Thomas Parsons

Dr. Pamela Rast’s office contains over 30 years of memorabilia and tells the story of not only her teaching career, but her personal journey.

Wesleyan commencement day is special for everyone. Students walk across the stage to receive their degree, faculty celebrate the end of a long semester and families watch their children take that next step into adulthood. But for Dr. Pamela Rast, faculty chair and professor for exercise science, this is her favorite day; she gets to see her carefully sculpted product walk across the stage. 

“Education is unique,” Dr. Rast said. “When you look at [education] from a business perspective, the product we’re producing is also our client. Our students pay to come here; they’re our customers, but they’re also a product.” 

Dr. Rast’s journey of pioneering breakthroughs began when she heard that Wesleyan was searching for its first ever full-time trainer. Dr. Rast said that she was sold when she discovered that Wesleyan was also looking for someone to start a new course program. 

“I said, ‘you know, I’m not really interested in becoming a 100 percent clinician again,’” Dr. Rast said. “[My friend] said, ‘no they’re looking for someone to start an athletic training education program.’ I said, ‘okay, that is something I can look at because it’s what I’m thinking that I would like to do.’”  

Dr. Rast has been a part of the Wesleyan faculty for over 30 years and has experienced much change to the campus. Her first adjustment was a big shift when then named “Texas Wesleyan College” split the academics and athletics departments to grow the athletics program. 

“For the longest time, up until 1994, everybody, the coaches, were teaching a lot, and everything was under one roof so to speak,” Dr. Rast said. 

Amid transitioning from full-time athletic trainer to full-time professor, Dr. Rast used her athletic training program as glue to keep the two departments connected. Dr. Rast provided athletic trainers with the opportunity to teach courses which would not only provide extra income but also allow them to serve as mentors for aspiring athletic training students. 

“I used to use some of our athletic trainers to teach a class for me, depending on which class it was, and that helped them make some extra money and also serve as preceptors for our students,” Dr. Rast said. “It was a really good symbiotic relationship between academics and athletics because of athletic training.” 

At this point, she has especially embraced the little changes, like a new parking space. 

“I enjoy the fact that I get to park over there,” Dr. Rast said. “I don’t have to cross the street or yell at an athlete for being in my space for too long.” 

Associate professor of history Dr. Alistair Maeer, who has been at Wesleyan for eight years, was first impressed by Dr. Rast’s unwavering compassion and steadfastness. 

“I came here, and I was impressed with her steadfast, dogged belief in shared governance,” Dr. Maeer said.  

With her compassion and love for the students, Dr. Rast makes Wesleyan feel like home for her pupils. No stranger to change herself, Dr, Rast tries to make the transition to college as easy as possible for new students. Alyssa Bates, senior physical education major and coaching minor, recalled a time when Dr. Rast helped her become acclimated to Wesleyan in her first year. 

“My first year here, I had her in anatomical basis for the fall, and within the first week, I had a life changing event happen,” Bates said. “I had to be out for two weeks, and I went and sat down at her office, and she was very cool. She worked very much with me and was very understanding to my situation.” 

Bates added that speaking with Dr. Rast about her coursework and situation made her feel good about the new environment she was in. 

“I was very new to this school, so I didn’t know anybody or anything like that, and she actually gave me a personal experience of hers too, so that I could fully understand that she understood,” Bates said. 

Not only does Dr. Rast care about the students, but she also cares about the voice of her fellow faculty members. Maeer said that she has consistently advocated for their voices and concerns to be heard. 

“She’s gone to bat for ensuring that the faculty have a place to anonymously voice their concerns,” Maeer said. “She is our voice to the admin, and she is the admin’s voice to us sometimes.” 

Among the most unique changes initiated by Dr. Rast came outside of the training room, beyond the classroom and instead in the swimming pool. Courses tend to come and go at Wesleyan, but for the recreational diving management minor, the proposal to make it a legitimate course was lofty. Dr. Rast, however, was determined.  

“A gentleman by the name of [Dr.] Bill Rucker, who had been teaching scuba here for grins and giggles, as an open water class, came to me with a proposal for a minor,” Dr. Rast said. 

Dr. Rast credited Dr. Rucker for getting her fixated with educating students on scuba diving. 

“You know, Bill did a good job of getting me hooked on scuba,” Dr. Rast said. “Once you get the person that’s going to help you run the program, once you get them hooked, there you go.”  

Dr. Rast has been able to survive and adapt to the constant change due to her love, compassion and determination, which has captivated students and faculty. 

“It’s like you got to keep growing,” Dr. Rast said. “If you don’t keep growing, you get stagnant, and it’s just like water that doesn’t flow; it mosses over and gets stinky.”