We Asked, You Answered.

“My mom and I drove up to Clark from my home in New Jersey and I was wearing flip flops on the drive. My feet got really cold during the 3 plus hour trip to Clark and so my mom reached into the backseat to see if she could find another pair of shoes to put on to keep my feet warm on the trip. The first pair she pulled from the laundry basket in the backseat was a pair of pink fuzzy slippers–the kind that Elle Wood in Legally Blonde would wear. The next thing I knew, we were pulling up to Wright Hall and all the PAs and RAs were welcoming us and unloading the car and I was STILL WEARING THE PINK FUZZY SLIPPERS! There I was, this already sorta preppy girl from New Jersey moving into college wearing slippers and I could tell everyone was like “who does this girl think she is?” Thankfully, “categorizing isn’t something we do here at Clark” and while everyone in Wright Hall knew me as “the girl with the pink slippers” they gave me the opportunity to prove I was more than my move-in footwear.”  

— Robin Cohen ’06 

My first day at Clark in a $100 suit

In late August,1969 this small-town New Jersey boy was nervously headed up to New England to start his college education at a small liberal arts college in Massachusetts.  I was taking a long circuitous route via Philadelphia and New York and was now on my last leg on a bus from Boston to Worcester. The week before my father had convinced me that I needed a new suit to go off to college. He said I might have dinner with the Dean sometime or be invited to a fancy party and needed to dress well. So off to tailor’s row in South Philly to pick out the latest in late 60s men’s fashion. In swinging 60s, London/Carnaby street style I chose a 3 piece, double breasted Edwardian suit (dark gold), complete with bell bottoms. It cost $100 which I knew it was a lot of money. 

Now wearing this very fine suit on the bus as it approached Worcester, I walked towards the front and asked the bus driver “does this bus stop at Clark University”. He of course said no (just as we were beginning to pull into the downtown Trailways station). As I walked back to my seat a young woman with long curly hair and a large cape stopped me and said “you must be a freshman” (how did she know?) and introduced herself as a soon to be Clark senior. She proposed we split a cab up to campus and so I arrived dressed in my finest to check into my first floor, Wright Hall dorm room to wait for my roommate to show. As I sat in my room for the first time I could already start to feel the cultural winds of 1969 start to blow. I hung up my suit and never wore it even once during my four years at Clark. In fact I never wore it again.

— Paul Censullo ’73

I went to a Patty Smith Concert in the late 70’s. During the performance, her clothes had the purchase tags on.  I don’t know if she forgot to pull them off (it has happened to me at times) or whether she did it as a punk statement. Great music nonetheless!

— Robert Collins ’80