To pay forward the advantages that a TCU education provides, the Garretts’ $1 million gift to TCU Neeley School programs will fund students in need with business attire and study abroad experiences.
November 22, 2024
By TCU Neeley School of Business
With a gift of $1 million, Les ’96 and Monica Garett are giving students access to a global experience through the university’s study abroad program and expanding the reach of the Neeley Office of Inclusive Excellence’s Suit Up-Lead On program that provides business attire for students with a financial need.
Les Garrett has shared the story behind his non-traditional journey to higher education, which led to a successful entrepreneurial career as the owner of Five Star Concrete, a concrete manufacturing and delivery company serving areas near Austin and San Antonio.
Garrett described the two components of the gift as being a reflection of his own journey.
“I’m really talking to me 30 years ago. I could not afford to do study abroad and I could not afford the look and appearance to feel comfortable in my own skin when I’m interviewing,” said Garrett, while on campus with his wife and daughter for a football game.
Both of these programs offer a way to bridge that gap for students.
Garrett describes travel as a “great equalizer” that provides an eye-opening experience and broadens opportunities. During his time in the United States Marine Corps, Garrett said he met people in boot camp who never left their immediate neighborhood. He said, similar students are at TCU Neeley, and may be more able to pursue opportunities with some financial support.
During his time on campus this semester, Garrett had an opportunity to meet with students who would receive attire through the Suit Up – Lead On program as they were getting sized for their custom business suits.
“Professional dress is expensive – male and female. You want to look that part,” Garrett said. “To me, the interview and finding a job is the culmination of the experience at Neeley. All the great exposure you get, I don’t want you to get to the last second of the last minute of the last hour of the day and just feel like you don’t fit in because of your dress.”
“I want them to feel like the king and queen of the world, and go into that interview and crush it because you’re not concerned about any type of outward appearance,” Garrett said.
For Garrett to attend TCU, he benefited from the kindness of Rosemary Drollinger, who worked in admissions in the early 1990s.
He wrote letters to all of the universities that had rejected his application, seeking an appeal. Only Ms. Drollinger responded and agreed to meet with him. This was the first time he had ever stepped onto a college campus. At the end of their discussion, Garret drove home to Plano where he had a voicemail message from Ms. Drollinger who said she guaranteed he’d get in.
But that’s when the work started. She helped him complete financial aid applications, apply for grants and more. After being released from the military and attending junior college, Garrett was finally accepted. He described TCU as the best investment he’s ever made in his life.
“I know that I would never have my first job if I had not come to TCU,” Garrett said. “I never would have started my concrete company. I never would have moved to Dallas and met my wife. I never would have my daughter.” Grace is a first-year student at TCU.
“There’s a lot of reflection points in your life, but the decision to come to TCU is just completely life changing,” Garrett said. “It changed the trajectory for my family now and for multiple generations.”
Through the gift from the Garretts, more lives will be changed in the future.
