DePauw Stories

Ken and Carrie Coquillette reflect on their DePauw journey, the joy of giving and ensuring the university they love continues to thrive.

Ken and Carrie Coquillette, both 1982 graduates, are co-chairs of DePauw’s Bold, Gold & You! campaign. Their personal story and the story of DePauw’s evolution over the last 40+ years are inextricably linked in ways that go beyond philanthropic contributions and directly to the heart of what it means to be a DePauw Tiger — past, present and future.

Opposites Attract

Ken and Carrie met at DePauw. They were both economics majors from Indiana — Carrie grew up in Munster and Ken in Noblesville — both members of the class of 1982, both involved in Greek life on campus. But that’s where the similarities seemed to end. 

Valedictorian of her class at Munster High School, Carrie was a standout on the tennis team. She pledged Kappa Kappa Gamma and found a community that would endure beyond her four years at DePauw. “I grew up with two older brothers,” Carrie remembered. “It was great to have 65 sisters. Sharing clothes and records, going for a run — there was always someone you could pal around with and talk to.”

When Carrie studied abroad in Freiburg, Germany, she ensured she had a pal there as well. “I asked a tennis teammate to go with me,” Carrie said. “We spent four months together in the program and then traveled around Europe for a month afterwards. We only had a little guidebook to help us, and we were changing money in every country. Ken missed out on that; it’s one of his big regrets.”

Ken was “neither a student nor an athlete” and admitted that he struggled in the classroom during his first year as a Tiger. “It was hard, and I was not prepared,” he recalled with a laugh.  

Ken threw himself headlong into the campus community, becoming involved in the Union Board, Little 5 and the Interfraternity Council. He eventually became president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. These opportunities, and two internships with DePauw alumni during the winter term of his junior and senior years, helped him identify his strengths. “I realized my gifts were not in the classroom, but working with people and running things,” Ken said.

Ken and Carrie graduated from DePauw amid a difficult economy. “I received 14 rejection letters,” Ken said, “mostly from banks and brokerage firms. I laminated all of them.” He took a job with Indiana National Bank in their management training program and earned his MBA at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. In 1988, he accepted a job with Goldman Sachs in Chicago, where he just recently retired as partner after 37 years.

Carrie had three job offers coming out of DePauw: from GE in Minnesota, Northern Trust in Chicago and Indiana Bell. “I got into a sales position at Indiana Bell, which is not what I should have done,” Carrie recalled. “I was living at home, and I was happy to have a job, but I didn’t get good career advice.”

However, Carrie’s decision to stay in Indiana had unforeseen positive outcomes. Because she was still close to Ken, they began dating, and the rest, as Carrie says, “is history.” The experience also revealed to the Coquillettes one area they thought DePauw could improve: career counseling.

“Of the two of us, Carrie should be the one who was the partner at Goldman Sachs,” Ken said.

We’re so passionate about mentoring students earlier in the process so they can be prepared when they graduate,” Carrie said.

Time, talent and, at first, just a little bit of treasure

Despite a move to Chicago in 1988, the Coquillettes remained actively involved at DePauw, returning to campus for Old Gold Weekend and Monon Bell games.

As young alums, the Coquillettes gave generously of their time and talent — Ken offered career advice to DePauw undergraduates, Carrie remained engaged with Kappa Kappa Gamma, and the couple hosted admissions events in their home. As their ties with DePauw deepened — their son, Kevin, enrolled at DePauw in 2011 — they served as volunteers for multiple class reunions. 

But their philanthropic contributions started small. “Our first gift to DePauw was in 1982,” Carrie said. “It was $5.”

After joining the Alumni Board in 1994 and the Board of Visitors in 2008, Ken became a member of the Board of Trustees in 2011. During a board meeting, his friend and fellow DePauw trustee Timothy Ubben gave a speech that changed the way the Coquillettes thought about giving. 

“The speech was called ‘Giving While Living’,” Ken said. “It was about how your heirs can give away money but there’s nothing better than seeing the fruits of your labor going to the students of today. It was the most expensive 15-minute speech of my life.”

The Coquillette Peer Consultants

In 2013, the Coquillettes made a $2 million gift to establish a peer-to-peer mentoring program through the Hubbard Center for Student Engagement. The program pairs sophomores with junior and senior mentors, called Coquillette Peer Consultants. The CPCs help mentees with everything from writing cover letters to preparing resumes to finding best-fit internships.

“I want our students to have a lot of options coming out and not feel like they have to take the first job offer they get,” Ken said. “In order to do that, we had to start preparing them earlier.”

The Coquillettes have seen the impact of their contributions on the DePauw student body. They revel in what Ken refers to as the “psychic income” they get in return. 

“When we go back to campus, we have a celebration for the CPCs every year,” Ken said. “They tell their stories about kids whose lives they’ve impacted and how it helps prepare them for what they’re going to do. We see these living, breathing examples of philanthropy in action. It’s fun to see the metamorphosis that takes place in just four years.”

Preserving the secret sauce, securing the future

As co-chairs of Bold, Gold & You!, the Coquillettes want to ensure that the experiences and opportunities that have benefited previous generations of DePauw students continue to strengthen and evolve. “I think about how giving to DePauw is not just for the students of today, but for the students of tomorrow,” Ken said. “DePauw is 187 years old. This didn’t just pop up overnight. There’s a lot of power in that. We’re going to celebrate 300- and 400-year anniversaries. This place is going to endure and thrive.”

To help the university reach these milestones, the Coquillettes are committed to securing the funds to make a DePauw education accessible for all students. “The secret sauce is the relationships people form here,” Carrie said. “To nurture those relationships, we have to continue to invest in our students and our campus community. It’s already great, but we can make it greater.”

“Why am I so passionate about DePauw?” Ken asked. “It’s where I met and married the woman of my dreams. My son came here and had a great experience. It prepared me for what I’m doing now. When I go back on campus and see the students of today, this is what we have to perpetuate. It’s our duty.”