Farewell tribute to Roger Clow
Roger, Lafayette is so grateful that you became a member of our Communications Division on November 27, 1995. When you joined the College community, you enabled us to benefit from your talents, skills, and commitment to offering dedicated service to the extended Lafayette College community. Your leadership empowered a critically important Lafayette department that grew in stature in no small part through your contributions and became a division. You also were a wonderful mentor to your colleagues. When an initiative needed to be launched, you were the champion who was frequently tasked with that effort.
Intelligent, strategically focused, and thoroughly professional, you worked effectively to help your colleagues within and beyond the Communications Division to achieve their goals and to support Lafayette in advancing its strategic objectives. Every day, you brought a great attitude to the College and concentrated masterfully on what would move the College forward.
Throughout your tenure at Lafayette, you have been extraordinarily successful in marketing, promoting, and communicating for the College. Your editorial leadership resulted in inspirational stories that highlighted the value of the Lafayette experience to both internal and external audiences. Stories of the accomplishments of students, professors, and graduates preserved and built our relationships with our alumni by touching their hearts and affirming to them that their lifelong relationships with the College would never end. Your media relations efforts enabled Lafayette to capture the attention of the members of our neighboring communities as well as many others throughout our nation. Your leadership of storytelling, news, and other communications in support of development and the College’s major fundraising campaigns motivated potential donors to give generously to sustain the College’s excellence. All of your work has enabled us to engage others with our critically important initiatives and support our recruitment of talented students—like your son, Alex—by showcasing the transformative education that Lafayette offers.
In addition, you also have supported many of the College’s critically important events by enabling us to benefit from your skills. For example, our families, Trustees, and honorary degree recipients were touched as they read the content that you created for the Commencement program.
Roger Clow and George Bright, former associate director of athletics
You have been the consummate team player and high-value contributor in Communications. Throughout every change at the top of the division, you always supported that leader and their vision for Communications. As a supervisor, you mentored many employees effectively by sharing the insights gained by your experience. You consistently explained the strategic reasons behind an assignment so those executing it would understand how their work would benefit the division and the College. You were also reliable in bringing that same focus on strategic thinking to leadership discussions so plans and decisions were tethered to what was best for Lafayette both in the short and long term. You were known and valued as a human Wikipedia, with an uncanny ability to recall initiatives, decisions, and other facts from many years past, which helped you and your colleagues make better decisions for the future. You were generous with praise, always downplaying your own contributions and magnifying those of your co-workers. If there was even the perception of something not working out perfectly, you assumed a disproportionate share of the responsibility.
The College community has been so grateful for your service that we have frequently recognized and expressed our gratitude to you. In 1995, you were named director of national media marketing. In 1998, you were promoted to director of college communications. In 2011, you were recognized with our Distinguished Service Award, which recognized your sustained distinguished performance and contributions made by a member of the support or administrative staff. In 2013, you were once again promoted, this time to assistant vice president of communications.
Roger, we are so grateful for the difference you have made for Lafayette and for your willingness to continue to work part-time during your retirement. We hope you enjoy a wonderful retirement filled with good times shared with family and plenty of Patriots and Red Sox games.