SLLC Dedicates the Lauretta Clough Community Room

Members of the SLLC community gathered to remember their longtime friend and colleague

By Lauren Hargrave

The School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures celebrates the opening of the Lauretta Clough Community Room, named in honor of the former SLLC associate director following her passing on September 21, 2023.

Clough taught and worked in SLLC for 25 years. She was also a graduate of the school; she received her Ph.D. in French language and literature with a specialization in translation theory in 1998. She enjoyed writing poems in her spare time.

In a dedication ceremony and celebration of Clough’s life on January 31, Mel Scullen, director of SLLC, said the renaming of the newly renovated space room is “in recognition of the tremendous contributions Lauretta made to the SLLC community over her many years of service—as a graduate teaching assistant, a lecturer, an advisor, and from 2012 to 2023 as the associate director for academic administration.” Colleagues shared memories of Clough throughout the years as a co-worker, neighbor and friend. They also read a number of Clough’s poems. The program also included remarks about Clough’s longtime partner, Jorge Aguilar Mora, emeritus professor of Spanish, who passed away on January 5, 2024.

The Lauretta Clough Community Room is on the first floor of Jimenez Hall and will be used as a classroom and community space where all are welcome. SLLC plans to hold an annual poetry reading and speaker series in Clough’s memory.