Rawls Valentine: Rachel Deaton and Doug Deaton

Rachel and Doug Deaton were married in December 1994 and have four children.

Rawls College   |   February 14, 2023

What is your couple's origin story?

RD
I met Doug at a party and knew I needed to find out more about that boy. Found out he did stand-up comedy and thought that was the bravest thing anyone could do. We had several classes together before we started dating after I asked Doug to a sorority party of mine during our last semester of college. We were in a class called Ad Policy together, and that's when all of it really started. He told me he loved me by the pay phone at J-Pats over pitchers of beer after a class one night.

DD
The first day that I met, Rachel was in January 1991 at a Super Bowl house party in Lubbock. As I walked in the house, I saw this girl dancing on a coffee table by herself to an Olivia Newton-John song. Needless to say, that was not my taste in music, and I have never danced on a coffee table (that I can remember), so I went in that direction. Anyone that knows Rachel would say that she has high energy, and until I got to know her, she scared me. But we did have several mutual good friends, so our social circles definitely overlapped, and we got to casually know each other.

We were both marketing students at Rawls (back in the old Rotunda building), so as we started to progress through our degrees, we had more and more classes together. We didn't have our first official date until our senior year when Rachel asked me to go to a formal with her.

What was your partner like as a student?

RD
His skills as a student could have used a little improvement. He wasn't shy about asking to borrow my notes from classes he skipped or just didn't take notes in. We had several classes together. I sat in the front row. He sat in the back. We were in the same presentation group during an Ad Policy class our last semester. We used to write notes back and forth to each other in my notebook, and I still have that notebook.

We were also in an organization called The Marketing Association together. I coordinated going out to local high schools to talk about college and majoring in business, and Doug came to a couple of those. He always had insightful things to share and was so relatable to all.

DD
Rachel was an amazing student. Literally straight As and one of those really “annoying” students that consistently engaged with all of her professors and asked thoughtful and compelling questions during class. I, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. I NEVER asked questions and I was always one of the first to leave when class was over. My professors could not have picked me out of a line-up.

Our last semester, we took a mandatory class together: Administrative Policy (Ad Policy). As fate would have it, Rachel and I were put on the same team for class projects. And we had an absolute BLAST!! We did the most unorthodox group presentations that were less professional communication and more a combination of comedy and performance art. I know that I passed with at least a “gentleman's C,” but I am sure that Rachel got an A. The realizations that I had after AD Policy was that Rachel and I made an amazing team and that Rachel is VERY funny and has a great sense of humor!!

How did attending the same business college impact your relationship with one another?

RD
It was fun to see him in the business building at the Rotunda studying, walking down the halls and in class together.

Doug and I have always worked well together back in college and now in present-day with our current roles, both professionally and personally.

Doug was asked to join the Rawls Advisory Board five years ago, and it has been such a blessing to become re-engaged with Tech and Rawls after all these years. And now, we are also mentors at The Innovation Hub, which is an impressive place. We actually did a podcast for the Hub. That was a lot of fun.

There are so many great things going on at Rawls, Texas Tech and West Texas.

DD
Looking back, Rawls left a definite imprint on both of us. Texas Tech and Rawls always had a “humble toughness” to the town, to the students and to the culture, and it continues to this day. And I think that “humble toughness” personifies us as individuals, as a married couple and with our financial advisory practice at Morgan Stanley.

What is your favorite memory of Rawls College with your partner?

RD
My Ad Policy Notebook and those notes we wrote back and forth. Seeing him walk in late to classes and sit in the back. Coming over to borrow my computer at my apartment. Watching Doug present in classes. He was very clever.

DD
While we both had a great experience at Rawls as students...we both are having so much fun now being actively involved at Rawls through the Rawls Advisory Council. There are so many exciting things happening at Texas Tech and Rawls right now! The Centennial this year is highlighting our proud past as a university, but the next 100 years at Rawls and Texas Tech will be better than we can even imagine!