Former recipients of Anton and Steinbrecher fellowships returned to campus April 24 to celebrate the creation of the Steinbrecher and Anton Fellows Society. Pictured are (l. to r.) Harrison Mackler ’07, Amy Levine ’09, Anna Zonderman ’10, Yeshemebet Legesse ’03, Brooks Marmon ’07, Trista Myers ’10, Stephen Steinbrecher ’55, Michael Staton ’02, Barbara Anton ’56, Sean Hurley ’06, Courtney Croteau ’07, Rebecca Dezan ’06 and President David Angel.

When he was a student at Clark University, Dr. Harrison Mackler ’07 was awarded a Steinbrecher Fellowship to experiment with synthetic alternatives to grafts for the repair of bone damaged by injury or disease.

On April 24, Mackler was delighted to report to an audience in Dana Commons that the knowledge accrued from that Steinbrecher research, followed by his years of work and study at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, have borne fruit. Mackler, a periodontics resident at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Dentistry, related that a day earlier he’d completed his first solo surgery, rebuilding a man’s jaw.

His story was one of seven shared by former recipients of Anton and Steinbrecher fellowships who participated in a panel discussion to help celebrate the creation of the Steinbrecher and Anton Fellows Society. More past Anton and Steinbrecher fellows were in the audience, and they were joined by the current crop of Clark students who are receiving fellowships to conduct research and complete projects across the globe.

Stephen Steinbrecher ’55 addresses the audience.

President David Angel welcomed the Anton and Steinbrecher fellows back to campus, noting that they have supplied inspiration for Clark’s recent direction with its undergraduate program, which has culminated in the Liberal Education and Effective Practice model. “You were the original LEEP pioneers,” he said. In this context, Angel said he was particularly interested in hearing about the career and life paths the alumni had chosen.

The panelists were asked a series of questions by Sharon Krefetz, the Andrea
B. and Peter D. Klein ’64 Distinguished Professor and director of the Steinbrecher Fellowship Program, about their experiences as fellows, and about their post-Clark paths.

Michael Staton ’02 connected his Anton Fellowship, in which he studied the rise of punk rock in China, to his position as CEO of Inigral, a social media networking company in San Francisco that works with colleges and universities to build communities to improve student success. He said the company serves half a million students at 150 colleges and universities and is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Staton’s route to success, he noted, was “nonlinear,” and included several years as a high school teacher where he “threw out the curriculum and reinvented it from scratch.” That same passion for innovation drew him to the world of venture capital, where, as cofounder of LearnCapital, he funds entrepreneurs developing new ways to use technology to improve learning. The key, he said, is to be able to “present your idea in a coherent fashion” as “you march down that pathway of inquiry.”

'Once you learn how to understand, you can deal with it.'

~ Yeshemebet Legesse '03

Yeshemebet Legesse ’03 conducted her Anton Fellowship in Tanzania, providing AIDS/HIV awareness and prevention education. Today she works at the Nationalities Service Center in Philadelphia, where she counsels immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers, including torture survivors. She advised current students to “milk everything from your experience at Clark.” Her greatest gift from the University, Legesse said, was learning how to listen — to everything from the personal histories of fellow students to conversations in the cafeteria. “[By listening] you understand the victims of war and genocide.”

Brooks Marmon ’07 combined a passion for history and an interest in social justice when he traveled to Ghana to volunteer with two youth organizations in the Buduburam refugee camp, while also researching his honors thesis on E. Franklin Frazier and pan-Africanism. Today, he works at the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C., managing the USAID and State Department programs for global partnerships between U.S. educational institutions and similar institutions around the world to find solutions to problems facing developing countries.

Amy Levine ’09 recalls her Steinbrecher project in Ireland.

With fiddle in hand, Amy Levine ’09 traveled across Ireland to understand how Irish musical traditions evolved and influenced the kind of bluegrass music that she grew up playing. Her project not only involved recording music in Irish pubs, but also taking the stage to play alongside those welcoming musicians. When she returned, she formed a band, The Great Whiskey Rebellion, which plays at venues around Worcester and Boston. “My fellowship inspired me to travel and take an ethnographic approach to music,” she said. “It was my hidden passport to learn about another culture.”

Anna Zonderman ’10 parlayed her Steinbrecher Fellowship project designing and launching a pilot program for New Haven, Conn., teens with asthma into an educational opportunity at Yale University. She earned a master of public health degree in social and behavioral sciences at Yale, and is currently completing a two-year postgraduate fellowship in International Early Childhood Development Programs and policies at the Yale Child Study Center.

Trista Myers ’10 traveled to Bath, England, for her Steinbrecher Fellowship project, helping to organize conferences focused on the future of Web applications, Web design and mobile platforms. Today she works as a corporate event planner for AOL.

Asked what advice they would give to current Clark students, Levine urged students to take advantage of every available resource. “There are so many resources and passionate people at your fingertips. Talk to your professors, do research, and explore your ideas.”

Marmon said he embraced the liberal arts while at Clark, which has been vital even as his current job involves a good deal of financial and legal work. His education has paid “tangible dividends,” he said.

