DePauw Stories

When Charlene Shrewsbury went to Antioch College, her plan was to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become an educator.

Becoming a police officer “was not in my plan. It wasn’t on my radar,” says DePauw’s director of public safety.

“I wanted to teach grades K-3. That was my dream, and I wanted to work in the inner-city schools to try and make a difference like my mom.”

But having a baby changed Shrewsbury’s plans, and she didn’t complete her degree at Antioch. “I made a decision to come back to Greencastle to raise my child around family.”

She got a full-time job at the Walmart Distribution Center but soon learned of  an opening at the Plainfield Correctional Facility that offered better pay and better benefits “and, as a single mom, I needed both.”

From there she transferred to the adjacent maximum security adult male facility, where she worked for four years. Becoming increasingly tired of the commute and of being away from her son more than she was with him, she started scanning the newspaper for other jobs. “That’s when I saw an opening for a police officer at DePauw,” she says.

“I was lucky and blessed enough to get hired. And 19 years later, here I am.”

When Shrewsbury joined the DePauw public safety department, she became the first African-American police officer in Putnam County. She was promoted to director of public safety last July.

“The opportunity presented itself, and I had to think seriously about how the change was going to affect me, my department and my family. Some days are definitely harder than others,” she says, “but I’m glad I accepted the position.

Shrewsbury’s family has a long history of working at DePauw. Her grandmother was a cook at the Kappa Alpha Theta house, and her grandfather was a hod carrier who toted bricks and other supplies to build Mason and Lucy halls. He also worked at the Beta Theta Pi house as a house manager and cook.

Shrewsbury’s mom, Dorothy Brown, is house manager for Phi Kappa Psi who previously taught in the DePauw education department and was an assistant dean. Before her career at DePauw, Brown was the first African-American teacher and principal in Putnam County.  

“My mom is pretty special,” Shrewsbury says.

“She’s very humble. She just does things because that’s who she is. She has led the way for a lot of people.”

Including her daughter.