Taylor Summey, Class of 2021
Thanksgiving isn’t just a time to eat turkey and plan Black Friday shopping. At the final two home football games of the season, Clemson has given thanks to some of its best and brightest as part of the Professor of the Game and Staff Member of the Game program. The program was created by President Jim Clements in 2014 to honor the incredible work that Clemson professors and staff members do for the university.
Military Appreciation game
Captain Rachelle Miller and Bobby Clark were honored at the Clemson-Duke game.
Miller is an assistant professor of aerospace studies and the recruiting flight commander for Clemson’s Air Force ROTC unit. A native of Ohio, Miller served as a logistics readiness officer and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2014, where she provided logistics support for special operations units at Bagram Air Base. She always wanted to be an instructor, so she was excited when she received orders to report to Clemson and work with the university’s Air Force ROTC program. As Miller was recognized on the field, she was joined by 2nd Lt. James McNamara, who recently received his commission from the Air Force ROTC program.
While recognition in front of 80,000 people is exciting, it can also cause a few butterflies. Miller shared that she was so nervous about missing her cue to go down to the field that she decided to stay on the field after the coin toss rather than go back up to the President’s Suite. She explained, “It turns out that no one knew where to find me. Everyone was relieved to find me exactly where I was supposed to be a few minutes prior to spotlight time!”
Clark, Miller’s staff counterpart, is the director of procurement for Clemson Computing and Information Technology (CCIT), where he is involved in purchasing and procurement as well as implementation of the new vendor management policy. Clark began work on campus as a student and graduated from Clemson in 1988, so he has been employed at Clemson for 30 years. As a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, he serves as the campus advisor to the Pi Alpha chapter. He was also selected to participate in the 2018-19 class of the President’s Leadership Institute, serves on the MLK Enhancement Committee, which plans Clemson’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration each year. His wife, Jennifer, a Clemson alumna, accompanied him onto the field.
When asked about the experience, Clark said that the experience was “exhilarating.” “It was truly an honor,” he said.
Rivalry week
At the matchup between Clemson and rival University of South Carolina, Sandy Linder, Ph.D., and Tracy Arwood were honored as Professor and Staff Member of the Game.
Linder was a public school teacher for several years before deciding to go into higher education to help train and support teachers. She earned her Ph.D. at Clemson and never left. She is an associate professor of early childhood mathematics education and teaches courses on early childhood education and research methods. Her own research examines mathematical play for young children and how that prepares them for school. Linder is also the director of Project Math Pack, which gives families fun packs of math activities and games to give parents tools to help their preschool children learn math. She was joined on the field by her husband, Alley, a third-generation Clemson alumnus.
Arwood has been with Clemson for more than 12 years. As the assistant vice president for research compliance, Arwood’s work plays a very important role as Clemson’s research enterprise continues to grow. Her team works to ensure that all of our research practices are compliant with state and federal regulations and that all of our research facilities are safe for our students, faculty and staff. Her son, Garrett, joined her on the field as she was recognized.
Arwood explained why it is important that we give thanks to those who work so hard to make Clemson a high-quality institution. “Employees give a great deal of themselves to their work, “she said. “Recognition helps to show that their hard work and dedication is appreciated.”
Linder added, “There is sometimes a divide between athletics and academics that does not need to be there – we are all doing work that supports the overall mission of the university and we all have our parts to play. This program builds a bridge between academics and athletics and honors faculty and staff in a way that we don’t often experience.”