“If you’re doing great work, then your work will speak for you,” Myers said. “Apply yourself; go after the things you want. Getting a Steinbrecher helped me find my internship. It will open doors you didn’t know were there.”

In the current economy, Staton said, “the best jobs are not offered; you have to create them. You need to convince an organization that you’re the most valuable thing they can invest in.” He also suggested that computer technology should be a core component of the liberal arts curriculum.

Following the panel discussion, Stephen Steinbrecher ’55 recalled how he and his wife, the late Phyllis Steinbrecher, were looking for a way to honor their son, David ’81, who had passed away. They appreciated what Tom and Barbara Anton, both Class of 1956, had done in 2000 to create a fellowship that gave students an opportunity for independent study. As funding for the Anton Fellowship was winding down, the Steinbrecher family created the Steinbrecher Fellowship in 2005 as the ideal way to keep their son’s memory alive.

“David was everything all you Clarkies are,” Stephen Steinbrecher told the fellows in attendance. He described his feelings on the occasion with the Yiddish word “kvell.”

“It’s an old expression,” he said with a smile, “and it means ‘bursting with joy.’”

Jeffrey Lurie ’73, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, will deliver the keynote address.

Dr. Lee Gurel ’48 will receive the Fiat Lux Award for Extraordinary Service by a Legacy Society Member, which will be presented at the Legacy Society luncheon on Friday, May 17, at 11:30 a.m.

Distinguished Service Award

Allen Glick '63

Allen Glick needed to look no further than his own family for inspiration when he was building his successful auto dealership business. His grandfather came to the United States from Russia, penniless, and worked his way from being a junk hauler, and then  a mill owner, to become one of the largest owners of buildings and parking lots in downtown Worcester.

That work ethic was passed to Allen’s father, Selig, and then to Allen.

“I truly think the best thing my father ever did was to never spoil me. He made sure that I worked hard and earned an honest week’s pay,” Glick once told a reporter. “There is no magic to succeeding; you just need to dedicate yourself to succeeding.”

Glick has been an extraordinary supporter of Clark University for many years. He served on Clark’s Board of Trustees for fourteen years, first as an alumni-elected trustee from 1987 to 1993, and then as a board appointment from 1993 to 1997. He rejoined the board in 2001 and served on the Audit, Major Gifts, and Investment committees, and as chair of the Audit Committee for several years. Glick has also provided exemplary service to the Alumni Council.

In 1973, he established The Lillian and Selig Glick Scholarship Fund in honor of his parents, followed by the Allen M. Glick Chair in Judaic and Biblical Studies, in 1996. He most recently established the Dr. William E. Topkin ’60, M.A. Ed. ’63, Ed.D. ’67, Scholarship Fund in honor of his cousin, who is a former dean of students at Clark and a Clark trustee emeritus. Throughout the years, Glick has also helped to build the Dolan Field House, University Center, and the Traina Center, and generously supported the exhibition “Painting in the Shadow of the Plague: Italy, 1500-1750,” which Clark helped to organize in Worcester. He is a member of Clark’s Legacy Society and a charter member of the Jonas Clark Fellows.

Glick received his B.A. in marketing with departmental honors from Clark in 1963, where he was also a member of the Kappa Phi fraternity and a staff member of Pasticcio. He went on to own and operate Glick Nissan, a group of five automobile dealerships in the Framingham, Mass., area from 1968 until 1999. He sold four of the five dealerships in 1999, but continues to serve as president and treasurer of Glick Nissan in Westborough. He also serves as a trustee of A.M. Glick Realty Trust and is a private investor. From the late 1980s until 2003 he served on the boards of many local banks.

In addition to his philanthropic and business activities, Allen and his wife, Iris, have found time to be generous hosts of Clark alumni events for senior leadership at their horse farm in Vermont. As a consistent attendee of University events in Worcester and abroad, Allen Glick has modeled the qualities of engagement that Clark seeks to develop in its alumni.

Young Alumni Award

Anthony Colon '03, M.P.A. '04, left, and Richard Boucher '03, M.B.A. '04

The Young Alumni Award recognizes extraordinary achievements on behalf of the Clark community. This year, for the first time, the University presents the award to a Clark couple, Richard Boucher '03, M.B.A. '04 and Anthony Colon '03, M.P.A. '04. Both Boucher and Colon have been class agents, served on their Reunion Committee, been advocates for Clark in the Miami region, and have attended many Clark events.

Boucher, a Worcester native, started his connection to Clark in 1993 when he was accepted into the Robert Goddard Scholars Program. Colon, a first-generation Puerto Rican from Brooklyn, learned of Clark’s rich history and open-minded environment while attending New York City’s Talent Unlimited School of the Performing Arts. The two met in 1999 at the welcoming reception at Harrington House.

At Clark, Anthony served as a tour guide for the Admissions House while Richard was a manager at the Clark Fund. Together, they studied psychology, volunteered as SARC members, revived the Latin American Student Organization, and studied abroad in Scotland while making lifetime friends and connections.

