A lasting logo

Every letter Joan Herbers ’73 mailed to her pen pal, Keith Cosby ’78, arrived on University of Dayton stationery. At the time, it was simply the paper she had on hand. Looking back, it seems like an early hint of where their story would lead.

Years later, that chapel logo would ring a bell for Cosby and lead him to one of the best decisions he ever made.

In 1971, Cosby took an exchange trip to St. Louis with the Boy Scouts. He was paired with the Herbers family, where he closely connected with their eldest daughter, Joan, as he stayed in their home for one week. After the trip ended, the two stayed in contact for several years through letters.

As his senior year of high school rolled around, Cosby began researching colleges. Sitting at a quiet desk in his school library, he flipped through college materials and recognized the familiar silhouette of the Immaculate Conception Chapel — the same logo stamped at the top of every letter Herbers had ever sent.

“Dayton, yeah, I remember something about that place,” he laughed.

Dayton was first on his college tour list. He traveled to campus with his family and fell in love. He didn’t need to visit anywhere else. Dayton was it.

He didn’t need to visit anywhere else. Dayton was it.

51 years later and now living in Columbus with his wife, Paula Catlipp Cosby ’81, he came across a familiar name while browsing the UD Alumni website — it was Herbers. After decades of silence, Cosby decided a reunion was in order.

After some detective work, he reached out, and they planned to meet for a tour on campus. Herbers hadn’t returned to UD since graduation.

In the summer of 2025, the Herbers and the Cosbys met on campus. As they passed Kennedy Union toward Marycrest Hall, Herbers recognized where she had taken most of her classes — Wohlleben Hall. Continuing down the path, Cosby asked her to sit for a picture in front of the Science Center and hold up UD Magazine to submit to the “Where Are You Reading?” section.

After showing Herbers around and “letting her experience UD again,” Cosby wondered out loud, “What was it that brought me to the University of Dayton?”

“That first spark was that letterhead,” he said, answering his own question.

Without the connection formed through letters — and the logo printed at the top — Cosby might never have found his way to UD. More than 50 years later, standing beside his old pen pal, he could see exactly what had mattered most all along: the relationship that started it all — the University of Dayton couldn’t be known for anything better.

Photographs courtesy Keith Cosby ’78 and Joan Herbers ’73.