Peggy Cooning Retires After 19 Years of Advancing Trevecca’s Mission

Jasmin Enriquez Martinez

Features Editor

Peggy Cooning watched her parents scrimp and save every penny so she could afford college, never spending on themselves.

 Now, after 19 years of fundraising at Trevecca, she’s spent her career giving students a chance at an education.

“College was super important for my parents to support because I wanted to do it, and they did a lot of sacrificial things to allow me to come to college,” said Cooning, vice president for university engagement.

Cooning will retire on Dec. 12 as vice president of university engagement, ending a 45-year career. Since arriving at Trevecca in 2007, she’s overseen the university’s fundraising, community engagement, events management, and more, according to the Trevecca website. Cooning helped establish a professional development office, allowing for estate plans, charitable annuities, and donor-advised funds to support the university, said Dan Boone, president of Trevecca.

Cooning graduated with a bachelor’s in social work and community health from Purdue University.

Before serving as a leader at Trevecca, Cooning worked for other organizations and higher education institutions.

“I’ve worked in health care, I’ve worked in hospitals, I’ve worked in health advocacy organizations and before I came to Trevecca, I worked at another university for 12 years,” said Cooning.

In the fall of 2006, Cooning’s friend, a consultant in higher education, connected Cooning with Boone, who sought someone to lead Trevecca’s fundraising efforts.

No one had held Cooning’s position in the past. Although Trevecca had fundraising, it was on and off, said Cooning.

 During her first year, she built up her team and established contacts with people to serve the university, she said.

“She’s created for us a stronger foundation of finances for the years to come than what we had before she was here,” said Boone.

The creation of the annual fund has impacted Trevecca the most, surpassing $1 million, with a large portion going to student scholarships, according to Boone.

“I’m not sure a lot of students realize how much work she has done that enabled them to have scholarship dollars that are here,” said Boone.

Cooning faced resource limitations, which forced her to get creative to accomplish her goals. However, Giving Day at Trevecca remains her greatest achievement, she said.

Outside of work, she’s found love with Doug Lepter, now married for over five years, retired chair of the Department of Communication, according to the TrevEchoes.

Both Lepter and Cooning’s spouses passed away in 2016.

The moment Boone and Cooning’s team found out about her relationship with Lepter, they were giddy, said Boone.  

“It brought a level of fun to see the light coming back in her eyes, to see the pain of grief begin to be accompanied by the joy of finding another person to do life with,” said Boone.

For Lepter, Cooning made him nervous to approach.

After being hyped up by his 23-year-old grandson, Lepter emailed Cooning, inviting her to a night at the Nashville Symphony, said Lepter.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s God’s gift to me at this time of life, I mean, seriously, she’s a companion,” said Lepter. “She’s my sounding board. She’s my zig to my zag.”

Cooning and Lepter are both ready to spend more time together traveling, said Cooning.

Once retired, she hopes to spend more time gardening, writing, and painting.

“I love putting my fingers in the dirt and gardening,” said Cooning. “My husband and I moved to a new house in July, and we now have a little bit of property to be able to dig in my hands down in the dirt.”

Cooning also hopes to ride her horses. Every week, she joins a group of friends to ride horses, as well as driving out to go trail riding with her horse, she said.

Trevecca and her colleagues have celebrated Cooning in multiple ways as her time at Trevecca ends.

On Nov. 19 from 3 to 4 p.m., Trevecca held a reception in the president’s dining room for Cooning, honoring her with people bringing appreciation cards.

“I think we’re just going to miss seeing a friend who lifts our spirits every day,” said Boone.

 Trevecca announced on Oct. 30 that Troy Munn will serve as the vice president for institutional advancement, taking over Cooning’s role, according to the Trevecca website.

Cooning said Munn worked for Trevecca back in the ’90s and sees him as an excellent choice.

“There’ll be the regret of missing the daily interaction with people, but there are some things I won’t miss at all, like going to meetings,” said Cooning. “I’m not a meeting person, so I won’t miss that at all, and it gives me great joy to see Troy going to those meetings instead of me.”