When he was a high school student, Keith Stanford's top choice wasn't DePauw.
While he was interested in a liberal arts education, it wasn't until a family friend introduced him to the small university in Greencastle, Ind., that Stanford began to consider the school.
Thirteen years later, he announced his resignation as the senior associate director of admissions. For someone who spent 17 total years at the university, Stanford's departure is one that makes students, faculty, and alumni reflect on how they ended up at DePauw.
Discovering a passion
Stanford recalls his first impression of the school as a friendly, welcoming environment where people were approachable and seemed to be almost hyperactive. When the high school student from Youngstown, Ohio, discovered his personality matched that of the university, he applied. He eventually decided to enroll at DePauw.
Once Stanford started his freshman year in fall 1991, he became "pretty active" in campus activities. His involvements included: The DePauw, 91.5 WGRE, DePauw Student Government, as well as Interfraternity Council. Stanford also served as one of the founding charter members of the DePauw chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
"As a student, I don't think I took anything for granted," Stanford said. "I always wanted to do all that I could for my improvement as an individual, but to also improve as many people's lives as possible."
In May 1995, Stanford graduated with a Bachelor's degree in English. He then moved to California, where he had been recruited to work for Champion International, a large paper manufacturer, by a DePauw alum.
Even though he was living on the west cost, Stanford stayed connected with his alma mater. In his first month of working for Champion, Stanford took part in a role-play. The training activity asked him to select something that he knew well, was passionate about, and that he had a desire to sell. Stanford chose DePauw.
"At the time, that was the first thing I could actually pick that I knew I really had a strong passion to promote," he said.
Stanford mentioned his role-play to Dr. Bob Bottoms, the president of DePauw from 1986-2008, whom he had kept in contact with. Bottoms was not available for an interview, but described Stanford as "one of [his] favorite people of all time" in an email. Stanford spent the next four-to-five years working in California.
Afterwards, Bottoms offered him a chance to come back to DePauw. Stanford accepted, but did so with the expectation of moving back to California sometime in the next couple of years.
Returning to Greencastle
In September 1999, Stanford began his role as the assistant director for the DePauw Office of Admissions. While Stanford's undergrad experience at the university helped with his transition, he had no prior admissions experience. Initially, Stanford, a tennis enthusiast, approached recruiting like a sport.
"Starting off at the university, I still had that attitude that I'm going to do all that I can to get a group of students to really buy into the idea that DePauw is going to be a great school for them," Stanford said.
But by the end of his first year in admissions, he gained a greater appreciation for the profession. Stanford began to see himself as a resource for others.
"It wasn't all about me winning for the school," he said. "It was actually me winning for the students and the families that I was working with."
Finding great people
By 2001, Stanford was promoted to senior assistant director of the admissions office. As he continued to improve as a recruiter, he was given opportunities to recruit more high school students from more locations.
In 2002, Stanford accomplished his personal goal of visiting all 50 states in his lifetime. He promised Madeleine Eagon, who served as the vice president for admission and financial aid from 1996-2006, that he'd bring back at least one student from the two states he had yet to visit: Alaska, which he visited for the first time in 2001, and Hawaii. In the one trip to Alaska, Stanford recruited four students - one of whom he was sitting next to on the plane during a layover in Anchorage.
Stanford visited Latin America for the first time in 2007 with the help of Stephanie Niles, who served as the vice president for admission and financial aid from 2006-2009.
"I think they [Madeleine Eagon and Stephanie Niles] fully appreciated my love for the university and my love for trying to make it better and obviously my love for building relationships with students and families," Stanford said. "So they knew that it could translate to any area of the country and any area of the world."
By the end of his career at DePauw, Stanford visited 15 Latin American countries to recruit students. While he travelled to Russia as an undergrad, he said being given the chance to travel abroad as an adult "changed his life."
"I wouldn't pick one location as my favorite because whenever I was in that particular city at that time," he said. "It was my favorite because I was able to always find such great people."
Facing challenges together
As Stanford continued to meet and recruit students, he began to form "family-type" relationships. When his students struggled with personal issues, Stanford said "it actually became a struggle for me."
In January 2003, Stanford had his toughest experience with a recruit. After continued efforts to establish a relationship with Jenks High School in Tulsa, Okla., he finally developed an "in" and attended the school's college fair. The week before Stanford was about to return to Tulsa for a January reception, he received one of the worst phone calls of his career: one of his recruits had been in a car accident but hadn't survived. Stanford attended the student's funeral.
"That was probably the toughest moment for me as an admission representative after having developed that relationship with that kid," Stanford said. "Outside of the tough admission committee meetings that we had earlier in my career, trying to fight for a student to be admitted, that fails in comparison to losing someone that you had developed a relationship with."
"Not just recruiting a face"
As Stanford spent time working in admissions, he developed a better understanding of the finances and what makes the university "click." He also began to draw parallels between his experiences as a student and an administrator.
