Welcoming Brian Kohler as the Assistant Vice President for Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving

Welcome to Cardinal Perspectives, a series featuring in-depth conversations with alumni, students, faculty, staff and the extended family and community of The Catholic University of America.

Brian Kohler, B.A. 2001, is a proud Catholic University alumnus. He is married to his Catholic University sweetheart, Katie DiPietro Kohler, B.A. 2002. They are the parents of three children: Tricia, Class of 2028, and 17-year-old twins Jacqueline and Thomas.

Brian has come home to Catholic University after spending 25 years in Catholic education forging relationships and building connections that enhance the experience of all members of the community. Having served as a teacher and administrator, Brian brings years of experience in strategic planning, fundraising, campus planning, and leadership development to our brand new role of Assistant Vice President for Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving.

This conversation is facilitated by Kirsten Evans, associate vice president for strategic partnerships, Church and international Engagement, and advancement communications at Catholic University.
 

*This transcript is based on an audio recording and has been lightly edited for readability. It reflects the substance of the conversation but may not be a verbatim record.

Kirsten
Brian Kohler, Class of 2001. It's my absolute honor to welcome you here today to this wonderful celebration of Cardinal Perspectives.

Brian
Oh, thank you Kirsten. Again, it's an honor to be here and an honor to be back.

Kirsten
Okay, so we will dive in. Brian Kohler, Class of 2001. Our new assistant vice president for alumni engagement and annual giving. Welcome.

Brian
Thank you. The longest title on the planet. I love it. It's fantastic.

Kirsten
We are so thrilled to have you here, back on campus, and back at the University.

Let me ask if we can begin by having you just tell us a little bit about yourself.

Brian
Absolutely. So, as you mentioned, I was Class of 2001. I was a politics major. I got my degree way back in the day. I am married now with three fantastic children. I married my CUA sweetheart.

She was Katie DiPietro back then. She graduated in 2002. Got her degree in psychology. We met right over in what is now O'Connell Hall and what was the University center. We were both on the orientation advisor program.

Kirsten
Ironic because now you work in O'Connell Hall.

Brian
I know, right? It's a little crazy. In fact, the exact spot where the receptionist desk is, that's the exact spot where I met Katie. It was during an icebreaker event and we won't say the year.

Kirsten
For our listening audience, just for some reference that is now approximately 15 feet away from Brian's office.

Brian
I know, right? It's crazy.

So then we dated all through college, and then we got married in 2004. And we have our first daughter Tricia who is now a sophomore here at Catholic [University] studying accounting. Currently, she's studying in Rome, and having a fantastic time.

And then we have twins that are 17 – Jacqueline and Thomas. They're juniors in high school and they're doing the college search now and you know that they're certainly looking at CatholicU as well. That's where I got the gray hair from, having the twins that are now 17. But yeah, they're doing great and I'm just excited to be back here.

I spent the last 25 years in Catholic education at the high school level doing everything from teaching to being an administrator to doing some fundraising and really just building different partnerships and relationships.

Kirsten
So I have heard you say this phrase in the past, that life began for you at The Catholic University of America. What do you mean when you say that?

Brian
I have said that, and I think it's because of the relationships. I've got a very big family up in the Philly area. That's where I'm from and I'm still connected to all those folks up there.

For me, meeting my wife, my friends, my wife's friends, it's the people that I met here that had such a transformative impact on my life. Father Bob Schlageter, who was the head of our campus ministry at the time. He solidified my faith.

Just being on campus and being around here was just a transformative experience overall. So, really, my life as I know it really began here.

Kirsten
Yeah. That's a big testimony to the University. So, now you've come back how many years later, and you are newly minted as the assistant vice president for alumni engagement, tell us a little bit about your thoughts about Catholic University's alumni community.

Brian
We're a strong community. We've got close to 90,000 alumni, which I couldn't believe–that’s a lot.

And having just been back here in this role for just a few weeks, at this point, I've spoken to so many alumni who share the same kind of feeling about [this University being] that transformative experience.

I was just talking to Jennifer Flynn Dear, Class of 1988, yesterday. Shout out to Jen. And she really described it when I asked her about her Catholic University story. She described it this way– we had a great academic experience and CatholicU provides a fantastic academic and educational experience for all students– but it's the people that make the difference.

