Kate Clatterbuck is the activities coordinator for Student Engagement here at Roanoke College. She is from Danville, Virginia, and graduated from Roanoke College in 2022 with a major in education and two minors. During her time as a student, Kate was heavily involved with spiritual life on campus through working as a fellow for Chaplain Chris Bowen, in addition to a wide array of other on-campus jobs. Her other responsibilities included working as an orientation leader for Kelly Dulaski, writing for the Brackety-Ack in the Sports Section, working in the Student Success Center, tutoring for the Writing Center, and working as a caller in the campus call center.
The biggest change Kate has noticed from her time as a student and now is the increase in crossover between sections of the student body. “Whether that was your major or your friend group, there were a lot more divides.” She said, “Now there’s a lot more crossover, and I think a lot of that comes from everyone’s willingness to be inclusive of each other, to learn more, and to push each other outside of your comfort zone. Like going to student engagement events, I see a lot of people that I never thought would know each other, and they have a great time at an event, and I’m shocked that they know each other.”
Kate’s journey from student to staff member wasn’t immediate. She started by teaching sixth-grade language arts in Charlottesville while holding the title of Miss Virginia Volunteer with Miss Volunteer America. After a year of duality, she worked with Entwined Events as the Sales Director for their wedding venues for about a year and a half. Then, in October 2024, Kate joined the Roanoke College staff and has been planning, among other responsibilities, ever since! “After beginning the position, the learning curve for me was limiting my expectations of events. I think coming from doing weddings, someone’s best day of their whole life, the expectation is that you’re going to make it the best day of their life, and so I had these high expectations of what producing an event looked like. Our events are great – I think our students put on some really awesome things for other students, but there’s not the level of high-quality dining, setups, and ironing the tablecloths that came with weddings. So the learning curve was more about allowing myself to make mistakes and know that those aren’t the end of the world. And that, I think, was why I feel so in my element with our R President’s Ball and Shindig, because they are that same level of events that I was doing for Entwined.”
In appreciation of the unexpected aspects of her job, Kate said, “There’s no way to explain in a job description how much this role is a mentor to other students. I probably have a student in my office for seven and a half hours of the eight-hour day, and I’m never here for just eight hours. Getting to hear students’ perspectives on the world and their classes, and to hear about the hard things that they’re going through and offer my advice and/or support, has been the most rewarding.”
As for her other current happenings, Kate is in the process of completing an online MBA program through Radford University, for which she has been supported by Joe Boucher and Liz Werner. In fact, Kate’s diligent work ethic and mutual respect with her colleagues have led her to be on the Staff Council Steering Committee, where she creates the bylaws of a group that lifts the voices of overlooked staff to be heard by the administration. Unfortunately, this is Kate’s final semester working with the college for the foreseeable future, as she is set to become the Assistant Director of Donor Events for University Advancement at Wake Forest. Her new job will entail producing events across the country for donors, legacy families, and alumni as a part of the university’s advancement initiatives.
“I’m thankful for the student engagement team – Joe, Liz, Raya, Logan, they’ve all been incredibly helpful in my time here, and Diane Wing and all of her expertise when I got here. Unfortunately, Diane passed, but transitioning to Roanoke would not have been what it was without all of her guidance, and the knowledge that she came here with was incredible. I’d like to thank our students, our student managers, all the effort that they put into attending events and working hard to produce them, and running their little sections of student engagement, and then the students who come to student engagement events. And then people who were mentors to me when I was a student at Roanoke, like Chap Chris, Shannon McNeil, and the Education Department. And finally, all these people that saw me as a student, and then when I got here, as a staff member, treated me as an adult and allowed me to continue to grow and learn, but still offered their support as I was navigating what it meant to be the activities coordinator.”
Juniper Rogers
Folk of ‘Noke Editor
P.S.
Thank you for all of your diligence and support, Kate! You were an incredible leader who always stuck out for others, and I’ll forever appreciate the irreplaceable efforts and memories you gave to me, my staff, Student Engagement and Roanoke College as a whole. Best of luck on the future ahead, we’ll never forget you!
Zachary Bayers
Editor-in-Chief
