DU’s Division of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences recently received a $1.3 million grant to be split evenly between three departments: history, English and the school of art and art history.

The money came from the estate of Robert Clemens, a DU alumnus who graduated in 1981 with an economics degree. Before he passed away in June, Clemens earned an advanced certificate from the Kent School in English allowing him to teach ESL (English Second Language) to teachers.
According to Kristin Altman, director of Community Relations and Communication, Clemens was dedicated to providing people with the means to get an education.

“From what we know and from what we heard from his family, [Clemens] just seemed to be this really generous and interesting world traveler who cared a lot about access to education,” said Altman. “He founded an ESL school in Mexico; he just really seemed to care about people who normally wouldn’t have access to education.”

The money will be used in different ways for each of the departments. The History department will use the money to support student internships and create an endowed faculty research fund. The English department will award the new Robert L. Clemens Endowed Fellowship to a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate, preferring a student from Mexico or one experienced working with racial minorities. The School of Art and Art History will use the funding towards instructional costs in studio art. The university has also set up the Robert L. Clemens Endowed Creative Production Award which two faculty members per year will receive.

Susan Schulten, chair of the history department, said their primary goal was to strengthen the internship program from History majors.

“I’m currently working with several institutions—including the Denver Public Library, the Colorado Supreme Court Library, and local schools—to create meaningful work experiences for our best majors,” said Schulten.

As for why Clemens selected the three departments History, English and Art, Altman said she isn’t exactly sure.

“That’s how he left it,” said Altman. “According to his brother, those were areas that were he was interested in.”

Altman believed it was partly because of Clemens’ relationship with the history department.

“Robert Clemens had such a wonderful experience in our courses,” said Schulten. “I never did meet him, but he was clearly affected in a positive way by the courses he took with [the late] Professor Allen Breck.”

Clemens’ donation was a wonderful gift for the university and the arts, humanities and social sciences, according to Altman.

“We were very grateful to receive it,” said Altman.