Memorial Services Set for Clifton MacLeod

Memorial services for Clifton T. MacLeod, CMC's emeritus dean of students and dean of administration, will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 4 at the Claremont Presbyterian Church, 1111 N. Mountain Ave.
MacLeod, for whom the College's annual Reunion Weekend golf tournament is named, died last week, leaving a legacy that included honorary membership to the Claremont McKenna College Alumni Association and serving as the College's golf coach.
When hired by President George C.S. Benson in 1959, Claremont McKenna College historian Kevin Starr wrote that Benson was looking to MacLeoda former director of student activities at the University of Rochesterto help let students at the still-young college know that academics were of more importance than parties. As a Coast Guard veteran, MacLeod was not only a physically imposing choice for the part, but, in Benson's words, had shown throughout his career at Rochester, "the degree of firmness which is required for a dean if he is to do an effective job with men students."
With a tighter leash on the social habits of its growing student body, CMC's academic reputation continued to rise during its formative years. And although MacLeod's policies were recorded as noticeably more stringent than his predecessor's, his guidance was far-reaching, including his role as an administrator in 1968 on the ad hoc Committee on Student Rights. In its examination of student governance at CMC, Committee members issued a 30-page report that year that, "among other guarantees, set forth student rights to due process," Starr noted, many of which later became part of administrative practice.
MacLeod, who was granted emeritus status in 1988, received both his bachelor's and master's degrees from Boston University. In addition to golf, he was devoted to his family and enjoyed vacationing in such places as Colonial Williamsburg and Washington, D.C. "He also loved the College and the students whom he came to know over the years," says his wife, Jane.
In addition to Jane MacLeod, he is survived by daughters Elizabeth ("Libby"), Margaret ("Peggy"), Barbara, and Sarah, and a son, Ken.
In lieu of flowers, family has suggested donations be made to Claremont McKenna College, 400 N. Claremont Blvd., Claremont, CA 91711-4015.