It's the community and that's what I think all of our alumni can really appreciate and connect to. And that's really my goal, with this position in this office, is just to build, is to build upon the connections. So many of us have so many different connections out there. And what I want to do is make sure that the University can strengthen and enhance those connections between groups, between each other, between the years, and between the University.

Kirsten
So as an alumnus, having been part of the alumni community while not working for the University, what is that experience for you in different life phases as a graduate, as an alum, and going off into your professional career?

Brian
Fantastic question. I would say that my alumni experience for much of my last 25 years has been very personal.

In the sense of, I've maintained the connections with the alums that really were my friends. My brothers in many ways, and in some ways, my sisters.

It's been a very personal piece, but not necessarily, I would say a strategic piece. It's been what I've made of it.

So what I hope to build, and in talking with so many other alumni over the years, just personally and even now professionally in the last few weeks, there's a lot of similar stories.

There is not a single alum that I've come across that would say they had a bad experience here.

Every alum that I've spoken with has had a fantastic experience. But what I want to do is be very strategic in how we approach our alumni community, so that our alumni, regardless of the year, can connect back with the University.

And then impart their wisdom, their guidance, their connection to the next generation of Cardinals. For example, we recently had a career panel. It was a great little event and we had a number of students sitting in the room listening to not just those that were on the panel, but a number of alumni in the room.

Afterwards, it became a networking opportunity. It was beautiful to see how many alumni could impart their guidance and their wisdom on these students. These students were just hungry for that sort of connection. I remember when I was 22, I got my degree in politics and thought I was going to go to law school. [I] got into law school here at the Columbus School of Law, but turned down the acceptance because I wasn't really sure what to do.

So, here I'm 22 and decided to go back to Philly and started teaching and really fell in love with it. I felt I started teaching because my mom was in education and she said, ‘Do this.’

It worked out for me, but I know that there are so many other 22-year-old seniors at Catholic University who are looking for that sort of guidance, looking for that sort of connection. And our alumni are a wealth of expertise and wisdom. I would love to have those alums come back and help guide these students.

That's how we strengthen the Church, the nation, and the world.

Kirsten
Which is what the Catholic University community is all about.

In the last couple of years, we started building out these Presidential Receptions. They are a big priority of President Kilpatrick and he made it a real priority to start visiting The Catholic University of America communities all across the country.

And one of the things we hear a lot in these receptions is, “I wish I could be more connected, but I live in Southern California.” What do you say to the alumni who are living at a distance, but would still love to be connected to the University?

Brian
I think the benefit of the age that we live in is that technology can be used to our advantage. Through everything from FaceTime, to Zoom, to Google Meet, Teams, there are plenty of opportunities for our alumni to stay connected to our students, to stay connected to each other, to stay connected to the University digitally through those meetings. But also, too, we're not afraid to travel and go see you.

And I've got friends and alums all over the country. I was just talking actually with Peter Kadeli in the School of Arts and Sciences and head of sacred music. He's got an event in Charleston, South Carolina on May 3rd. He's doing a fantastic job. They're going to go down to sing for a part of the Bishop's events. We're sending out information to our alumni in Charleston to invite them to that opportunity.

That is one of the things that we're going to do more of. I think it's great that Dr. Kilpatrick has gone out to host these Presidential Receptions, but we are also going to look for ways to identify where our alums are located. And present them with opportunities going to their local areas.

We're going to go to Charleston, Chicago, Texas, Nashville, Colorado, Southern California… The majority of our alums are from the DMV up to Boston is, the Acela corridor, as we call it. But we're everywhere.

I think if an alum has a desire to connect to us, we will find a way to make sure that we can connect to them.

Kirsten
Tell me a little bit about your role. You're overseeing alumni engagement, annual fund and annual giving. We just celebrated Founders Day.  It feels like every year, Founders Day gains more and more momentum.

Brian
It does.

Kirsten
For the University, tell me a little bit about the annual fund annual giving and how that plays into alumni engagement and the work that you're doing?

