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FactsSlang
- 24 - Store 24 is one of the closest 24-hour convenience stores
- CCN - Clark Cable Network, Clark’s movie channel
- Dana - Dana Commons, this is the international center; also used interchangeably for Dana Hall
- Freud - The statue of Freud that sits in the center of campus
- GIS - The Global Information Systems major/department
- IDCE - The International Development and Social Change major/department
- IR - The International Relations major/department
- ISS - International Studies Stream
- ITS - Information Technology Services; they will fix your computer.
- JC - Jonas Clark, the main academic building on campus
- Moonlight - The late-night food spot in the student center
- PA - Peer Advisor; these are a select group of students that work with the incoming freshmen to help get them acclimated to Clark.
- Red Square - The square in the center of campus in front of the main academic building named for its red concrete tiles
- RLH - Residential Life and Housing; they are the administrative office that controls campus housing.
- ROCU - The on-again off-again Clark radio station—currently only supports Internet broadcasting
- The Beast - The Bistro
- The Centrum - The DCU Center was formerly called the Worcester Centrum, and many people still refer to it as such. Check out the venue at www.centrumcentre.com.
- The Den - The small room in Dana Commons that is used for functions like dance parties
- The Green - The Green is the big lawn in between the main academic buildings on campus.
- The UC - The University Center
Things I Wish I Knew Before Coming To School
- I wish that I knew how convenient it would be to have a car.
- It gets really, really cold in the winter.
- It’s a good idea to dump your boyfriend/girlfriend and start off single.
- It’s a good idea to learn how to cook before coming.
- It’s a good idea to live in the freshman dorms.
- The Fifth-Year Free program has very specific requirements.
- The food is much worse than what you eat on visitors days.
- The parties can be really lame.
- They mow the lawns right next to your window very early.
- Things close at 2 a.m.
- What majors and courses were offered.
- You cannot save your meal swipes and use them all at the end of the semester. You have to use them up by the end of each week.
Tips to Succeed
- Always take advantage of office hours. Go to your professors during Office Hours before the midterm or the final and go with a good, intelligent question to ask.
- Always, politely, dispute the grades that you don’t think you deserve. Professors have been known to make mistakes.
- Ask as many people as you can about a class and its professor before you decide to take it.
- Be as active as possible in the Clark community.
- Develop good study habits. It isn’t so much about how smart you are, but more about how well you can focus in order to get your work done on time.
- Don’t be afraid to talk to your professors. Clark is small enough to establish great relationships with them.
- During freshman year, join as many clubs as you are interested in. By sophomore year, you will have quit a lot of them, but you will have had a great time and have made a lot of good friends.
- Get a work-study job on campus as soon as possible. The experience of getting even a brief glimpse of the behind-the-scenes workings of the University will provide you with a ton of useful knowledge.
- Get the courses for your major out of the way as soon as possible. At Clark, it’s very easy to find time for a second major or minor if you budget things right.
- It helps to research the majors that Clark offers before making your decision. Go online to the Clark Web site and read the course catalogue at www.clarku.edu/catalog.
- Waiting until the week before midterms/finals to learn half a semester worth of material really is a bad idea.
- When making your first class schedule, don’t load up on too many intro courses.
Urban Legends
- A bird’s-eye view of the library looks like an open book. Also, there is a pool on the roof. (This one is absolutely false.)
- All foreign students are rich.
- Crystal Pond, directly across from the UC, is nicknamed “dead hooker pond” due to the fact that the body of a dead prostitute was found in it some years ago.
- Everyone who works for the Bon Appetit (the Clark food service company) is an ex-con.
- Freshmen who walk around Main South after dark will be raped, robbed, or killed on site.
- If you are one of the first 100 students in line for bracelets on the morning of Spree Day, you will get a free T-shirt (this used to be true).
- Jerry Garcia used to trip acid in the Goddard Library (supposedly he wrote about it in a book).
- The Marsh Library on Woodland Street is haunted, as well as one room in Dodd.
Traditions
- First Snow Fall - In Worcester, the freezing cold of winter can come much earlier than the actual snow, so when the first big snowfall does hit, everyone runs out to the Green to celebrate with a huge snowball fight. For some students, this is the first time in their life that they have seen snow, and the general feeling on campus is very happy and energetic. Look around campus the next day for some inventive snow sculptures.
