Button Menu

Our Community Stories

  • About
  • Our Community Stories
 Elisa Villanueva Beard
Business Executive

Elisa Villanueva Beard

Elisa has been an integral part of Teach for America for 25 years. It all started in 1998 as a TFA Phoenix…

Meet Elisa Villanueva Beard
Sharon Crary
Global Impact

Sharon Crary

Professor Sharon Crary has studied the devastating effects of the Ebola virus for 15 years. Since the…

Meet Sharon Crary
Marwa Aarab
Enriching a Global Perspective

Marwa Aarab

As an international student keen on medicine and research, I chose DePauw University after careful examination…

Meet Marwa Aarab
Quan Nguyen
Accepting Unanswered Questions

Quan Nguyen

Throughout my journey at DePauw, there are many questions that I ask myself every day. Despite many classroom…

Meet Quan Nguyen
 Sarah Rowley
Fostering Personal Connections

Sarah Rowley

What excites me about teaching? Everything! The magic that happens in the classroom is completely dependent…

Meet Sarah Rowley
Brian Culp
Creative Culture-Making

Brian Culp

“I was nervous going into the game,” says Brian Culp ’06. With over 120 million viewers tuning into the…

Meet Brian Culp
Craig Paré
A Collaborative Approach

Craig Paré

I love that our students come to classes and rehearsals hungry to learn and, when challenged, respond…

Meet Craig Paré
Bella Zollner
Hope Is the Solution

Bella Zollner

Bella Zollner ’27 isn’t the type to sit on the sidelines. She prefers to be in the heart of the action…

Meet Bella Zollner
Deepa Prakash
Embracing Unpredictable Moments

Deepa Prakash

What excites me about teaching is the opportunity to discuss and learn about the pressing issues that…

Meet Deepa Prakash
Sarah Salazar
From Greencastle to Colombia

Sarah Salazar

I came to DePauw as a Posse Scholar from Chicago who understood the value of education for students from…

Meet Sarah Salazar
Sydney Schloemer
Making Connections

Sydney Schloemer

No matter what activity Sydney Schloemer ’26 has found herself doing at DePauw, her ultimate goal has…

Meet Sydney Schloemer
Thom Jackson
An Envelope and an Opportunity

Thom Jackson

Over the course of his lifetime, Thom Jackson ’82 has been no stranger to professional success. He’s…

Meet Thom Jackson
Ibilola Fasogbon
Appetite for Discovery

Ibilola Fasogbon

Ibilola Fasogbon ’28 has always been driven by curiosity and adventure. As a child, she found nearly…

Meet Ibilola Fasogbon
Tanaa Jones
Formed by Faith

Tanaa Jones

Growing up in Nashville, Tenn., Tanaa Jones ’26 was taught from an early age how to see the world through…

Meet Tanaa Jones
Sheraya Smith
An Appetite for Adventure

Sheraya Smith

Growing up near Crawfordsville, Ind., Sheraya Smith ’20 had always been familiar with DePauw University…

Meet Sheraya Smith
Andrea Sununu
The Difference is in the Details

Andrea Sununu

For over 30 years I’ve taught literature at DePauw and welcomed the chance to serve not only as teacher…

Meet Andrea Sununu
Eliana Jolanda Alzate
Speak Now

Eliana Jolanda Alzate

“Why International Student Orientation is Essentially a Taylor Swift Concert.” Eliana Jolanda Alzate…

Meet Eliana Jolanda Alzate
Hanna Coffel
A Life-Changing Invitation

Hanna Coffel

When DePauw’s softball coach invited Hanna Coffel ’26 to campus as a high school sophomore, it was the…

Meet Hanna Coffel
Tommy Manning
Curiosity and Conservation

Tommy Manning

“My whole life I've been into environmentalism and sustainability,” says Tommy Manning ’26. Although…

Meet Tommy Manning
Naima Shifa
Building Connections

Naima Shifa

The biggest part of my teaching is building connections with my students and creating a community in…

Meet Naima Shifa
Layla Brown-Clark
Making the Pitch

Layla Brown-Clark

During an admitted student day, I fell in love with DePauw’s campus as a whole and DePauw’s media-rich…

Meet Layla Brown-Clark
Drew Cosgray
Guaranteed Success

Drew Cosgray

I came to DePauw for a Copeland Scholarship interview. I had never been on DePauw’s campus, but as soon…

Meet Drew Cosgray
John Marshall
In the Swim of Things

John Marshall

When I started my college search, I wasn’t 100 percent settled on a path. I had enjoyed economics in…

Meet John Marshall
Andrew Brown
Promoting Peace Through Music

Andrew Brown

I chose DePauw because it is the kind of place where students can explore fields of studies that are…

Meet Andrew Brown
Daniel Villa
Where Opportunity Meets Hustle

Daniel Villa

Daniel Villa ’26 never envisioned himself spending a winter term in another country. It’s not that the…

Meet Daniel Villa
Greg Schwipps
Working Together

Greg Schwipps

I am a DePauw professor but also a 1995 DePauw alumnus. I started my first-year at DePauw a would-be…

Meet Greg Schwipps
Erik Wielenberg
Freedom to Explore

Erik Wielenberg

Since 1999, Erik Wielenberg has been a fixture of the philosophy department at DePauw University. Not…

Meet Erik Wielenberg
Scott Wilkerson
Applied learning. Real solutions.

Scott Wilkerson

Out of graduate school, I worked for 3.5 years gaining invaluable experience with Exxon Production Research…

Meet Scott Wilkerson
Jordan Sjol
The Perfect Place for Filmmaking

Jordan Sjol

Jordan Sjol may be relatively new to the DePauw University faculty, but as assistant professor of film…

Meet Jordan Sjol
Jon Fortt
A Good Fit

Jon Fortt

It was the Media Fellows Program that drew me to DePauw.  I also wanted to experience an environment…

Meet Jon Fortt