After graduating from the fifth-year master’s program, Boucher in business and Colon in public administration, they purchased real estate in the Main South neighborhood, which they now rent to Clarkies. While in Worcester, Anthony served as the director of public education and advocacy for the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance and Richard as the associate executive director for the South Worcester Neighborhood Improvement Corporation. While at SWNIC, Richard received a proclamation from Worcester Mayor Tim Murray for an outstanding contribution to the community.

In 2005 they moved to Miami Beach to pursue new endeavors. In 2008 Anthony co-authored a publication entitled “Unlocking the Promise: A Guide for Funders Interested In Transformational Grant-Making” and in 2010 was featured in the publication “How to Become a Nonprofit Rock Star: 50 Ways to Accelerate Your Career.” Currently Anthony manages a portfolio of real estate investments and remains focused on addressing housing and community economic development issues through nonprofits and philanthropic organizations.

Richard is director of special events for the South East Region of the Macy’s Parade and Entertainment Group, earning awards for innovation and creativity. He leads the region’s community volunteer program, “Macy’s Partners in Time,” and has been a part of the production of iconic events such as the Fourth of July Spectacular and the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Today, they reside on Miami’s Venetian Islands, work with several charitable organizations and hold board positions for various causes. As 2003 class agents they have worked to increase donor participation and continue to remain connected to the Clark community through regional alumni events.

 Fiat Lux Award for Extraordinary Service by a Legacy Society Member

Dr. Lee Gurel ’48 began his career treating the mental health needs of the nation’s veterans, moving later into a long career as a research psychologist with the Veterans Administration, last serving as chief of research in Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences at the Washington, D.C., VA Hospital. Dr. Gurel has also been involved with the American Psychological Association and served in the 1970s as president of both the APA’s Division of Psychologists in Public Service and of the District of Columbia Psychological Association. He has published extensively in the areas of schizophrenia and the evaluation of psychiatric treatment.

Dr. Gurel’s association with Clark began in 1943, when he enrolled in a summer session program at the University after graduating from Worcester’s Classical High School. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Clark in 1948, during which time he served as editor of The Scarlet for one year. His stay at Clark was interrupted by two years of service in the U.S. Navy. He earned his M.S. degree in 1950 and a Ph.D. in 1952 from Purdue University.

His extensive philanthropic support of Clark has been far-reaching. In 1995, Dr. Gurel established The Lee Gurel / John E. Bell Endowed Student / Faculty Achievement Award, for an outstanding psychology student and the professor deemed most critical to his/her success. This was followed in 1999 by the Gurel Asian Studies Prize, which is presented each year at Convocation to an outstanding student in Asian Studies. In 2004, Dr. Gurel endowed a Psychology Enhancement of Teaching fund at Clark to support a partnership with the APA to support an annual workshop at Clark for high school teachers to advance the teaching of psychology at the pre-collegiate level. Most recently, in October 2009, he established the Lee Gurel Endowed Education Fund to help leverage the effectiveness of the Mosakowski Institute. This fund supports The Gurel Speakers Fund, The Gurel Faculty Development Fund and The Gurel Student Research Fellowship Fund. In addition, in 2006, Dr. Gurel established an annual award to a graduating Worcester high school student for outstanding achievement in the study of English.

A native of Poland, Dr. Gurel moved to Worcester when he was 3 years old and attended Worcester public schools. He summarized his philosophy of giving when he said: “I feel that we all owe an enormous debt to the teachers and institutions that equipped us for fuller, more satisfying lives.”

Dr. Gurel is married to Linda Loy and has two children from a previous marriage.

Cho Huun-Jin '90

In the United States we have CNN and the White House. The equivalent in South Korea is YTN and the Blue House.

The fast-rising career of Cho Hyun-Jin ’90 has included stints at both South Korea’s major media outlet and its seat of government. In January, 2013, Hyun-Jin earned yet another title to his impressive resume when he was named private secretary to the First Lady of South Korea, Kim Yoon-ok.

After graduating from Clark with a degree in economics, Hyun-Jin returned to his native Seoul, South Korea, for his mandatory military service and then began work as a journalist. His first job as a reporter for YTN (formerly known as Yonhap Television Network) — a Seoul-based 24-hour news network — lasted 11 years. He went on to work for Billboard magazine as a Korea correspondent, and then as chief of the news team at Arirang TV.

“When I was at Clark I did an internship at a nearby television network,” recalls Hyun-Jin. “That experience was invaluable. It helped me get into the field of television media, which ultimately led me to where I am now in my career.”

Hyun-Jin’s journalism experience allowed him to make an easy transition to public relations. In 2009, he joined the Presidential Office of the Republic of Korea, known as the Blue House, as assistant secretary to President Lee Myung-bak for overseas and domestic public affairs. He went on to serve as deputy secretary to the President for Educational Policy before being appointed private secretary to the First Lady.

“Clark taught me to have a flexible attitude, good communications skills and to have an understanding of a broad range of subjects,” says Hyun-Jin, who first heard about Clark from a family friend who was living in the United States. “Clark’s quality liberal arts education caught my attention.”

