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Alumnus ordained as priest
after two marriages
‘You’re up here as much as I am,’ his priest
said. ‘Have you ever thought that God is calling you?’
At age 51, Rev. Gary Rottman (BS ‘77) overcame two failed
marriages to be ordained recently as a Catholic priest.
Gary’s story was featured in a recent edition of the Longview
News-Journal, which reported that Gary married the first time
in 1972.
He and his wife had five children before their marriage ended
in 1983. Three years later he married again, but his wife left
within the year.
In the meantime, Gary began questioning the materialistic lifestyle
his successful career in accounting afforded him.
“With a second divorce, I now became more involved with
working with those Catholics who were hurting in their marriage,”
he told a writer for the Longview newspaper. “I had a pretty
nice house, a pretty nice salary, fancy cars, and I began to ask:
Is this all there is? There wasn’t this lightning bolt.
It was a slow realization that multiple cars and a big house didn’t
necessarily bring a deep satisfaction.”
As he spent more and more time volunteering in church activities,
his spiritual leaders began to ask if perhaps he wasn’t
being called to ministry. “You’re up here as much
as I am,” his priest said. “Have you ever thought
that God is calling you to do something?”
Gary decided to pursue seminary study and was finally accepted
at the Diocese of Tyler after his two marriages were annulled
by a Catholic tribunal.
He is now the parochial vicar at St. Mary’s Catholic Church
in Longview.
Gary said, “I look back and ask: How do you make sense of
something that doesn’t make sense?
“Divorce and priesthood—you can’t separate one
from the other. The path that brought me here—no matter
how crooked—proves God can take something and do with it
whatever He wants.
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SHOW THAT PRIDE
Wear your Alumni scarves, pins, ties—whatever
you’ve got!—on the first workday of each month.
|
 |
Legacy Scholarships
now available |
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The Alumni Association offers eight legacy
scholarships each year to children or grandchildren of Alumni.
Applications are due March 31.
The scholarships are for $500 a year ($250 fall, $250 spring)
and are not need-based. Both graduate and undergraduate
students are eligible; recipients are selected based on
an essay, grades and leadership.
For more information or for the application form, call 1-800-67-LIONS. |
Alumni continue to shine
at Whitney Biennial
For the third time in a row,
an art Alumnus from A&M-Commerce has been chosen to
be included in the Whitney Biennial Exhibition in New York
City.
Robyn O’Neil (BFA ‘98) has been included in
the 2004 Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
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Trenton Hancock /Courtesy Art21
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With a reputation as a controversial exhibition,
The Biennial stands as a benchmark of contemporary American art
as it presents some of the most important developments during
the previous two years.
Earlier this year Robyn was awarded a $20,000 grant from the Artadia
Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in New York. She is
currently finishing a residency at the ArtPace Foundation in San
Antonio, Texas.
The two previous Biennials (2000 and 2002) featured the work of
Alumnus Trenton Doyle Hancock (BFA ‘97), who also recently
was awarded a $20,000 grant from the Artadia Foundation.
Trenton was also featured this fall in the PBS series “Art21.”
His biography can still be found on the Art21 Web site at www.pbs.org/art21/artists/hancock/index.html.
Campus building now bears name of eighth
president, Charles Austin
With the dedication of the Charles J. Austin Industrial Engineering
and Technology Building at A&M-Commerce, the promise of future
endeavors was hailed.
Dr. Austin served as president of the University from 1982 through
1986.
In remarks at the dedication, Dr. Austin said he was pleased the
Industrial Engineering and Technology Building was chosen as his
namesake because programs offered by the department will play
an “increasingly important role” in the University’s
future.
Charles Austin building to be technology central
The instructional technology and distance education offices housed
in the building will provide support for “cutting-edge”
outreach services to citizens of the region, Dr. Austin said.
“These two programs are dear to my heart. As many of you
know, my academic career has focused on the application of technology
to the delivery of health services,” he told the audience.
Now retired from higher education and living at Hilton Head Island,
S.C., the former University president is teaching a Web-based
course for a medical university in Missouri.
Dr. Joyce Scott, A&M-Commerce provost and vice president for
Academic Affairs, said she recently toured the industrial engineering
part of the building and got an update on the industrial engineering
degree program.
New equipment, new outlook
The department’s faculty and students have seen many changes
in the last few years, including the new degree program and going
from using outdated equipment to equipment that is state of the
art, Dr. Scott said.
“These improvements we see today will enable our faculty
and students to travel in new directions, to lead colleagues into
uncharted territory, and to learn more rapidly and extensively
than our forerunners could have ever envisioned,” she said.
Mary Hendrix, interim associate vice president in the Provost’s
Office, told the audience that the Austin Building also serves
as the hub of activity for instructional technology and distance
education at the University.
Last year, 5,553 students were enrolled in online or two-way interactive
video courses. Approximately 65 percent of A&M-Commerce faculty
teach Webbased or Web-supported courses.
“Instructional technology and distance education is responsible
for cutting-edge technology initiatives that have brought this
University both state and national recognition,” Hendrix
said.
Dr. Austin’s
influence
Emphasizing Dr. Austin’s accomplishments as president,
President Keith McFarland said that Dr. Austin stressed
academic excellence, both for faculty and students, while
the University also strengthened its academic reputation
by raising admission standards and increasing scholarship
and creative activity of the faculty during his presidency.
Gee Library’s top three floors were also added during
his tenure.
Dr. Austin and his wife, Carroll, emphasized campus beautification
and the revitalization of downtown Commerce, he noted.
In 1986, Dr. Austin left A&M-Commerce to return to teaching
and research in the health management field. He became chairman
of health services at the University of Alabama-Birmingham,
a position he held until his retirement in 1994. |
Dr. Charles J. Austin, former president
of East Texas State University, and his wife, Carroll, stand
at the dedication ceremony naming the Industrial Engineering
and Technology Building in his honor. Dr. Austin, who served
as University president from 1982 through ’86, is
retired and now lives in South Carolina.
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The former president today
Since retiring, Dr. Austin returned to part-time teaching at the
Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, which he did
for six years.
He currently teaches an online course on Health Care Information
Systems for the A.T. Still University of the Health Sciences in
Missouri.
The former president said he enjoys visits with his 11 grandchildren
and has several hobbies, including tennis, genealogy and digital
photography.
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