Clem and Hayes Clement ’54
Hayes Clement ’54 (left) with his wife Clem.
A full-scholarship student at Andover, Clement quickly reengaged with the Academy after he completed his bachelor’s degree at Duke University. “I began contributing to the Andover Fund every year,” he says. He also volunteered for the Alumni Office— serving on the Alumni Council and helping with regional events in Atlanta—and became very involved with recruiting students in his area.
In 1999, Clement and his wife, Clem, established the Clem and Hayes Clement Scholarship, which provides a full scholarship for students, preferably from North Carolina, to attend Andover. The couple takes great pleasure in connecting with the boys and girls who are receiving aid from this fund. “It has been rewarding for us to visit with the students and their parents and to see how the Andover experience continues to open up a whole new world for young people—as it did for me.” Clement fondly recalls writing notes while at Andover to Charles Merrill, founder of Merrill Lynch, thanking him for the scholarship that enabled him to attend Phillips Academy. “I recently re-read one of the letters Mr. Merrill wrote to me, and I will always treasure it.”
Clement serves on the boards of several educational and community organizations. More than 30 years ago, he worked with local leaders in Atlanta and Greensboro to help found Communities in Schools— today, the nation’s largest private sector program aimed at helping young people successfully learn, stay in school, and prepare for life. In Greensboro, he also helped found a private Episcopal school, is president of the Guilford Technical Community College Foundation Board of Directors, and serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of North Carolina A&T University, a historically black university.
Clement continues his work with the Andover admission office and recently accepted a new responsibility for the Office of Academy Resources as a member of the Financial Aid Task Force, a small group of Andover alumni who are particularly dedicated to needblind admission. The Task Force advises and assists the Academy in advancing its commitment to this initiative. “I believe that to truly admit youth from every quarter, you must be a need-blind institution,” Clement says. “And to fund this policy, Andover will need to rely on the generosity of all alumni and particularly on those of us who benefited so greatly from its teachings.”