GARY SNYDER ’51 The Beat bard acquired the name “Leitswics” on a vision quest during which he communed with a benevolent light switch. His spirit guardian landed him a room at a raucous coed house in Sellwood—possibly America’s archetypal counterculture crash pad. May the light switch bless our repast!
THE DOYLE OWL ’13 This three-foot concrete statue began life as a simple lawn ornament, until a gang of Doyle dorm pranksters stole it. Every few years the coveted Owl turns up: suspended over bridges, in Indonesia, or even in Tears for Fears music videos. Whoever has the Owl, please bring it for our centerpiece.
JAMES BEARD ’24 (EXPELLED) Long before Portland chefs began winning Beard’s coveted awards, Reed chased the round gourmand out, deciding his gay lifestyle wasn’t a good fit. Jim, bring your date of choice.
BARBARA EHRENREICH ’63 Ehrenreich put society’s problems under her microscope in books like Nickel and Dimed—maybe because she spent her Reed years staring through an actual microscope. Her senior thesis? “Electrochemical oscillations of the silicon anode.” Ms. Ehrenreich, please give us a reading from your, uh, more recent work.
ROSE FRIEDMAN ’30 (TRANSFFERRED) This staunchly libertarian economist attended Reed for two years before fleeing. Rose, help yourself to our veggies. They’re free-market!
IGOR VAMOS ’93 Vamos—one half of pro prank duo the Yes Men—honed his mayhem at Reed. Greatest hits: marching a small army into a downtown Gulf War protest where they vomited red, white, and blue; and switching every Naito Parkway street sign to read “Malcolm X Blvd.” Who knows what might find its way into our punch bowl?
Published: September 2011
Yup, it was Naito (then just “Front”) that became Malcolm X Street – even the freeway signs!
In a flier by “Group X” claiming credit for the action:
“LOOK at these signs and THINK that the city decided specifically not to change the name of Front Avenue to Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. LOOK at the street that had its name changed to Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and think about why that street was chosen over Front Ave.’’
(quoted in The Oregonian, May 3, 1990)
I’d understood that the Malcolm X prank referenced Union Avenue (now MLK boulevard) but was away. Which street was relabeled? Was it MLK/Union or Front/Naito?
The relation between Front Ave, Union Ave and the bitter controversy over renaming a major Portland street for MLK, Jr is explored in the Introduction to my Portland Red Guide (2nd edition),pp xxviii-xxix
And that prank paled in comparison to his great GI Joe / Barbie switcheroo. That one got national attention and there was even a CNN segment on it. I know a guy who knows a guy who has all the followups on tape, including the as-always-brilliant “Manifesto”. Go Igor!
The local news stations all covered the Malcolm X street sign prank, so photographic evidence does exist somewhere.
what I wouldn’t give for the pictoral proof of that last prank
And then, of course, there was the gang that stole the Portland State/Lewis & Clark “Rain Barrel” (football trophy) back in 1958 and put a “Stolen by REED” plaque on the bottom. The whole story appeared in The Quest. (Is that still publishing?)
How about Steve Jobs, another famous dropout? And Dr Ruth, famous sex advice Doctor. She used to cause quite a stir in the media. Wouldn’t it be fun to spend an evening with those two! There’s also Emilio Pucci, fashion designer and user of fabrics covered with colorful swirls. Maybe we need an entire banquet hall.
If I remember correctly, stomach acid had made the colour of the “blue” participant’s contribution in the “red, white and blue” welcome turn green – the colours of the Iranian flag.