototype of the college campus. The psychology building was designed by noted architect Pietro Belluschi. Another interesting and somewhat surprising feature is it's very own nuclear reactor used for for instruction and research.

The campus housing is enviably private and attractive, including four newer LEED certified residence halls and easy walk to the newer wellness center nearby offering alternative medicine including accupuncture and biofeedback. The dining hall with it's floor to ceiling windows is operated by Bon Apetit and offers sustainable cuisine with many vegan options- after all the 2009 Princeton Review said Reeds students ranked number 3 in students that study most and number 5 in "clove smoking vegetarians".

Thanks to my dear friend S who recently started working with Reed as a development officer- (about half of the students there receive assistance with their tuitions), Reed is much more to me than a beautiful campus on the way to the neighborhood of Eastmoreland, and another great reason to be proud to call Portland my home.