{"id":24785,"date":"2025-08-14T14:26:24","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T18:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?post_type=story&p=24785"},"modified":"2025-08-18T15:25:30","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T19:25:30","slug":"clarkives-the-iconic-clark-pea-pod","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/08\/14\/clarkives-the-iconic-clark-pea-pod\/","title":{"rendered":"Clarkives: The iconic Clark pea pod"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"Clark<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On a hot August Day in the early 1980s, designer Keith Carville and photographer Chuck Kidd drove to a vegetable farm in Hubbardston, Mass., painted some peas, and snapped a picture. The resulting poster of vibrantly colored peas nestled inside a pod, paired with the tagline, \u201cClark University: Categorizing people isn\u2019t something you can do here,\u201d resonated with students and alumni, who appreciated the message that Clark is a community of individuals \u2014 all are different, and all are welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pea pod poster was unveiled on August 14, 1982, and quickly began appearing in dorm rooms across campus, and found its way onto the office walls of high school guidance counselors. The meaning behind the multi-colored fruit (yes, peas are fruit) struck such a deep chord that the poster remains displayed on some of those same walls, many years after the pea pod was decommissioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe poster may be old and tattered, but the guidance counselors don\u2019t want to replace it,\u201d says Terry Malone \u201901, MSPC \u201909, director of admissions at Clark. \u201cThey understand the importance of the message, and their students do, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still one of my favorite things about Clark,\u201d says Tad Overbaugh \u201993. \u201cAfter dealing with all the cliques in high school, this was really refreshing. It set the groundwork of respect for all the different kinds of people you might come across here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Cate Whitfield \u201992, the pea pod reinforces Clark as a place \u201cfree from judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s so important, especially for young adults on their own for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n