The moment Clark Hubbard walked into the coffee shop, he filled it. Perhaps it was the way his gaze was set on where he was going, the confidence that guided his long stride or the way he paused before he poured out his thoughts. Maybe it was the tilt of his head while he listened, the habitual way he stroked his chin when he was thinking or the way his smirk melted into laughter with those around him after he killed a witty one-liner. Whatever it was, Clark Hubbard stood out and above the other guys at Union.
From his very first week on campus, Clark wasn’t shy about announcing his presence.
“It all started when I dated a squirrel during the Welcome Week show.”
Seth Horton, one of Clark’s best friends, shared the inside scoop on Clark’s shenanigans.
“During the Welcome Week show, they asked for someone from the audience to come up to do a dating game. Clark, already 6’7, stands up on his chair and screams at the top of his lungs. It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen! For the next three years, we joked about him dating a squirrel. That’s when I knew he was going to do big things in college.”
Clark is a renaissance man. During his time at Union, Clark has been actively involved with the Union Debate Team, the Improv Team, Mosaic and Life Groups. In the afternoons, he serves as a barista at Barefoots Joe and Modero. Clark is the senior editor of the Torch and the Art and Entertainment section editor for the Cardinal and Cream. Venturing to produce edifying and insightful content in addition to all of this, Clark has started his own website called Classic Clark while co-hosting his own podcast.
In our interview, Clark admitted that double majoring in political science and English has been difficult.
“Both departments – the political science department and English departments – are tough. They are strict and they want you to work hard to get an A, and some professors want you to work really hard to get a B. It has challenged me to read great works and have hard conversations.”
Of the faculty, Dr. Scott Huelin and Professor Ted Kluck have been two of his greatest mentors.
Following our conversation, I sought out both faculty members and asked what set Clark apart from their other students.
Huelin playfully responded by saying, “He stood head and shoulders above the rest. I admire his lofty perspective about things.” Then, on a serious note, he said, “Clark has a rare combination of intellectual appetite and comic wit.”
“Honestly his talent set him apart initially,” Kluck said. “Beyond that I think was just a natural curiosity that I find compelling in a person. I like people who ask questions.”
As he reminisced about his past experience at Union, I asked Clark what he was proud to have gotten away with.
“My Freshman RA, Russell Richardson, played a huge prank on me. I decided to get him back. I actually left him about 4 miles from campus at night without his phone, keys and wallet. He always threatened to get me back but now he’s graduated. I fully expect him to show up one day senior year with something wild.”
Clark paused. “One other thing, three people – who will remain unnamed – may or may not have snuck into the library the first semester of freshman year before it was finished.”
Most people know Clark as “the tall guy” or as that ambitious student who is involved with everything. But for the people who know him best, Clark is just a gentle giant with the heart of a teddy bear. People don’t always look what they see about him.
“I don’t want to be put in that box as ‘just the funny guy.’ Like everybody, there’s more.”
Clark’s tender side is what his friends say they love most about him.
“Clark cares about you as a person,” said Horton. “If you come to him with any problem, he has a practical way to help you with that problem. He has the best advice. No matter what, he is there to support you.”
The longer we talked, the more real Clark became.
“The first semester of junior year was the the hardest I’ve had. I was way too busy, I went from 8am-11pm everyday. That was the semester that I found out I struggled with anxiety and depression and the first semester I started trying to deal with it. It was a really hard season of life. September and October of 2017 was when I realized I couldn’t do it anymore. That was was the semester I crashed, and for a week I didn’t go to a lot of classes. Over the next semester, things got better and better as I learned how to deal with some really hard life things.”
Vulnerability was scary. Despite the silence on campus, Clark chose not to hide his struggle.
“It’s so hard to tell people you have anxiety or depression, especially at Union. Everyone looks perfect, even if they’re not physically perfect. I think that’s an unhealthy thing we have on campus which people are working to change.”
As we discussed change, Clark offered a refreshing perspective on what Union could do differently.
“I wish the mandatory Christian things weren’t mandatory and that there was a way to make people want to go chapel rather than forcing them. I see a third of chapel students on their phones, computers or in a book- and I’ll admit I do that a lot of the time because I’m simply not interested in it.”
He also added, “I understand why open dorm hours are there, but I wish there was more of an education as to what godly, Christian relationships looked like. I’ve talked to administration, mentors and fellow students. I wish there was more of making us into good people through positive interaction, like building our virtues up instead of just saying, ‘You can’t do this.’ It’s frustrating.”
Of the many things that Union has given him, it is the place where he met his fiancé.
“I’m getting married and I will leave Jackson. I’m hoping to move north. I want to see more of the United States and maybe the world.”
Clark will be applying to MFA programs this fall and knows that, regardless of where he may venture after graduation, he will be a writer.
“Writing is the one thing I want to do for the rest of my life.”
Photo Courtesy of Campbell Padgett