JACKSON, Tenn. — Aug. 1, 2017 — Carolyn Clements, a 1948 51社区 graduate, donated two athletic letterman sweaters and five yearbooks to the university Friday.
One of the sweaters belonged to her father, C. L. Dodd, when he was Union鈥檚 football captain in 1929. The other was hers when she was the women鈥檚 basketball captain in 1948. The yearbooks are from the years she and her family members attended Union: 1927, 1929, 1947, 1948 and 1949.
Clements said her family has had ties to Union longer than she can remember. Her father, three aunts and four uncles all graduated from the university in the 1920s.
鈥淲e would always stop by Union and see my parents鈥� friends if we were passing through,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen I wanted to go to college, there was no question of where I would go.鈥�
Clements started at Union in 1945 and graduated with a degree in history and physical education. She was a member of the Chi Omega sorority and was captain of a women鈥檚 basketball team that lasted one season. She graduated in three years, taking more than 18 hours each semester.
鈥淚 always was in a hurry,鈥� Clements said.
She met her husband, Grady Clements, at Union, and they raised four children together, two of whom also graduated from Union.
Clements started Clemco Sales, a packaging business in Jackson where she said she employed dozens of Union students over the years doing manual labor such as cutting and assembling cardboard skids for packing trucks.
鈥淯nion has always been a place that knows how important hard work is,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he Union kids would work for me during the day and work on their studies in the evening.鈥�
Jason Vaughan, director of development at Union, said gifts like the ones Clements donated mean a lot to the university.
鈥淲e are grateful for alumni like Mrs. Carolyn Clements who have chosen to give a little bit of history back to Union,鈥� Vaughan said. 鈥淭hese gifts remind us of the influence Union has had in the lives of entire generations of families.鈥