Editor’s note: Earlier this month, we learned of the sudden passing of Terry Hawk, longtime Administrative and Finance Manager of CalArts’ Community Arts Partnership (CAP). CalArts President Ravi Rajan penned this remembrance of Terry, which was sent to CalArts staff, faculty, and students. Since Terry worked with so many CalArts students, who are now alums, we would like to share the note with the alumnx community.
I write to you today with the sad news that Terry Hawk, our colleague in the Community Arts Partnership (CAP) program, has passed away. Her sudden and unexpected death is quite a shock to all of us—many of us just saw her last week on campus, before the holiday weekend.
Terry was part of our community for nine years, and not a week went by that I didn’t personally see her working and supporting her colleagues and friends, from her fellow staff members to our students working in the CAP program, and of course, the young people who are served by that program.
Terry served on many administrative groups in her role as the finance manager for CAP, but we all also knew her for the many things she did with our Staff Council, as well as her eagerness to volunteer for other service opportunities to the Institute.
She personified the supportive, collegial, and collaborative qualities we value deeply at CalArts. In one of our first lunch meetings together, I had brought a can of Fresca from home, and she immediately struck up a conversation about it. “I love Fresca, but I haven’t been able to find it lately. Where did you get it?” Before the meeting began, we commiserated about the lack of access to this beverage, which ultimately served both as the ice-breaker for that meeting, and between us. It was in this way that Terry made a point to connect with everyone, and it is this quality that makes our loss especially hard. Everybody knew Terry.
We also remember Terry for her love of dogs, including her four, as well as all of ours. She was always sporting a different pair of Chuck Taylors, seemingly in a different color each day. We will each remember her in our own, unique ways: Each memory nugget is something she gave to us all.
Terry is survived by her son Jesse, her parents, her sister, two grandsons, a brother-in-law and a niece. All of us at CalArts, especially her colleagues at CAP, mourn her greatly and will miss her presence.
