Russell Inslee "Inky" Clark Jr. (1935 – August 3, 1999) was an educator, administrator, and a key player in the transition of the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

into co-education in the 1960s and diversified student bodies to the present from the 1960s.

Personal life

Clark was born in 1935 and graduated from Garden City High School in 1953. Clark graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1957 where he was a member of Skull and Bones. Clark earned a master's degree from the

Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (Maxwell School) is the professional public policy school of Syracuse University, a private research university in Syracuse, New York. The school is organized in 11 academic departments and 1 ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

Career

As Director of Undergraduate Admissions (1965-1969) at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, Clark oversaw the school's transition to a coeducational admission policy, and shares credit with Yale President

Kingman Brewster Kingman Brewster Jr. (June 17, 1919 – November 8, 1988) was an American educator, academic and diplomat. He served as the 17th president of Yale University and as United States ambassador to the United Kingdom. Early life Brewster was born i ...

for establishing academic credentials in the admissions process. Clark was academic dean at

Trumbull College Trumbull College is one of fourteen undergraduate residential colleges of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. The college is named for Jonathan Trumbull, governor of Connecticut from 1769 to 1784 and advisor and friend to Gen ...

, one of the twelve residential colleges constituent to

, 1963 - 1965. For decades prestigious northeastern colleges had used "character" as a code word to limit the number of acceptances afforded to secondary school students with

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and working class Catholic backgrounds to colleges traditionally defined by an Episcopalian or

WASP A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

social standard.

Negroes In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from Latin ''niger ...

were invisible on campus. Associated with this move, Yale, followed by other prestigious colleges in the northeast section of the United States, recruited for the first time beyond the prep school orbit of New England and mid-Atlantic boarding schools, and private schools in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

This new policy is now a standard in their respective admissions practices. Headmaster and President (1970-1991) of the

Horace Mann School Horace Mann School (also known as Horace Mann or HM) is an American private, independent college-preparatory school in the Bronx, founded in 1887. Horace Mann is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League, educating students from the New Yo ...

in the

Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, Clark reintroduced co-education and oversaw the school's merger with the Barnard School. His obituary, published August 7, 1999 in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', read: "a brilliant, dynamic teacher, he taught an Urban History course and took students into prisons and courtrooms to learn first hand about the complex urban issues confronting

. His inspirational leadership, his ebullient personality...His impressive intellect and passion for baseball are legendary."

Horace Mann School pedophilia scandal

A cover feature was published in ''The New York Times'' Sunday magazine, datelined 6 June 2012, that reports on many years that faculty members practiced

pedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...

among the Horace Mann School student body while Clark was Headmaster and President. Clark was described as one of many teachers and administrators implicated in the criminal behavior and resultant coverup. Clark is acknowledged as a member of the cohort of homosexual and heterosexual pedophiles described in the resultant legal proceedings. In March 2013, the school, with legal and other counsel, settled many claims brought by victims of sexual abuse during many of the years Clark was associated with Horace Mann School. ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', datelined April 1, 2013, presented further reportage on pedophilia at Horace Mann School during Clark's tenure. The feature was authored by Marc Fisher, an alumnus of Horace Mann School.

Notes

Bibliography

Paid Death Notice (New York Times, August 7, 1999)
*New York Times Magazine Section: Prep School Predators, Amos Kamil, June 6, 2013 *New Yorker Magazine: The Master, Marc Fisher, March 25, 2013, online

External links

*[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/magazine/the-horace-mann-schools-secret-history-of-sexual-abuse.html?pagewanted=all%20 New York Times: Prep-School Predators, The Horace Mann School’s Secret History of Sexual Abuse] {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, R. Inslee Jr. 1935 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American educators People from Garden City, New York Educators from New York (state) Yale College alumni Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs alumni Garden City High School (New York) alumni Members of Skull and Bones