Hyun-Jin has called upon the skills he learned at Clark in his fast-paced public affairs work for the Blue House. In his first three years, he spearheaded Korea’s overseas public relations and image branding, a period he says “when Korea’s overseas identity dramatically improved.”

As senior secretary for public relations, Hyun-Jin was responsible for a wide range of tasks, from presidential trips overseas to summits in Seoul with foreign leaders. “I don’t think I was ever busier in my life than the 100 days prior to the November 2010 G-20 Summit in Seoul.” In 2011, he was awarded the Presidential Medal for his work on that summit. Hyun-Jin also ran press events for the Nuclear Security Summit in March 2012, President Obama’s visits to Seoul in 2009 and 2010, and President’s Lee’s state visit to the U.S. in 2011. In his new role, Hyun-Jin handles all arrangements and protocol issues for the First Lady.

“I have been so fortunate,” he says. “I have been provided with an opportunity to learn government management and come to love my country even more as a result of this service.”

Clark Research Professor Paul Ropp, whom Cho Hyun-Jin calls “a mentor who inspired me to keep an insightful global view of the world,” says “One of the real pleasures of teaching a long time at Clark is to see students continue to blossom and grow after they graduate. Hyun-Jin has a natural grace and charm that make it easy to see how he might rise even in the supremely competitive worlds of television and politics.”

Hyun-Jin has been able to stay connected to his alma mater through a strong Clark-Seoul alumni network, visits from Professor Ropp and recent visits from President David Angel and others in the Clark delegation. “President Angel’s visits always enlighten our alumni community in Seoul,” says Hyun-Jin. “Please visit more often!”

The University’s admissions recruiting package (which included two viewbooks, academic brochures, a water bottle, poster and a T-shirt) earned top honors with a silver award (no gold was awarded in that category). Clark’s website focusing on alumni outcomes and the “return” on a Clark education was given honorable mention in the digital category.

CLARK alumni magazine earned a bronze award in the best overall magazine category, circulation of 25,000 and above.

The University's Office of Alumni Affairs received a silver award for its Alumni-in-Residence program in the category of Alumni Programs - Individual Special Events.

“It’s always rewarding to be recognized by your peers, and the roster of fellow awardees puts us in very good company,” said Paula David, vice president of marketing and communications at Clark. “We’re particularly gratified by the silver award for our admissions recruiting package, which reflects the University’s commitment to attract exceptional students through LEEP (Liberal Education and Effective Practice), our pioneering model of higher education.”

Clark was the only Worcester-area college or university to receive awards in this year’s competition. Other colleges to receive recognition include Brown University, Boston University, Tufts University, Northeastern University, MIT, Colby College, Boston College, and Hampshire College.

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is a professional association serving educational institutions and the advancement professionals who work on their behalf in alumni relations, communications, development, marketing and allied areas. CASE District I includes the northeastern United States and eastern Canada.

Founded in 1887 in Worcester, Massachusetts, Clark University is a small, liberal arts-based research university addressing social and human imperatives on a global scale. Clark’s faculty and students work across boundaries to develop solutions to contemporary challenges in the areas of psychology, geography, management, urban education, Holocaust and genocide studies, environmental studies, and international development and social change. The Clark educational experience embodies the University’s motto: Challenge convention. Change our world.

(From left) GSOM Dean Catherine Usoff, Mark Fishman '82 and President David Angel

Mark Fishman ’82 may have forged an estimable career in high finance, but his message to the students gathered at the Dec. 5 dedication of the Fishman Student Center in Carlson Hall was less about making money than about making rewarding life choices.

“Success is not about money, it’s about finding something you love and becoming world-class at it,” he said. “Do not take the advice of others about what you should do — have the chutzpah to follow your life’s dream.”

Fishman was the guest of honor at a packed reception, hosted by the Graduate School of Management, recognizing his financial contribution to refurbish a cluster of drab rooms on Carlson’s first floor into the new center — which includes an expanded student lounge, spruced-up computer rooms, new carpeting and vibrantly painted walls.

In her remarks, GSOM Dean Catherine Usoff thanked Fishman, noting that the center has become a popular meeting/studying space for students. She read a letter from Perry Pero ’61, former chair of the GSOM Advisory Council, who lauded Fishman’s contribution to Clark of his “wisdom, work and wealth.”

Usoff noted that Laura Burgess, program director for academic and student services, and designer Cheryl Johnson of Delorey Contract Interiors, Inc., urged students to offer their ideas about the new space’s aesthetics. The center is truly representative of the entire GSOM community, she said.

President David Angel said Clark can boast of accomplished alumni in many fields, and that Fishman is “proof of concept” that a Clark liberal arts education prepares students for successful, meaningful lives. He said Fishman exemplifies the donor whose primary goal is to make a difference in students’ lives, and he’s done so in numerous ways, including serving as a trustee and on the GSOM Advisory Council, and bringing world-class speakers to campus.

“We celebrate you for the life you live and for your contributions to Clark University,” he said.

