Iowa PBS Pro Shares BVU Memories with Scholars

February 23, 2022

According to Buena Vista University alum Caryline (Lowe) Clark, BVU was “right-sized” for her as she emerged as a graduating senior from Panorama High School in 2006.

“There were 55 in my high school senior class, so I wanted a college whose size would allow me the chance to become involved in a variety of organizations,” she says. “I didn’t wish to be in a giant sea of students. I wanted that feeling that I could make a difference.”

Clark returned to BVU to share her experience as a Beaver with 53 current high school seniors who gathered to pick up scholarship awards on Scholarship Recognition Day. Clark detailed a variety of activities she enjoyed as a student before finding a rewarding career through positions at the American Cancer Society, the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden, and at Iowa PBS, where she currently serves as Engagement Manager.

“I was in Storm Lake this fall to co-host an event for the premiere screening of ‘Storm Lake,’ which later showed on PBS,” she says. “It was great to see so many familiar faces.”

One of those faces belongs to Jerry Johnson ’85, BVU Assistant Professor of Digital Media. Clark connected with Johnson as he headed to the screening at the Vista 3 Theatre in downtown Storm Lake.

“I needed another light for photos in the lobby, so I reached out to Jerry, and he headed back to BVU to get me a light we could use at the premiere,” she says. “That’s just one example of how BVU professors, no matter how long ago you might have graduated, are still willing to do anything they can to help.”

Clark served as News Editor at The Tack, BVU’s student-run newspaper and a board member for the Student Activities Board. As a member of the Beaver Animal Rescue & Care, she traveled frequently to nearby Fonda to play with dogs who awaited adoption. As a junior, she joined peers in a spring break service excursion at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah, the largest animal shelter in the world.

“That experience sparked an interest in organizing and planning and bringing people together for a common cause, especially in the world of nonprofits,” she says.

Marketing internships at the Clay County Events Center in Spencer and the Buena Vista Regional Medical Center would ensue, work experiences that, coupled with Clark’s academic accomplishments, allowed her to earn a position with the American Cancer Society’s community relations department. Clark helped oversee dozens of events, many of them Relay for Life community endeavors, at several points across Northwest and Central Iowa.

In 2019, Clark earned her position at Iowa PBS, bringing full circle her experiences as a child and an adult, having been raised in tiny Yale while watching Sesame Street and other Iowa PBS offerings each day.

“I have the best job in the world,” she says. “I get to work collaboratively with our producers who create local content as well as national programming such as American Experience, Nature, and more. I also have the opportunity to meet and communicate with viewers across Iowa, learning about their interests in our programming.”

She remains grateful to Johnson and other professors, such as Dr. Jamii Claiborne, a 1996 BVU grad who serves as Professor of Digital Media, and Dr. Beth Lamoureux, a 1983 BVU graduate who served as Professor of Communication Studies before her retirement. They remain close contacts.

“Every time I had a question, a professor asked me to pull up a chair and they spent time talking to me,” she says. “I ended up visiting them outside of class, going to dinner in their homes, and seeing how they juggled work, family life, buying a home, and more. I didn’t know exactly how to do all those things just yet.”

She would in time, of course. She and husband, Matt Clark, a 2011 BVU graduate and fellow Iowa PBS employee, now reside in Des Moines and raise their son, Everett, a kindergartener, who is also now a PBS child.

“When I was asked to address Scholarship Recognition Day, I prepared by going back through old photos and articles,” she says. “It brought back great memories about classes, BVU travel, my professors, friends, and the organizations we served. It reaffirmed for me what I’ve known for a long time: BVU 100 percent got me to where I am today.”