Brian
First off, shout out to all those staff members, faculty members, students, parents, alumni, friends of the University that supported us on Founders Day.

We had over $600,000 raised in one single day, which was in a 24-hour period. So it's just, it's really phenomenal to see this community come together in such a big way. Annual giving is a huge part of the University and I really applaud the University for really creating the position that I now fill combining both alumni engagement and annual giving. Because, I'm recalling a conversation I just had with Michael Wagner from the Class of 1982 and then also Bob Collins from the Class of 1976. I was just talking to them on Friday.

All three of us are talking about our experiences, but we're also talking about the cost of tuition. And how that has changed.

And I was shocked at how low the tuition cost was for Bob and for Michael, and then even for me, and then, and now as a parent, I can really appreciate the struggle that parents today have to make to provide that Catholic education, that transformative experience for their own kids. The cost of Catholic education is unfortunately only going to rise. What we want to do is, as a University and as a University community, that includes our alumni and everyone, to do everything we can to make sure that this experience is affordable for every student that wants it.

In order to do that, it's going to take a lot of support from thousands of our alums, of our friends, of our parents, really, of the entire community to make sure that a Catholic University education remains affordable for anyone who wants that transformational experience.

Annual giving is going to be huge. The key thing with annual giving is, the size of the donation doesn't really matter. It's whether you are a struggling college student and you're giving, and you're giving up $5 that you might spend at Starbucks, or you're blessed with a lot more resources.

It's whatever sacrifice you can make to support a fellow Cardinal.

Kirsten
As an alumnus who's connected with friends, connected with your network, you probably come back to campus for Cardinal Weekends.

Brian
I have. All the fun stuff. I’ve attended the events and I've been here as a parent, too.

Kirsten
The only hat that you have yet to wear in this University is a faculty member. And so we're going to have to work on that.

Brian
Yep.

Kirsten
You've had an opportunity now to engage with a lot of the students on campus, as well as with the faculty and the community. You're engaging, obviously with the alumni community, but I'm curious, what is your impression coming back 25 years later and sitting inside of the University and looking out?

What do you see?

Brian
That's a great question and I would say that there are a lot of things that have changed. The very building we're sitting in right now, the Conway School of Nursing, such an incredible place. And it's a beautiful building. It's a beautiful space. And thanks to the incredible generosity of Mr. Conway, our school of nursing has been able to be such a draw for so many students.

I'd say obviously there's buildings like the Conway School of Nursing, that's changed. What a lot of our alumni would call South Campus has also changed.

So, if alumni have not been back on campus, Spelman and Conaty have now been turned over into apartments and a Chipotle, and a Trader Joe's and a Busboys and Poets, and a Starbucks.

And, as I was joking with alumni the other day, I was like, these kids don't know how good they have it.

So yes, a lot of the campus has changed, but there's a lot of spaces that have remained the same, but remain sacred in a sense. Things like the Catholic University Mall right in front of McMahon, next to the Basilica.

Different spaces have obviously remained the same, but I think amongst all the changes and all those things that have also remained the same, one of the things that has not changed is the culture and the people. I keep going back to this idea that the people on this campus are transformational in terms of how they help our young men and women grow into the people that God calls them to be.

That has not been lost. That still remains. The positivity that I have come across now as a staff member and an administrator is just, it's unbelievable. There's no other place like it. Everyone's just so happy and they love it here.

And it's not just here. My daughter tells me it's the same thing over in Rome. Everyone's just, of course, how can you not love being in Rome? No matter where you are, if you're a member of the Catholic University community you just love being part of it.

Kirsten
And you just went to visit her, right?

Brian
Absolutely. We saw the Pope. He’s a Villanova grad, so we'll forgive him.

Kirsten
What was that like seeing the students in the Rome campus, the experience that they're having in the heart of the Church?

Brian
It was really neat because when I was a student, I had always really wanted to study abroad. And I was a politics major and a number of my friends at the time had studied abroad, and at the time it was mainly in either London or Ireland.