"It's always been an individual recruiting process for me," Stanford said. "I've always recruited an individual just based on who they are. It's always important for an admissions professional to fully appreciate that you're not just recruiting a face. You should be recruiting an individual."
When talking to students, Stanford said he always tried to have a unique message for each person. For some, Stanford's attentiveness and enthusiasm helped persuade them to consider DePauw.
Senior Nathan Mullins first met Stanford during a college fair at his high school in Columbus, Ohio. Before they had even met one another, Stanford noticed Mullins' hair and asked if he was a swimmer. After telling him about DePauw's swim program, Stanford encouraged Mullins to fill out the form and handed him a business card. Mullins, who had no intention of applying, decided to submit a last minute application after he saw Stanford's card in his wallet.
"I'd like to say that I would have found [DePauw] on my own. ... But there's no way," Mullins said. "It was just because he was so excited and made me promise to him that I would apply that I even thought to keep his card."
Sophomore Rene Varela's first conversation with Stanford lasted an hour. Varela approached Stanford after a college application workshop he was leading in El Salvador. He followed Stanford to the gym where a college fair was being held and the two spent the next 45 minutes talking. Following their discussion, Stanford emailed Varela saying he was glad they met and encouraged him to keep in touch.
"I thought, 'well that's great. If this guy wants to spend so much time with me, I would love to go there,'" Varela said.
"Incredibly student-centered"
Stanford's job may be to recruit students, but many appreciate his willingness to foster relationships with students - both those he recruited and those he didn't - once they are on campus.
"I've always been incredibly student-centered," Stanford said. "I've always wanted to ensure that all of the students that I either helped recruit, or I just came in contact with, realize not only the opportunities that were available to them, but also realize the untapped potential that they probably didn't realize that they had."
When Varela arrived on campus from El Salvador, Stanford made a point to check in and ask him questions throughout the first month.
"He was really trying to make me feel comfortable, be sure that I was happy that I came, and he really eased me into being comfortable at DePauw," Varela said. "Kind of like raising a little chick, raising it to go and fly."
Junior Valeria Aguilar said Stanford served as a "host dad" for her during her transition from Ecuador to Greencastle.
"I think he was a very good representative of what DePauw is," Aguilar said. "He's always trying to make you feel good... and he didn't change after he recruited me. He's always nice."
Regardless of their hometowns, many students feel a sense of support from Stanford.
"Every time I see him, he reminds me why I chose DePauw through his passion for it and the fact that he really, truly, deeply cares about this school," junior George Morrison said. "It reminds me why I love this school."
Beyond reaching out to students when he was on campus, Stanford frequently opened his home to students and would often host breakfast for them.
Senior Sumeru Chatterjee recalled when he and two of his friends struggled to find a place to study for sophomore year finals. They contacted Stanford, who then agreed to let the three of them study at his house. While they studied, Stanford made the students blueberry pancakes as a study snack.
"We basically took over his house for an entire day and he loved it. ... He had no reason to do that," Chatterjee said. "We were already in the school and having a good time."
In the six years he's known Stanford, senior Andrew Kahn has also enjoyed spending time at Stanford's house. Kahn said he's enjoyed getting to know more about who Stanford is and why DePauw means so much to him.
"It's kind of an intertwinement of a mentor and a friend relationship. As a recruiter, he did an unbelievable job. But he also did a great job just becoming friends and mentors to the people that he recruited."
Moving on
In 2006, Stanford was named the associate director of admissions and has served as the senior associate director for several years. Dan Meyer, the vice president for admission and financial aid, estimates that 20 to 25 percent of the current student body at DePauw has come in contact with Stanford.
"I think everyone clearly knows that my heart has always been with the students," Stanford said. "I've always wanted to ensure their lives were always better from the moment I met them to the time they graduated."
While many students associate Stanford with a huge smile and an abundance of energy, he admits that being an admissions counselor is exhausting.
"It takes an awful lot of energy to be able to have such a high level of energy when you're talking to 17 and 18 year olds," Stanford said. "If you're not excited and enthusiastic about the message that you're trying to give, then that student isn't going to be excited."
Even so, Stanford said recruiting isn't done by just one person. It involves a "team of so many people," including faculty, alumni and current students. After 13 years in Greencastle, he's ready to join a new team.
Today marks the end of Stanford's 13-year career in the office of admissions at DePauw. Saturday marks the start of his new job as the director of California recruitment for Trinity University.
"We felt like he would be perfect to help us open up the California market," Chris Ellertson, the associate vice president for enrollment and student retention at Trinity, said. "He's extraordinary in his capacity to remember people, and I think that speaks largely to the fact that he has a tremendous interest. He really cares about the students. He's someone who's known in the college admission circle."
Stanford's passion, enthusiasm, and understanding of liberal arts distinguished him as a strong candidate for the position at the university in Texas. Stanford will spend time learning about the campus in San Antonio before he moves to California, which is the second most recruited state for Trinity. He will be the first employee not to be housed on the university's campus.
"We're really excited to have him representing us professionally," Ellerston said. "He's considered to be one of the best recruiters in the country."