Fishman told the GSOM students he realized that “when you come to Clark, you come to a place where people care. I’m humbled that I’ve been blessed enough to give some money back and hopefully make it a little bit better for you to do the things I never thought possible.”

In an interview prior to the dedication, Fishman — who had previously endowed GSOM’s Fishman Library in honor of his late father, Herb, and his mother, Dorothy — said that his father was among the first generation in his family to attend college. The creation of the Fishman Student Center, he said, is testament to Herb Fishman’s belief that “everything is about education.”

“It’s nice to keep his name involved in a place of learning,” he said.

* Read more alumni stories on ClarkConnect. *

(From left) Executive Vice President James Collins, Jane '75 and Bill '76 Mosakowski, President David Angel and Vice President Jack Foley chat during the event.

September 14 was a day of celebration at Clark, as students, faculty, staff and friends joined President David Angel at a Block Party to officially recognize the transformation of Downing Street into a pedestrian plaza as well as other notable campus improvements.

President Angel told the gathering that discussions have been ongoing for 10 years about closing Downing Street to improve safety and physically unite the campus.

“We never imagined the transformative difference it would make,” he said.

For more photos of the block party and the recent campus changes, visit Clark on Flickr.

President Angel noted the other significant changes that were made to the campus this summer: a 10,000-square-foot addition that links Sanford and Johnson halls, the opening up of the Fuller Quad, refinished gym floors and new “Clark red” bleachers in the Kneller Athletic Center, and renovations to The Bistro. The changes, he said, also improves campus accessibility to those with limited mobility.

The Block Party was the culmination of a summer of construction work on and around campus (City of Worcester crews also replaced sewer conduits on Woodland, Main and other nearby streets).  “It’s sort of a mystery how it all got done,” Angel said.

Students enjoy the block party.

The president said he was “most grateful” to William ’76 and Jane ’75 Mosakowski, who made a substantial donation to complete the Downing Street work, thanking them for their “vision and constancy” on behalf of their alma mater. “They’ve supported Clark from the heart for many, many years,” he said. “[The Mosakowskis] wanted to be sure this truly was a first-class project.”

William Mosakowski, who attended the ceremony with his wife Jane, said he and Jane were happy to see the changes made to the now-unrecognizable Downing Street. He noted that as students they would have enjoyed courting “on this beautiful road.”

Following Mosakowski’s remarks, President Angel read the words engraved on the plaque adorning a low stone wall at the entry to the plaza:

In appreciation to a Clark Couple – Jane ’75 and Bill ’76 Mosakowski

Downing Street Project: Two Parts Made One

President David Angel pays tribute to Paul Bottis and his work for the campus community.

President Angel thanked the Physical Plant staff and the University’s construction partners on the multiple projects. He paid special tribute to Paul Bottis ’84, the former longtime director of Physical Plan and current senior projects manager who has overseen numerous campus enhancements since joining Clark in 1977.

“You must be so proud, and we’re so proud of you,” Angel said after asking Bottis to join him at the microphone. “This is a beautiful campus that shows your footprint.”

“It’s home,” Bottis said.

In a separate interview, Bottis, who will retire in January, said that knitting together the campus by closing Downing Street is the career-capper he’d always wanted.

“It was evident that we needed to close in the campus — I knew what this could look like,” he said. “Of all the projects, this is the one I wanted to see done the most, and I didn’t want to leave until it was finished. We finally have the campus we wanted.”

In true Block Party fashion, once the ceremony concluded, the party began, with attendees enjoying fun food like corndogs and cotton candy, live music, and tours of the improved campus areas.

A view of the new pedestrian plaza from above.

Todd Logan '75

Todd Logan ’75 writes plays that he hopes will remain vivid for audience members after they leave the theater and get into their cars. That ride home, he explains, can be a magical time, when the emotions stirred by what they’ve just witnessed will spark discussions of the play’s themes, its performances, and the lingering questions about the characters’ fates beyond the script’s confines.

“As I write, I’m always trying to think about why I’m writing this particular play, why I am into this subject, and what do I want people to be thinking about when they’re in the car,” Logan says. “Most people are deciding where they’re going to get dessert, or who’s taking the babysitter home. But the fantasy of the writer is that on the car ride home, they’re thinking about the play.”

One can only imagine the post-show conversations generated by Logan’s drama, “Defamation.” The play, which will be performed in Clark’s Little Center on Sept. 28 and 29, centers on a civil trial, with the audience acting as jury. An African-American woman from Chicago’s South Side has been accused by a white real estate developer from the suburbs of stealing his watch, a charge that she claims is not only untrue but which has also harmed her business prospects. She sues for defamation, and both sides square off in the courtroom under sometimes withering cross-examination from attorneys that will impugn reputations and cast doubt over seemingly ironclad testimony. Once the trial is concluded, the judge hands the case to the audience, who, before rendering a verdict, are left to consider and debate their own assumptions about race, class, and justice while faced with the additional burden of divining the truth in this he said-she said case.

A scene from "Defamation."

