Button Menu

Our Community Stories

  • About
  • Our Community Stories
Azzaya Gansukh
Light up the City

Azzaya Gansukh

The liberal arts proved to be the right fit for Azzaya Gansukh. The computer science and communication…

Meet Azzaya Gansukh
John Berry
Innovative Artistry

John Berry

Success and accomplishment flow from the challenging work done in the classroom and studio at DePauw…

Meet John Berry
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
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
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
Bree Mahoney-Sutherland
An Affinity for Black and Gold

Bree Mahoney-Sutherland

I come from a long line of black and gold. With our lineage coming directly from an original board of…

Meet Bree Mahoney-Sutherland
Priscilla Smith
The Freedom of Learning

Priscilla Smith

Since she was four years old, Priscilla Smith ’29 has spent much of her time in the pool. Like any athlete…

Meet Priscilla Smith
 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
Kay Sikana
Finding Their Voice

Kay Sikana

“A big part of my identity is my pan-African upbringing,” says Kandafula (Kay) Sikana ’25. Born in Zambia…

Meet Kay Sikana
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
 Troy Tien Nguyen
Giving Back

Troy Tien Nguyen

For domestic students, going to college is a new and exciting thing. But for international students,…

Meet Troy Tien Nguyen
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
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
Peyton Rohr
A coast-to-coast college adventure

Peyton Rohr

West Coast: The First Visit from Sunny California  Peyton Rohr ’27, a student-athlete and media fellow…

Meet Peyton Rohr
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
Paige Burgess
Orchestrating Connection

Paige Burgess

As a music education major, Paige Burgess ’25 understands how a collection of otherwise dissimilar notes…

Meet Paige Burgess
Amy Weisenbach
Curiosity and Wonder

Amy Weisenbach

“I’m in a role today I never would have imagined when I graduated from DePauw,” says Amy Weisenbach …

Meet Amy Weisenbach
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
Arley Johnson
Where Passion Meets Opportunity

Arley Johnson

Since she was in high school, Arley Johnson ’26 has been intrigued by athletic training. As a track and…

Meet Arley Johnson
Danielle Sommerman
Discovering Connections

Danielle Sommerman

I chose DePauw because I wanted a school with a small student body where I could make personal connections…

Meet Danielle Sommerman
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
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
Nate Spangle
The Voice of Influence

Nate Spangle

Talk to Nate Spangle ’19 for a few minutes and “media personality” will seem like an obvious career destination…

Meet Nate Spangle
Molly Madden
Making Time for Both

Molly Madden

Where others see a choice, Molly Madden ’18 sees an opportunity. For most of her life, she’s approached…

Meet Molly Madden
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
Elisha Amadasu
Wisdom and Probability

Elisha Amadasu

Growing up in Brooklyn, Elisha Amadasu ’26 identified his intellectual passion at a young age. “Math…

Meet Elisha Amadasu
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
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
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
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