Remembering Clark Dawood: ‘His Care for Students was Boundless’

A laugh that could be heard across campus. A thoughtful gift to a sick student. Recipes to cook using fresh produce. Asking the question: “What can I do to help?” 

This is what Clark Dawood will be remembered for at Albion College. 

On Aug. 30, students received an email from the president’s office that Clark Dawood, alumnus ‘98, director of philanthropy, had died. 

As a Coworker

Assistant Director of Alumni and Student Engagement Jordan Revenaugh alumna ‘21 worked with Dawood since he joined the Office of Institutional Advancement (IA) in June. She and her colleagues agreed that what they’ll miss most about Dawood is hearing his laugh across the office or even the hall. 

“He was the kindest, most warm-hearted person,” Revenaugh said. “He really brought a lot of happiness to everyone he was around.”

Dawood was a “ray of light,” and you could sit down with him and talk about anything, Revenaugh said.

 “You always knew you had a friend and supporter in Clark, and you didn’t have to ask him to do anything twice,” Revenaugh said.

During this year’s orientation week, Revenaugh reached out to the IA team for help running the alumni tent, and Dawood answered the call. He had broken his foot over the summer, and everyone would have understood if he sat things out, Revenaugh said, but he stepped up to help anyway. 

“He found a way to really add to the event and be supportive even though he wasn’t feeling his best and it wasn’t asked of him,” Revenaugh said.

Dawood’s passion for the Albion community garden, and food in general, was clear to Revenaugh. It’s common for people in the IA office to bring in food to share, Revenaugh said, and Clark often brought in fresh produce. Revenaugh remembers that Dawood emailed her and her coworkers his fattoush recipe a few weeks ago after someone had brought in tomatoes from their garden. 

“He always wanted to share the things that brought him joy, and extend that joy to all of us,” Revenaugh said.

Dawood had a hand in every part of campus, Revenaugh said, and embodied the idea of “One Albion.”

“It didn’t matter what walk of life you came from when you got to know Clark, he just saw you as a person and as you authentically showed up,” Revenaugh said. “He saw that you were part of the community and you could make a difference here no matter who you were.” 

As a Boss

Before Dawood was the director of philanthropy, he was the assistant dean for Community Living and student conduct. Chicago senior Karolina Kepa got to know Clark when she became a community assistant (CA) her sophomore year.

“He was an awesome person,” Kepa said. “He was so bubbly, so happy, and just so willing to help.” 

Dawood had an open-door policy, Kepa said. If the door to his office was open, it meant anyone was welcome to come in and talk to him about anything on their mind. Every time Kepa was in the Community Living office, Dawood’s door was open. 

“You knew he was open to talk to you as long as you needed,” Kepa said.

Kepa said she remembers a time when she was sick and mentioned to her area coordinator how she would love some oranges. 

“Before I knew it she had a bag, and she’s like ‘Here, Clark gave these to you,’” Kepa said.

The bag of oranges contained a card reading “Get well soon, from Clark.”

“It just shows how genuine, kind and compassionate of a person he was,” said Kepa.

Dawood was present and engaged in things across campus, Kepa said. When she was president of LGBriTs, Dawood was always asking if she needed support. She also remembers him being involved in the lavender graduation of the class of 2023. 

“Anytime I looked somewhere, I saw Clark. If I went there, I heard Clark,” Kepa said. “If I didn’t hear Clark or see Clark, I heard positive things about him.” 

Kepa said she knows that Dawood is “looking down at us from a nice place,” even though he can no longer be seen or heard.

“I really wish he was still here so we could still hear his laughter,” Kepa said. “It wasn’t too long ago that I heard a familiar laugh and I was like, ‘Wait, is that Clark,’ but no, it was somebody else.”

As a Friend

Assistant Vice President of Student Development and Title XI Coordinator Kelly Finn had worked closely with Dawood since he was hired in January of 2022. She remembers Dawood’s signature laugh as well.

“We laughed every single day about some wild situation that was happening, or joking around about the work that we had to do,” Finn said. “It’s not always easy work, and I think he often processed things through laughter.” 

Finn said the clearest example of Dawood’s impact is in the role of CAs. 

“He did an incredible job of rebuilding and taking that role to the next level of student leadership,” Finn said.

She said Dawood wanted to rebuild CAs sense of community and morale coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. He wanted them to understand the importance of their work, and that he cared about them. That care and dedication have had an influence across campus, Finn said. 

“Working with that group of 40 to 50 students just has a huge impact because those CAs are now impacting all the students in their residence halls,” Finn said. 

Finn said that Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Registrar Drew Dunham had “one of the closest relationships with Clark.”

Dunham has worked at Albion for 31 years and met Dawood when he was a first-year. At the time, Dunham worked in the Campus Programs and Organizations office, now known as the office of Campus Life, where Dawood was a student worker. 

“He was a great person, and very joyful,” Dunham said. “Really caring, active student, involved in a lot of things.”

Dunham and Dawood stayed in touch long after Dawood graduated – while he was in graduate school and then when he was working various student development jobs. When Dawood returned to Albion as a staff member, it was “really nice” to work with him on a professional level, Dunham said. 

“His commitment and his care for students was boundless,” Dunham said. “I always enjoyed working with him because of the kind of person that he was, the spirit he had, the drive he had, the curiosity that he had to just make things better and to do things that helped the students.”

It meant a lot to Dawood to help students achieve their goals, and provide them with communities that would help them grow as individuals, Dunham said. 

“I like being around people like that, it gives energy to people,” Dunham said. “I miss him.”

Plans for a formal remembrance for Clark Dawood are to come.