Logan traces the inspiration for “Defamation” to an event in his own background. After living in Brookline, Mass., for 15 years, the Chicago-area native moved with his family to Winnetka, Ill., a largely white suburb in the North Shore outside of the city. One night, Logan attended a friend’s play reading in Chicago and later went out for drinks with three of the actors, who were African-American. The experience left him questioning his own progressive roots, and he realized that even the best-intentioned people tend to self-segregate.

“While I was sitting there it flashed into my mind: when was the last time I was in a social situation with several people who were African-American,” he recalls. “I had to scroll back a number of years. And I thought, how did that happen? How did I end up in lily-white Winnetka, and these [suburban] towns that haven’t changed? Is that meaningful or not? It got to me. And I realized it wasn’t just me, and it wasn’t just people on the North Shore, and it wasn’t just people in Evanston, or people in Chicago. Where most people live is segregated, whether by building, by block, by neighborhood, or by town. So I wanted to write a play about it.”

“Defamation” has struck a nerve. “The format provides a powerful platform for dealing with hot-button issues that continue to divide our society today,” Logan says. “I want ‘Defamation’ to contribute to addressing difficult issues through civil discourse, which generates empathy and greater tolerance.”

Logan notes the play is being performed not only in theaters, but in churches, synagogues, schools and civic venues, places where one can expect to hear substantive philosophical exchanges.

“With ‘Defamation’ Todd has linked his passion for the arts with his interest in class, race, gender and religion to inspire audiences of all ages to think critically and reflect deeply,” says Nancy Budwig, Clark University associate provost/dean of research. “I believe the play provides a highly engaging forum to explore tacit assumptions about issues of consequence through meaningful dialogue. The impact lingers long after the final act.”

The desire to break away from the North Shore and attend a New England liberal arts college led Logan to Clark in the early seventies. He describes himself as “not academically motivated” in high school and was twice rejected before gaining admission. When a buddy bet him Celtics tickets that this wasn’t true, Logan produced the rejection letters and won a trip to the Boston Garden.

At Clark, Logan got motivated, excelling in the classroom and earning Phi Beta Kappa designation. He played on the Clark tennis team, experienced the unique charms of the El Morocco, discovered late-night eating treasures in the Boulevard and Miss Worcester diners, and browsed the stacks at Ephraim’s bookstore.

'You got to be yourself at Clark. If you didn’t know who you were, then you’d find out.' - Todd Logan '75

He didn’t necessarily consider himself a writer (“I couldn’t write thank-you notes,” he laughs), but in the summer of his junior year, he found himself working in a family business with little to do. So he began composing short humor pieces in the style of syndicated columnist
Art Buchwald. “I thought, my god, this is kind of interesting. This is fun.”

When he returned for his senior year, Logan approached the editor of The Scarlet and secured space for a humor column.

“I must have been somewhat ambitious, because even after writing a few columns I sent them to Buchwald, [New York Times columnist] Russell Baker, and [San Francisco Chronicle columnist] Art Hoppe. Then The Scarlet editor called me in and she told me she was ending the column — they weren’t funny. I was fired. I don’t know how many people have been fired from The Scarlet.”

In the interim, both Buchwald and the editor of The Worcester Telegram sent Logan letters saying they enjoyed his columns.

“Now I had ammunition and went back in to see the editor, laid down the letters, and didn’t have to say anything. She gave me the column back … and four weeks later she fired me again.”

After graduating, Logan continued writing, getting several of his humor pieces published in The New York Times. For a time he coached women’s tennis at Clark, and then launched Sportscape, a Boston-based literary sports magazine with contributors who included the likes of authors Robert B. Parker, Germaine Greer and William Zinsser. Logan also started a trade magazine for health clubs and stores, and created a trade show business that he eventually sold in 1993.

His work as a playwright has often focused on themes of love and marriage, particularly the challenges of finding and sustaining both into middle age. A highlight was the staging of his work, “Botanic Garden,” about a widow hesitantly reentering the world of dating — a chore made more complicated by the periodic reappearance of her dead husband. The play’s New York run was directed by Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis, with whom Logan sometimes sparred over changes to the script. The nine preview performances included post-show Q&A’s with the audience. Logan recalls that after the opening performance, the no-nonsense Dukakis came out on stage to loud applause and told the audience, “Stop it. I don’t want to hear the bull****. You loved me in ‘Moonstruck,’ but we’re here to talk about this play.”

When writing “Defamation,” Logan knew the post-performance deliberations not only would be lively, but would allow him to eavesdrop on conversations to which he otherwise wouldn’t be privy.

“I had this case with no smoking gun and I realized I don’t have to end it — let the audience decide,” he says. “And by letting the audience decide, I get to hear the discussions for the car ride while they’re still in the building.”

“Defamation” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 28 and 3 p.m. on Sept. 29 in The Little Center as part of Family Weekend. The play will also have a special performance for students at University Park Campus School. Todd Logan will be on hand to lead post-show discussions. Read more about “Defamation,” watch scenes and read reviews.

~ Jim Keogh, assistant VP of news and editorial services

Lynne Sorenson '86 in the black pine tree that stands outside the Little Center.

