Things got a little flaky

The two feet of snow that fell on Worcester in January was a challenge; the additional foot in February was an insult. Barely passable roads. Classes shifted online. The quixotic hunt for a parking space in a city with an active parking ban.

Every generation at Clark has its own snowfall memory. Students who were on campus during the Blizzard of ’78 speak of that storm both with awe and affection. Anyone at Clark in 2015 will remember Worcester recording the highest snowfall total in the country, even edging out perpetual winner Buffalo. Flip through any yearbook, and you’ll find a photo of someone making a snow angel.

What’s to complain about? We just accept that wintering in Worcester is a thing—our thing—and plow forward. 

A True-Blue Clarkie

Matt Goldman ’83, MBA ’84, L.H.D. ’15, co-founder of Blue Man Group and owner of the Astor Palace Theatre in New York, returned to campus in November with Laura Camien, Broadway producer and founder of The Spark File, to share ideas on how to build and grow creative communities, inspire innovation, and communicate with authority and impact. In a Tilton Hall presentation to students, faculty, and staff, Goldman recounted the successes and failures from his own career that have helped him develop strategies to establish an environment in life and work where creativity can thrive and shift “those breakthroughs, those a-ha moments, and epiphanies from being random and occasional to intentional and frequent.”

Photo by Natalie Hoang ’25, MBA ’26

A Clarkie’s Genius Recognized

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation named cartographer Margaret Wickens Pearce, M.A. ’95, Ph.D. ’98, a 2025 MacArthur Fellow, recognizing her work creating maps that foreground Indigenous peoples’ understanding of land and place and visualize their knowledge, history, and stories. The Fellowship is awards what’s known as a “genius grant,” and an unconditional $800,000 stipend.

Pearce, who studied in the Graduate School of Geography, collaborates with Indigenous communities to resurface their history, knowledge, and presence throughout North America and draws from a collection of archival materials. She has a permanent exhibit titled “Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories” at the Field Museum in Chicago, and this past fall opened “The Cold at Inuit Nunangat” in collaboration with the Canadian-American Center at the University of Maine.

Rocket Man

Robert Goddard (second from left) and his team prepare for a launch in the New Mexico desert. Clark’s campus heroes ensure that his story endures.