Clarity Willoughby ’23

Clarity Willoughby ’23 has put her B.A. in Business Administration - Marketing to work at her day job in property management and as co-founder of her own business Devoured Treatz L.L.C. Looking back, the inaugural Miss Black Charm City sees all the ways that the Hill taught her how to build a legacy.

A Black woman wears a headband, hoop earrings, and a maroon dress and smiles, holding a cup of coffee.

When Clarity Willoughby graduated from McDaniel College in 2023 with her B.A. in Business Administration - Marketing, she knew she was leaving with more than a degree. “I was leaving as someone who had already learned what it meant to walk into a space, recognize what was missing, and help build it,” she says. Over her years on the Hill, she helped build the legacies of Sigma Gamma Rho, the Culinary Club, and the Black Student Union. She also began her entrepreneurial venture, Devoured Treatz L.L.C., on campus. Today, she works in property management, has continued building her business, and was recently named the inaugural Miss Black Charm City.

What leadership roles did you hold at McDaniel?

I stayed busy on the Hill! I served as the Culinary Club’s first president, helping establish the organization and develop its constitution. After several years in Black Student Union, I served as treasurer (2021-22) and president (2022-23), working alongside other student leaders to host events and help Black students feel connected, supported, and represented. I was also a Student Government Association liaison, a cheerleader, and involved in other organizations through executive board roles and general membership.

In spring 2021, I became McDaniel’s first undergraduate member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., through the Northeastern Region undergraduate membership process. With support from Senior Director of Student Engagement Amanda Gelber, former Dean of Students Liz Towle, and other campus staff and faculty, I worked to establish a presence and introduce the sorority’s service programming.

One highlight was hosting our first SWIM 1922 event, bringing swim instructors to campus and partnering with McDaniel’s swimming team. This felt personal because I was learning to swim myself and becoming more aware of the barriers to swimming education in the Black community. SWIM 1922 is Sigma Gamma Rho’s national initiative with USA Swimming to increase swimming participation and reduce drowning rates. A 2017 study found that 64% of African American children had little to no swimming ability — making access to these skills especially meaningful to me.

Across these roles, I helped build organizations, advocate for my peers, and create experiences that brought people together. I’m proud of what we accomplished and grateful for everyone who helped me grow along the way.

McDaniel kept giving me opportunities to practice the work that would become such a large part of my life: building something new, bringing people together, and creating something others could carry forward.

Clarity Willoughby ’23

What lessons did you learn from those roles?

Looking back, I realize McDaniel kept giving me opportunities to practice the work that would become such a large part of my life: building something new, bringing people together, and creating something others could carry forward.

I attended Carver Vocational-Technical High School in Baltimore, Maryland, where my trade was culinary arts, so food was already a meaningful part of my life. Starting the Culinary Club taught me that a skill I brought with me could become a way to build community in a new place. Helping develop its constitution taught me to give that idea a foundation beyond my own involvement.

Black Student Union taught me that sharing an identity doesn’t mean sharing the same experience. Growing from a member into treasurer and then president taught me to listen beyond my own perspective and take seriously the trust people place in you to represent them.

Sigma Gamma Rho taught me that joining a sisterhood comes with a responsibility to put its values into practice. As McDaniel’s first undergraduate member, I had to think about how our campus could experience the service and community I had found in the sorority. Hosting SWIM 1922 while learning to swim myself made that personal: Something I was working through became an opportunity to help others gain access, too.

I didn’t have the language for all of that at 20, 21, or 22. Now, as an entrepreneur and community leader, I recognize how often I return to those lessons. The Hill was preparing me for work I hadn’t yet imagined.

What is your current job?

Today, my professional career is in property management, and even there, community is at the center of what I do. I’m working with people during something as personal as choosing and maintaining their home. I communicate with residents, navigate concerns, support leasing and marketing, create resident experiences, and learn every day how important relationships are to the places we call home.

A group of young Black women stand in front of a table filled with memorabilia for Sigma Gamma Rho. — Willoughby and some of her Sigma Gamma Rho sisters.

How has your Business Administration and Marketing education continued to help you as an entrepreneur?

As co-owner of Devoured Treatz L.L.C., I’ve taken the Business Administration and Marketing concepts I learned at McDaniel and turned them into something tangible. From developing pricing strategies and building partnerships to creating new revenue streams through catering, corporate gifting, and interactive dessert experiences, I apply what I learned in the classroom every day.

But one of the coolest parts of entrepreneurship has been realizing that my business can be about more than just desserts. Through community cookouts, back-to-school events, food pantry pickups, and other service initiatives, we’ve been able to incorporate giving back into our business model. McDaniel taught me how to build and sustain a business, but entrepreneurship has shown me that I also have the freedom to shape its purpose. I get to control my own narrative, create opportunities, and decide how my business shows up for the community that supports us.

A young man and a young woman hold up an iPad advertising Devoured Treatz with some treats on a table in front of them. — Willoughby and her Devoured Treatz business partner, Lloyd Murphy.

