DePauw Stories

Felicia Bell ’01 has been working with college admissions since she was a student at DePauw; she worked in the university’s Admission Office for her work-study job.

That early experience made an impression as she went on to create a career in college admissions and student affairs. She is the director of student affairs for Concorde Career Institute - Tampa, a medical vocational college in Florida. And recently she has reconnected with DePauw to offer guidance to prospective and current students involved in the admission process.

Bell graduated from DePauw in 2001 with a degree in communication. She earned her master’s degree in human resource development and training from Indiana State University in 2013. She has two children: Caleb Williams, a senior at Jesuit High School in Tampa, and Spencer Williams, a freshman at West Point Academy.

It was when her sons approached college age that Bell started to think about how she could help DePauw and high school students searching for colleges at the same time. “There was a young man at my sons’ high school who was a kicker on the football team and he was trying to decide between DePauw and Wabash,” she said. “I was like, ‘That’s easy – DePauw!’ I started telling him why he should choose DePauw, and it reminded me of my journey and how I chose DePauw and how important it is to help people by trying to expose them to similar opportunities.

“DePauw was a major opportunity for me and has been pivotal to my career as far as relationships and experiences. I feel like it’s time for me to start really giving back and start connecting with young people who are making college decisions,” Bell said. “A few years ago, there was a young lady who found me online before she started college, and she was asking my opinion about DePauw. Of course, I told her all the wonderful things I’d experienced at DePauw and advised her to enroll. Now she’s a young alumna and doing well in her career and was recently profiled in the DePauw Magazine. To see how she’s been able to excel, that validates my role of being able to impart something useful as young people are making these decisions.”

Bell is happy to promote DePauw because of the university’s rigorous academics combined with access to and relationships with caring but challenging professors. “DePauw gives you an opportunity to explore, grow, develop and try new things. I took courses that really allowed me to think differently and creatively,” she said. “And it’s not about a singular major, but any major at DePauw helps you develop the characteristics you need to succeed in school, your career and in life.”

Bell says her connection to the Association of African American Students  was one of her most significant involvements at DePauw. “We had a family tree in AAAS that included big and little siblings within the organization. It really created a community. We had meetings and a variety of events. You had this group of people who were all on the same mission of being there, supporting one another, a place to create a bond, discuss current events and such. Our bonds are so great still to this day, and that helped to enrich my experience at DePauw.”

Winter-term opportunities were another big draw to attending DePauw and some of Bell’s most influential experiences. “I was able to work internships that turned into jobs and helped me along on my career path,” she said. “My most memorable winter term was when I was able to travel to the Caribbean. I was so disappointed when I heard there was an additional fee associated with the opportunity. I went to the professor who was leading the trip and expressed that I was certain DePauw didn’t want these types of experiences to be limited only to students who could afford them. I brought in some of the other students who were in a similar situation, and we wrote a letter to the Board of Trustees, and the trustees helped to supplement the expense of the winter term. They listened; they do care.

“DePauw was really that first place you could push and explore and find your voice. Writing that letter was finding a voice, and it reminded me that I was important. Knowing that if I was at the DePauw table, I shouldn’t be excluded from opportunities and seeing the outcome of that really demonstrated DePauw’s commitment to me as a student.”