Alumni Couple's Library Gift Brings New Gathering Place to Campus
November 13, 2024
- Author
- Danielle Strickland
Renderings courtesy of MSR Design.
Jordan Clark ’77 and Patti Phillips Clark ’77 met each other on the first day of New Student Orientation in 1973.
Although they dated other wonderful Wildcats during their four years at Davidson, they remained best friends.
“I came from a small North Carolina town and had never been in school with so many talented people, including my wife and the classmates who became lifelong friends,” Jordan said.
Patti and Jordan cherish memories from every corner of the Davidson College campus, including those from their hours spent studying (and socializing) in the E.H. Little library.
Jordan recalls going into the library one morning to study and walking out that afternoon to see the space that is now the Sculpture Garden had been newly sodded.
“Where I was from in the small town of Lumberton, North Carolina, we only knew seed, not sod,” he said. “It was like someone had spread out a green carpet.”
A fitting analogy, as many alums remember E.H. Little Library’s iconic green carpet.
In recognition of the critical importance of Davidson’s library, the Clarks have made a significant gift in support of The George Lawrence Abernethy Library. Their gift will name the Clark Family Café, a community gathering place to be located on the future rooftop level of the building.
The roof of the library will be a gathering space that houses the Clark Family Café and features plants, green space and sweeping views of campus.
“We are dedicated readers, first of all, and we have a love for hospitality,” Patti said. “We enjoy entertaining, so the idea of an inviting café within the library appeals to us. I love most of all that the library is for everyone. Not just one group — it’s for absolutely everyone.”
Jordan has a passion for landscaping and gardening, and the roof will feature plants and greenspace and offer gorgeous canopy views of campus.
“Libraries are reverential in their own way,” he said. “Patti and I are glad to join with the Abernethy family to once again make the library a revered, valued and even more dynamic space.”
The transformed Davidson library will meet the new demands of our ever-changing, modern, digital society, providing new space and resources for students and faculty to become discerning stewards of information and technology together. At the same time, quiet reading spaces and books will be found throughout the library. Combined, the library will foster community and sharing along with deep intellectual focus, inspiring students and faculty for lives of leadership and service.
The Clark Family Café will be located on the future rooftop level of The George Lawrence Abernethy Library.
Family Ties
The “Family” part of Clark Family Café celebrates a deep history of Clarks-turned-Wildcats.
“I followed a lot of family members to Davidson,” Jordan said. His grandfather graduated in 1909, and his father, the late Doug Clark, was a 1942 graduate. Siblings, uncles, cousins and their daughter Dorsett ’05 (who married Preston Davis ’06) are all loyal alums.
“My father and his brothers were fierce Davidson fans,” he said. “While the rule in our home was no TV on school nights, my father did not hesitate on Tuesdays to take us directly from school for a 250-mile round trip to the Charlotte Coliseum for a Davidson basketball game. It was at an early age that I learned that the referees were wrong whenever they made a call against us.”
The Clark family’s Davidson College roots run deep, through multiple generations of Wildcats. Jordan and Patti Phillips Clark view their gift as an expression of their shared love of learning and hospitality, and a recognition of the importance of the library on campus.
Jordan and Patti are longtime supporters of the college. In 2022, they created the Graham F. Smith ’77 Scholarship in memory of Jordan’s best friend and classmate. The couple has served the college in various volunteer capacities and always say ‘yes’ when called upon to champion the work and aspirations of alma mater. Soon after the library project launched, they sat down with President Doug Hicks ’90 to discuss the opportunity to be involved.
“I think Davidson is doing more than anybody else to save the world,” Patti said. “I don’t mean heroic stuff; I mean preparing young people to be thoughtful, deliberative, civil and good citizens. There’s no more important thing I know of, and to support that is a privilege.”
To learn more about The George Lawrence Abernethy Library and the future of learning at Davidson, visit the library transformation website.
If you are interested in attending an informational Zoom meeting from 12-1 p.m. Dec. 12 with President Hicks and other campus leaders, email DavidsonLibrary@davidson.edu and we will send you the link. Please note: All project renderings are subject to change.