What did being named Miss Black Charm City mean to you?

Being named the inaugural Miss Black Charm City means so much more than wearing a crown or sash. As a Black woman born and raised in Baltimore, representing the city that shaped me is incredibly personal. There’s a misconception that pageantry is simply about beauty, but Black pageantry celebrates so much more. Intelligence. Leadership. Culture. Resilience. And most importantly, what we choose to do with our influence. To me, it’s not just about wearing the crown. It’s about what you do while you have it.

Becoming the first-ever Miss Black Charm City made me ask myself a familiar question: “What can I build with this?”

This title has allowed me to rediscover Baltimore through the people working every day to make it better. As I prepare to compete for Miss Black Maryland USA 2026, I’m realizing that my greatest accomplishment isn’t how many people know my name, but how many people I can help, connect, or uplift because of it. The crown is temporary, but I want the impact to outlive it.

A young Black woman in a Baltimore Ravens T-shirt stands in front of a view of Baltimore, Maryland. — Willoughby, the inaugural Miss Black Charm City, shows some love for Baltimore, Maryland.

Giving back isn’t about recognition. It’s about remembering that someone’s circumstances don’t have to determine their future. Sometimes the smallest act of kindness, the right connection, or simply showing up for someone can change the direction of their life.

Clarity Willoughby ’23

What other ways are you giving back to the community?

Most recently, I’ve stepped into leadership roles with two nonprofits serving Baltimore: president of The Period Pantry’s newly established Baltimore City Chapter and Baltimore liaison for Memories Foundation. Through The Period Pantry, I’m working to establish free menstrual product pantries across the city, building partnerships with shelters, recruiting volunteers, and organizing donation drives. We recently hosted a Period Action Day event to pack menstrual care kits for local organizations. Because something as natural as having a period should never be a barrier to someone’s dignity or daily life.

My work with Memories Foundation is especially personal. Something many people don’t know about me is that I recently learned I was adopted by the only family I’ve ever known, after spending time in foster care with them. That discovery gave me an even deeper connection to the work we’re doing to celebrate children in foster care and make sure they feel seen, valued, and loved. Beyond these roles, I’ve built approximately 120 documented contacts and partnership opportunities across my initiatives, using C.L.A.R.I.T.Y. is KEY and Charm City Conversations to amplify Baltimore businesses, connect people to resources, and create opportunities for others.

For me, giving back isn’t about recognition. It’s about remembering that someone’s circumstances don’t have to determine their future. Sometimes the smallest act of kindness, the right connection, or simply showing up for someone can change the direction of their life. I know that firsthand.

In what ways do your current work and community involvement feel like a full-circle moment from your time on the Hill?

At McDaniel, I was learning how to build something from the ground up. Starting organizations, creating programming, advocating for students, and bringing people together. Starting the Culinary Club allowed me to reconnect with my culinary arts background from Carver Vocational-Technical High School while turning a shared interest into community. Leading Black Student Union taught me advocacy, collaboration, and representation. Helping establish Sigma Gamma Rho’s presence taught me to trust my values and recognize that there’s room for different paths. Other Divine Nine sororities were already doing meaningful work on campus, but I felt drawn to Sigma Gamma Rho’s mission. I learned that leadership isn’t always about fitting into an existing space; sometimes it’s about creating another opportunity for yourself and others.

My Business Administration and Marketing degree gave me the tools to turn those ideas into sustainable ventures, while McDaniel’s liberal arts education taught me to think critically, embrace different perspectives, and connect disciplines. Today, I apply those lessons through Devoured Treatz, The Period Pantry, community partnerships, and my role as Miss Black Charm City. Different organizations. Different responsibilities. Same foundation. The Hill didn’t just prepare me for a career. It taught me how to adapt, lead, and create opportunities wherever life takes me.

A young Black woman wearing a yellow beret stands in front of a table advertising the McDaniel College Black Student Union. — Willoughby hosting a table for the Black Student Union at a McDaniel Admitted Students Day.

How would you describe your journey over the past three years since graduation?

When I graduated in 2023, I was Clarity Willoughby — a first-generation college graduate with a B.A. in Business Administration and Marketing, excited about my future while still figuring out exactly what that future would look like.

Three years later, I still don’t think my life fits into one title.

I’m a property management professional. An entrepreneur. The co-owner of Devoured Treatz. Miss Black Charm City. Founder of C.L.A.R.I.T.Y. is KEY. Baltimore City chapter president of The Period Pantry. A community advocate. And, perhaps most importantly, I’m still becoming.

The difference is that now I can look backward and see the connection.

The things I’m building today didn’t begin after graduation; the foundation was being laid every time McDaniel trusted me to lead, create, advocate, and be first.

You don’t necessarily graduate knowing exactly who you’re going to become. Sometimes you graduate with pieces.

And then life shows you how everything you learned, everything you built, and every opportunity you said yes to was preparing you for work you hadn’t even discovered yet.

For me, so many of those pieces started on the Hill.

Clarity Willoughby ’23

About Clarity

See Willoughby on WJZ