$6M Gift To Clark Will Benefit Worcester Kids Music Program

Press release from Clark University:

May 8, 2021

Clark University has received a $6 million gift from the late Tina Sweeney. Ms. Sweeney’s gift, a bequest, is dedicated to fostering broader music-education opportunities here at the University and to establishing music programs, through Clark, that inspire and bring music arts education to children in Worcester.

Ms. Sweeney’s gift was inspired by her admiration for, and generosity toward, arts education and performance at Clark and in the neighborhood. She’s also made a substantial designation of funds, retroactively, toward the construction of Clark’s Jennie and Arthur Razzo Hall, named for her parents, which is a campus hub for music concerts, film screenings, student workshops, and symposia.

The specific commitment of funds will include:

• Endowing the Tina Sweeney, MA ’49 Endowed Chair in Music at Clark University to support a distinguished faculty member.
• Creating the Tina Sweeney, MA ’49 Scholarship to provide assistance for undergraduate students of high academic ability who are deserving of financial aid and are majoring or intending to major in music.
• Establishing the Tina Sweeney, MA ’49 Clark University Neighborhood Children’s Music Fund, which will be used to sponsor activities and programs that promote music education and exposure for children in the Main South neighborhood.
• Funding the Tina Sweeney, MA ’49 Music Concert Series for the Clark community.

Ms. Sweeney, who passed away on April 24, 2020, at the age of 92, earned her master’s degree in history from Clark in 1949. She recalled attending concerts on campus and enjoying the rigorous and thoughtful instruction of professors like H. Donaldson Jordan and Morris Cohen.

A resident of Queens, New York, Ms. Sweeney closely followed the progress of Clark University throughout the years, showing keen interest in the Liberal Education and Effective Practice (LEEP) curriculum as well as our involvement with University Park Campus School.

“She often expressed her gratitude for receiving a financial package that allowed her to attend Clark and sparked a deep and abiding appreciation for the University and its mission,” President Fithian wrote. “I know you join me in extending gratitude and appreciation to Tina Sweeney, posthumously, for this wonderfully generous gift to Clark, which will have a very positive impact on our students and on youth in our neighborhood.

“We eagerly anticipate opening new avenues of engagement with our community and providing fresh educational and performing opportunities at Clark.”

Founded in 1887, Clark University is a liberal arts-based research university that prepares its students to meet tomorrow’s most daunting challenges and embrace its greatest opportunities. Through 33 undergraduate majors, more than 30 advanced degree programs, and nationally recognized community partnerships, Clark fuses rigorous scholarship with authentic world and workplace experiences that empower our students to pursue lives and careers of meaning and consequence.

This press release was produced by Clark University. The views expressed here are the author's own.