The October 29, 2011, freak snowstorm was a tree killer. Throughout the Northeast, thousands of snow-laden limbs — made extra heavy because the leaves still clung to them — crashed to the ground. Trees large and small were split like cordwood, many beyond saving.

In the days after the storm, the Clark green was littered with branches from end to end. Students joined Physical Plant employees to drag brush off the quad, gather the limbs and chip them into mulch.

The storm served as a reminder of just how fragile the landscape can be. But for some Clark students and faculty, it provided an opportunity to launch an initiative that could naturally transform parts of the University’s campus.

Click here to submit your photos and/or stories about Clark’s natural landscape.

Students in Biology Professor Susan Foster’s Conservation and Effective Practice course have mapped the campus trees using GIS technology as well as traditional maps, and have begun cataloguing them. They are documenting which trees were destroyed in the storm (for instance, the Bradford pears outside the Lasry Biosciences Building) and determining the location, size, age and species of the remaining trees using size, growth rates and historical images.

According to Foster, the goal is for students to create two plans: one of a historical nature that depicts where campus trees once stood, and a second plan that looks to the future, offering options for new plantings and the return of native species, and determining areas that could benefit from landscaping changes. The students have designed new landscaping for several areas on campus to illustrate just how the new plantings would alter the campus … arboreally speaking.

This Copper Beech, in front of the former president's house, was moved to make way for Goddard Library.

Across Maywood Street from the Lasry building, where her lab is located, Foster and her students look out on the little-used Kresge Quadrangle and envision more shade trees and an outdoor classroom complete with a chalkboard and granite podium.

Foster also enthuses over the “Lasry Rooms,” which would transform the lawn in front of the Lasry building into a series of outdoor “rooms” bounded by blueberry bushes, winterberries and evergreen shrubs of varying heights, connected by winding pathways. Tables set up in the rooms would allow for outdoor learning and provide places for folks to have lunch or simply relax.

Other recommendations call for replacing flowering dogwoods that were lost in the storm, greening the Charlotte Street field, creating a moss and wildflower garden in the Alden Quad and adding a voice to beautification efforts on Downing and Main streets. Foster also has been talking with the administration about the possibility of planting an American beech near the Academic Commons to help commemorate Clark’s 125th anniversary.

“We had a forum with students to get feedback on the things they’d like to see changed,” Foster says. “Our big goals are diversity, sustainability and beauty.”

In May, the students of Foster and professors John Baker and John Rogan held the Conservation and Effective Practice Poster Symposium in the Lasry lobby, highlighting their conservation research from Worcester to Mongolia. A display titled “Tree Stories” by students Morgan Atkinson ’13, Ariel Marion ’14 and Dina Navon ’14 provided some historical context to the trees on Clark’s campus, including some that are no longer standing.

One of the most famous was the stately Copper Beech, commonly known as “The Meeting Tree,” that loomed over the front yard of the former president’s residence. Past presidents would make announcements to the Clark student body who would gather beneath the tree to hear the news of the day. The beech was transplanted in the late ’60s to make way for the Goddard Library, but failed to thrive in its new location and eventually died.

As part of their research, the students are compiling a “tree history” for Clark — stories and photos of campus trees — that will help them gain information about the changing ecosystem at the University.

To accomplish this, an online survey has been created where alums can submit photos and/or stories about Clark’s natural landscape (the first submission is a picture of a Class of ’86 alumna sitting in the “Zen tree” outside the Little Center).

Marion said the plans for the future are straightforward. “We’re looking at long-term sustainability” with new plantings, she said. “We discussed what trees we’d like to put in and what fits best in certain areas.” Don’t expect to see any more of the ubiquitous Norway maples, a non-native species that Marion describes as a “weed tree.”

Added Navan, “If we don’t have a cohesive plan, we could lose a lot of what makes this campus beautiful.”

~ Jim Keogh, Director of News and Editorial Services

Summertime, and the living is … noisy.

Those working on and around campus these warm days are getting used to the sounds of backhoes and jackhammers as crews transform Downing Street into a pedestrian plaza, and connect the Sanford and Johnson residence halls. The hydraulic song of construction is also being heard at the Kneller Center, where the gym floors are being refinished and the bleachers replaced.

On top of it all, Clark’s work comes on the heels of the City of Worcester’s major sewer-replacement and repaving project on the streets surrounding the University.

Last December, the Worcester City Council authorized the abandonment of the portion of Downing Street that runs from Woodland Street to Florence Street, enabling the city to fulfill its end of a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement it reached with Clark in September 2010.

Get a look at the Downing Street construction project's progress on Flickr.

Downing Street has long been deemed a safety concern, especially in the area under construction — which was notorious for the number of cars speeding barreling over the rise toward Main Street. An artist’s drawing of the pedestrian plaza shows a curved red-brick walkway centered with a grass island where people can gather and stroll, without having to look both ways.

Clark closed the road section the day after it was officially abandoned. Construction crews descended in the days following commencement to begin tearing up the street.

An artist's rendering of the completed Sanford-Johnson construction, as viewed from the Fuller quad.