But now we've really expanded the program and I didn't study abroad at the end of the day. And it was always one of the things where it was, I don't live with a lot of regrets, but that was always one of them. Now, my daughter, Trish, has always talked about studying abroad. And so when she said she wanted to study somewhere. I said, “Yeah, great. You should definitely go to London, go to Ireland.” But Catholic University has this campus in Rome. And it was fantastic in a number of ways. Not just the location, but the University also makes the transition from studying here in D.C. to studying Rome very smooth.

When you're studying abroad, sometimes you have to transfer universities, you have to transfer credits. It can be a challenge. CatholicU makes it very seamless, which was fantastic. Very simple. And then to be over there, oh my gosh the kids are just having an amazing time and the professors are so supportive.

Just to be able to walk Rome and to visit so many different just historical places. We forgot the number of churches we visited at this point. But we also visited the Colosseum and we did the Pantheon and we did the Roman Forum.

We did all these things and we just had a blast. And one of the benefits, too, is when you're over there, you get to travel everywhere as well. Traveling in Europe is much less expensive than just traveling from here in the States. And I think by the time she finishes up her program, she probably will have hit about 10 different countries.

Kirsten 
So, she’s really making the most out of it.

Brian
So I would encourage any parent and any student who is listening to this, if you get the opportunity, go ahead and do it. It's an amazing experience.

Kirsten
I know expanding the Rome program and the offerings that they have there is also a priority of the President and the provost right now, to try to make it more and more accessible and possible.

Brian
Yes, and I applaud them for doing that because it is a very unique opportunity, especially for Catholics. My younger sister's a nurse. She went to another Catholic college, we won't mention the name. But, she got her nursing degree, and one of the things that she was telling me when we were there was that it's so unique for so many nursing students to be able to study abroad. And the fact that, again, Catholic University can make that seamless and and be so supportive of that. I applaud it.

Kirsten
I'm glad you were able to make it to see her. So you got to live your dream of studying abroad through your daughter?

Brian
I did. Even just for a couple of days.

Kirsten
So, President Kilpatrick, the provost and University leadership really have set a strong vision for the future of the University.

As we just made the Carnegie R1 research designation, which sets us as a top tier research university. We're one of only a handful of Catholic institutions [with that designation] in the country.

Brian
It's impressive.

Kirsten 
It’s very impressive for the size of Catholic University right now.

Most R1 research universities are significantly larger, sometimes in multiple, potentially, than Catholic University. We have this important designation that really marks us as an institution that is set to contribute significantly to the future of the country and in its dialogue on all areas of research, of development, of human flourishing.

And the leadership has a very strong vision to retain. Which even what you described is what is essential to the spirit of Catholic University. The ethos of the University and its Catholic identity. While growing, its sort of footprint in the world and its footprint in the nation.

What do you think is the role of our alumni community in that journey?

Brian
The study of faith and reason is a journey. And that, when you think about the research opportunities and the designation that we've received, it's something that we've been doing, for generations.

And, we're just getting that designation for something we've done for so long, and it's fantastic. I think for the alumni community, I would say it's a call-to-action. It really is. I think about how many of my fellow classmates, we're now in our mid-to-late forties.

And folks from my era, so many of them are working in engineering or medicine, or really in any industry. It's a call-to-action for the alumni community to come back, and lend their expertise.

I think about a friend of mine who is in the class of 2001, he's working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. I think about Dr. Rob Boughan, who was my roommate for a couple of years, and he's now a medical director for Mercy Hospital up in Baltimore, and Andre Mouledoux, a doctor and Class of 2001 down in New Orleans.

All of these folks are in key industries that have done so well with their own experiences and their own expertise. It's time for them to come back, to talk with our students, to talk with our staff, our professors and our teachers to say this is what's going on in their own industries.

I would love to be able to set up industry related affinity groups. So that the University could leverage the expertise of our communities so that our next generation of Cardinals can benefit as we begin to expand our campus and renovate different buildings.

It's our engineering building, having those alums come back and really lend their advice and counsel to what needs to happen, I think would be huge. It's a call. The R1 designation is a call-to-action for our alumni community.

Kirsten
Yeah, I think it definitely signals great things ahead. Absolutely right for Catholic University.

Brian, it has been a pleasure talking to you today.

Brian
Thank you so much. Thanks for the conversation.