Alumni Profile

Travis family’s DePauw legacy extends to Marvin’s Delivers tradition

Jeff ’85, Susan ’87 and Julia Travis ’22 have a long family legacy at DePauw. Jeff’s sister attended DePauw, as did Susan’s sister, mother, aunts and cousin.

Both Jeff and Susan grew up in Illinois and DePauw was on their list of small liberal arts colleges to check out when they began looking for colleges. DePauw was on Julia’s list because her parents were enthusiastic DePauw alumni. All three say campus tours and weekend visits solidified their interest in DePauw and ultimately helped them make the decision to enroll.

Jeff remembers meeting Dean of Students John Mohr on campus during a tour. A year later, when he ran into Mohr on campus, the dean still remembered Jeff by name. “That represents the kind of tight-knit community DePauw creates,” says Jeff.

Julia says she visited campus three times before she made her final decision to enroll. “You step on campus and feel at home,” she says. “DePauw puts so many personal touches on the campus visits. They make sure each student is seen and feels welcome.”

In addition to sharing their alma mater, all three Travises were also economics majors. They knew before coming to DePauw that they wanted to focus on business.  Julia also graduated from the Management Fellows Program.

“The Management Fellows Program is amazing, and both Jeff and I wish we would have applied to the program, too. We were so thrilled when Julia was accepted and was able to take advantage of all the program offers,” says Susan.

In addition to the small liberal arts environment, the economics department and Management Fellows Program, the opportunities to study abroad were also high on the Travises’ list of things that drew them to DePauw.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Julia wasn’t able to follow-through on her hopes for a semester abroad. However, she did manage to spend a Winter Term studying and traveling in France and Morocco for an Orientalist Expressions course, which she said was an amazing experience filled with museums, food and culture.

Susan studied at the University of Exeter in the UK and also had the experience of traveling around Europe with DePauw classmates during a six-week spring break. Jeff studied abroad in Geneva, Switzerland, taking advantage of local learning opportunities with the World Health Organization and the United Nations.

Jeff’s parents flew to Geneva to visit him. His dad, being a friend of the famed Greencastle restaurateur Marvin Long, brought along a Marvin’s burrito in a brown paper bag. “I didn’t eat the burrito, of course,” says Jeff, “but it was a fun tribute to DePauw and Greencastle.”

During the course of his travels with his parents, he decided to make a sign that read “Marvin’s Delivers!” And his parents took a photo of Jeff holding the sign in front of a castle in Lichtenstein. You guessed it: that was the first “Marvin’s Delivers!” sign that began a decades-long tradition.

When Jeff returned to Greencastle, he presented the 8 X 10 photo directly to Marvin who promptly taped it to his cash register. Jeff says that with so many DePauw students studying and serving abroad each year and with the popularity of Marvin’s as a campus hangout, posing with a “Marvin’s Delivers!” sign on your study or service abroad trip soon became a DePauw tradition.

All three Travises have remained involved with DePauw since graduation, volunteering in a variety of ways and giving financially to support current and future students.

If you are interested in supporting DePauw’s mission and students, call 765-658-4085 or visit www.depauw.edu/give.

Upcoming Events

Upcoming events may always be found on our website . Stay tuned for events coming to a city or a screen near you.

January 17- Chicago Networking Event

January 28- Women's Basketball Alumnae Game

February 3- DePauw Alumni Tennis Association Weekend

February 4- Men's Basketball Alumni Game

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