The Sanford-Johnson project will link the two residence halls while adding 10,000 square feet of common space.

“It will be a lot more inviting — brighter and open,” says Director of Physical Plant Michael Dawley. “This will be a fun space.” Among the new features will be media rooms, lounges, a laundry area and a small patio. A re-do of the Fuller Quad and the addition of an elevator are also included in the renovations.

Dawley says both projects are on schedule to meet their August 15 deadline. Work is being done by Consigli Construction.

Two of the Kneller’s three courts are being refinished, and the third will be replaced, Dawley says. New bleachers will be installed and the pinewood from the 1970s-era bleachers has been donated to the Worcester Public Schools for use in shop and carpentry classes.

One other area of the campus getting a facelift is The Bistro in the Higgins University Center. Demolition work begins this week on the popular eatery as it undergoes a redesign that will add stations and reengineer the flow for diners (the square footage will not change). New furniture and a sushi bar will be among the more notable elements of change.

"We Owe Allegiance to No Crown," John Archibald Woodside. Oil on canvas, c. 1814.

Sidney Hart, M.A. ’69, Ph.D. ’73, recalls that when history professor George Billias perceived that something wasn’t quite right, the pitch of his voice would rise as he delivered a proposed solution.

So it was when Hart was writing his doctoral dissertation dealing with themes about American nationalism, he heard that familiar pitch. Hart planned to conclude his thesis in the year 1810, but Billias, his adviser, suggested he extend the timeline to include a chapter about the War of 1812.

“By this point my time, money and energy were running out,” Hart remembers. “If I included a chapter about the war, there was no way I could have finished the thesis that year. Professor Billias graciously recognized that.”

More than 40 years later, Hart has resurrected the war’s theme in a big way. As senior historian at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery, Hart is the curator of a new exhibition called “1812: A Nation Emerges,” which includes memorable portraits, paintings and objects that capture a war one historian described as “the second American Revolution.”

"Battle of New Orleans," Dennis Malone Carter (1820–1881?). Oil on canvas, 1856

The exhibition, which opened June 15 and runs through January 27, 2013, explores most of the war’s influential figures, including President James Madison, First Lady Dolley Madison, General Andrew Jackson, Congressman Henry Clay, and the Indian leader Tecumseh. According to the description on the Smithsonian’s website, “The epic battles and the aftermath known as ‘the era of good feelings’ are central elements of this story, linked by the biographies of the extraordinary and colorful leaders whose lives shaped its direction.”

The idea of tying an exhibition to the war’s bicentennial anniversary began percolating four years ago, Hart noted. Soon, he and assistant curator Rachael Penman launched a search to locate pieces for the exhibition, working with museums, historical societies, libraries, auction houses and collectors to track down the works, many of them residing with private owners. In one case, they secured portraits of British officers who fought and died in the war. The portraits, owned by the officers’ descendants, were located in castles in Northern Ireland and hadn’t been viewed publicly for two centuries.

"1812: A Nation Emerges" is a companion book to the Smithsonian exhibition.

“This was a golden age of Anglo-American portraiture, and we sought the best contemporary life paintings,” says Hart. Requesting the owners to loan out these rare works was made much easier when backed by the esteemed reputation of the organization doing the asking. “You have to keep reminding yourself that it’s not you they’re responding to. It’s the Smithsonian.”

One piece on display — a red-velvet dress worn by Dolley Madison — brings with it a dose of mystery and drama. When the British invaded Washington, Madison had only minutes to escape the White House, Hart says. She saved a few precious items: the famous Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, most of the White House silver, and the red-velvet curtains that hung in the drawing room. Some authorities believe Dolley later used the curtain fabric to create the dress, which she kept for the rest of her life.

“The dress is old and not in good condition,” Hart says, noting that fabrics often are not loaned for display because of their delicate condition. “This dress will probably never be on view again.”

Hart’s path to the Smithsonian cut directly through Clark University, where he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in history. He came to Worcester after doing his undergraduate work at Long Island University, driven by the prospect of studying with Billias — a friend of one of his LIU professors — and access to the American Antiquarian Society’s vast archives.

Like many in his field, Hart’s goal was to teach at a university, but the job market was poor and academic positions were few. He credits timing and luck for landing a position at the National Portrait Gallery in 1977. He’s been with the gallery ever since.

“The education I received at Clark served me exceedingly well. There’s no question about it, I’ve been tremendously fortunate."

- Sidney Hart

Hart has remained close with Billias, and visited his former professor in Worcester in April when Hart traveled to Boston to speak at the USS Constitution Museum.

“He is a treasure, in human as well as scholarly terms,” he says.

The Smithsonian exhibition has allowed Sidney Hart to tie up a 40-year-old loose end dating back to his mentor’s recommendation about concluding his thesis with the War of 1812. A few months ago, Hart sent Professor Billias the catalogue describing the upcoming bicentennial exhibition with a note that read, “Consider this the last chapter.”

“He read the catalogue and asked me a series of questions — his knowledge of early American history is extraordinary. Fortunately I passed the test.”

~ Jim Keogh, Director of News and Editorial Services