Roger A. Clay Jr. An Oral History
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Roger Clay (BA 1966 Sociology) was a member of Stanford’s Board of Trustees from 1990 to 2000 and a key figure on the Alumni Association Board. In this oral history interview, he shares memories of his upbringing, his undergraduate years at Stanford, his career in housing and community economic development, and his leadership experiences at Stanford, including the founding of the Black Alumni Association. Clay describes the influence of his parents, the impact of moving frequently as a member of a military family, and his path to Stanford. He recalls being one of the few Black students on campus in the mid-1960s and his experiences as a member of the football team. Speaking of his graduate education and career in social work and law, he describes some of the projects he worked on, including his involvement in large redevelopment and employment discrimination cases as an attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Alameda County. Clay describes how spending time with his family at Stanford Camp led to a closer relationship with the university. He recounts his work on the Stanford Commission on Investment Responsibility, the founding of the Black Alumni Association, and his involvement with the Alumni Association Board. He also describes the culture and structure of the Board of Trustees and speaks about efforts to improve engagement with diverse alumni and increase diversity in the faculty.
- Summary
- Parents’ meeting and marriage • Moving around frequently due to father’s Army career • Segregation in the Army • Father’s advice about the military • Mother’s intelligence and work ethic • Grandparents and family history • Impact of moving around so much as a child: love of travel, curiosity about people • Learning and forgetting French • Living off base in France • Advantages and disadvantages of living on and off base • Base housing • Travelling off the beaten path: Fiji, Cuba • Base housing physically building community • Moving to Pasadena • Attending John Muir High School, alma mater of Jackie Robinson and Mack Robinson • Stereotyping in class placements • Hearing about Stanford from school counselor • Deal with school counselor about choosing his own schedule • High school counselor not encouraging other Black students to attend college • Wife’s different perception of travel • Travel group with old Stanford friends • Football in high school • Not being recruited to Stanford football with white high school teammates despite his high grades • Decision to apply to Stanford • Parents’ sacrifices to send him to Stanford • Playing football as a freshman walk-on • Not playing football sophomore year, but returning in junior and senior year • Players’ opinions about coach John Ralston’s racial biases • Support from position coach Mike White • Story of Mike White arranging for Clay to have a football scholarship for senior year • Stanford football in the 1960s • Ralston’s coaching style and recruiting • Success of coaching staff • Balancing football and academics • Success of teammates in their academic pursuits • Decision to switch from political science to sociology • Decision to pursue social work following involvement with a big brother program • Small number of Black students at Stanford in the early 1960s • Campus life • Graduate study in social work at UCLA • Applying to Berkeley Law School with friends • Social work in the Watts neighborhood • Decision to leave social work in favor of law school to become an agent of change • Admiration for social work • Marriage to wife, Ora, in 1968 • Residential segregation in Los Angeles • Influence of seeing housing conditions in Watts on his career path • Studying law and urban planning • Working for the National Economic Development and Housing Law Project • Activism at Berkeley in the 1970s, including law students striking for increased admission of minority students • Response of Black students at UCLA to assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. • Work for Legal Aid Society of Alameda County on law reform focused on housing and redevelopment • Cases in Alameda County • Employment discrimination cases • Challenging cases and negotiations • Working with clients • Decision not to continue down the litigation route to spend more time with family • Housing Finance Agency • Transition to Goldfarb & Lipman law firm • Home ownership financing structures for low- and moderate-income families • Stanford Camp • Starting the Black Alumni Association • Early scholarship efforts of Black Alumni Association • Working with the larger Stanford Alumni Association • Commission on Investment Responsibility • Looking at divestment options in South Africa • Efforts to influence tobacco companies through divestment and shareholder resolutions; Stanford smoking policy • Evaluating companies in South Africa for divestment on an individual basis during the apartheid years; Motorola • Student activism around divestment • Alumni Association Board of Directors • Context and issues surrounding the integration of the Alumni Association into the university, including communications with alumni via Stanford Magazine • Culture of the Alumni Board • Relationship between the Alumni Association and the Development Office • Working with Stephen Peeps and Bill Stone • John Lillie and negotiating the integration of the Alumni Association with the university • Building the Arillaga Alumni Center • Bill Stone • Alumni Association branches: Travel/Study, Stanford Camp, Continuing Education • Integrating Alumni Association staff into the university • Hiring Howard Wolf to lead the Alumni Association • Initiatives to better engage minority alumni • Alumni-nominated trustees • Process of joining the Board of Trustees • Minorities on the Board of Trustees • Task Force on Minority Alumni Relations with Charles Ogletree, Bernadine Chuck Fong, Victor Arias, Goodwin Liu, and others • Hosting the Community, Diversity, Excellence: Celebrating Stanford’s Minority Alumni conference in 2004 • Thoughts on identity-based alumni groups and ethnic theme houses • Concerns about lack of diversity in Stanford faculty and recent proposal by minority emeriti trustees • Work with Office of Development identifying minority alumni for service on boards • Stanford Black Alumni Association Black Summit • Stanford Camp • Culture of the Board of Trustees • Culture of the Alumni Association Board • Types of issues trustees dealt with • Structure of Board of Trustees meetings • Different types of trustees • Mentoring from Peter Bing • Board of Trustees leadership • Fundraising and campaigns • Stanford Presidents: Don Kennedy, Gerhard Casper, and John Hennessy • Stanford Provosts: Condoleezza Rice and John Etchemendy • Presidential search committee and search process • Research interviews with people in higher education • Indirect costs controversy at Stanford • Handling disagreements on the Board • Creation of a litigation committee to work with the university’s general counsel • Thoughts on working with big law firms • Peter Bing’s leadership • Qualities of effective Board of Trustees chairs •Accomplishments of Stanford • Success of Stanford athletics • Lack of diversity on the faculty • Significance of the Gold Spike Award • Decision to move to New York • Work at the Insight Center for Community Economic Development • Writing a book on affordable housing and community development law
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Extent | 1 text file |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
| Date created | May 20, 2020 - 2020-06-03 |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Interviewee | Clay, Roger A. | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Clay, Roger A. | |
| Interviewer | Marine-Street, Natalie J. | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | Clay, Roger A. |
|---|---|
| Subject | Stanford University. Board of Trustees |
| Subject | Stanford Alumni Association |
| Subject | Stanford University. Students > 1960s |
| Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
| Biographical Profile | Roger Clay began as a social worker and has been a leader in the legal profession for more than forty years. Mr. Clay has served in numerous community and professional leadership roles. After graduating from Stanford University in 1966 with a degree in sociology, Mr. Clay has been an active volunteer for his alma mater. He served as vice-chair of the Board of Trustees, Chair of the Stanford Alumni Association, Chair of the Commission on Investment Responsibility. He is the recipient of the Gold Spike award, the university’s highest award for volunteer leadership service and is a member of the Stanford Multicultural Hall of Fame |
|---|---|
| Audio |
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| Finding Aid | |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/qc619rk1336 |
| Location | SC0932 |
| Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Collection
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022
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