- Homecoming - Clark is trying to further strengthen the bond between students and the school. They are also trying to maintain that bond with alumni. To this end, Clark recently decided to create a “Homecoming” week that has special events pitting students against alums and students against students in a few lightly-competitive events. It gives the school an opportunity to show off its newly-built Dolan Field House and get reacquainted with the alums. It all culminates with a day-long carnival that includes food and whatever fun things that student council members can cook up.
- Midnight Bagel Brunch - Every month, Clark Hillel hosts a bagel brunch at midnight in Dana Commons or the caf. Different types of bagels, toppings, pastries, juices, and soda are provided on a first-come, first-serve basis. People start showing up well ahead of time, and the lines get very long. The bagel brunches are great places to meet up with people and have some fun in the middle of the night.
- Midnight Breakfast - Each semester, right before finals, the entire campus is invited to the caf at midnight to be served pancakes, eggs, waffles, and other breakfast foods by the faculty. The food on this night is slightly better than normal, and it is one of the most anticipated events of the semester. The idea behind it is to give students some nutrition, as well as a little study break during one of their most stressful times.
- Pre-Spree Day - Spree Day is a school-sponsored skip day full of campus activities, starting with a delicious brunch to start things right. The best part is that only student government knows when it will take place, but unfortunately, it is leaked every year. Knowing that the next day will be Spree Day and that classes will be cancelled, the Clark community treats the night before Spree Day as a weekend. Parties are thrown, bars are attended, and some students stay up all night long so they can be first in line for breakfast and wristbands the next day.
- Senior Week – Night Under the Stars - Senior week is a schedule of events meant to give graduating seniors an outlet for celebration. The events begin after the rest of campus goes home for the summer, and they run right up until the night before graduation. Pub crawls, baseball games, trips to Six Flags, and a harbor cruise around Boston are planned, among other things. The events are primarily for seniors, but many of them can be attended by underclassmen and guests. There are age requirements for some events, however. The week ends with another sub-tradition of Clark called Night Under the Stars. A tent is constructed on a field behind the president’s house, and star shaped spotlights are hung up. Then, seniors, alums, faculty, staff, and any other Clarkies in the area come for some drinking, dancing, and socializing before the seniors have to wake up bright and early for the commencement ceremony the next day.
- Spree Day - Every year at some point in April, Clark has its big year end celebration. They set up an outdoor stage on the Green and surround it by carnival rides, booths, food, and lots of liquids. Spree Day happens during the week, and classes are cancelled for the day. The day is planned by a committee whose job it is to book the bands, the rides, and the food, and then keep it all secret up until the morning of Spree Day. In fact, the actual date of Spree Day is supposed to be kept secret, as well. To that end, a sub-tradition of being woken up by pots and pans, loud screams, and air horns was initiated to let people know that Spree Day is not like any other day at Clark. Another sub-tradition of Spree Day is that many students use it as a day in which to get a drunk as possible. The administration has taken notice of this in recent years and taken steps to cap the binge drinking of the day. However, those reduction attempts have instead backfired, and Spree Day remains a tradition that is constantly threatened with cancellation. In the end, Spree Day isn’t about drinking, though. It’s not even about the food, or bands, or booths. It’s about the Clark community all coming out together to have fun and celebrate in the sun with their friends. If you come to Clark, please protect Spree Day so that Clarkies can continue to enjoy it throughout the years.
School Spirit
Clarkies may not look all that spirited on the surface, but deep down, they know that it means something special to be a Clarkie. It might not be obvious due to the unending complaints about the school’s latest construction project, the total lack of support for the sports teams, and the apathy with which students view the events that take place outside of their own cliques, but in the end, the feeling of being a member of the Clark community is really what keeps us tied to it in the first place. Clarkies recognize other Clarkies as friends when meeting for the first time. After graduation, fellow Clark students who never met before build new relationships around that common bond. Clark has a significant percentage of students who end up marrying other Clarkies. These are just a few examples of how strong an association is formed between the individual and the school.
Most Recent Contributing Author
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Hometown: Bellevue, WA
Major: Undecided Angela is allergic to apples, peaches, plums, pears, and cat fur. Contributing Author Internship
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