A (Ram) Family Business
By Amanda Castro-Crist | Photography by Scott Gartman
Pause for a moment and answer this question: Who was your favorite teacher? Chances are, a face and name immediately popped into your head.
Now answer a second question: Why?
For most people, the answer won’t be about formulas or facts they learned in a classroom. Those things are important, of course. But what made this person their favorite teacher will have more to do with how they made them feel, how they listened and, more importantly, how they believed in them. It will be about how they changed — and sometimes saved — their life.
Ask a student in Angelo State University’s (ASU) Norris-Vincent College of Business, and chances are, that person is Gayle Randall, a 2024 Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Teaching Award winner.
Take Kate Roberts, who, at one point, thought dyslexia and ADHD would prevent her from even attending college. During her second year at ASU, after changing her major multiple times, Kate found herself in her first-ever business class. The course was led by Professor Randall — or “Gayle,” as most students call her — who would later serve as Kate’s academic adviser.
“That was the first time in college that everything started making sense,” Kate recalled. “The way Gayle taught and the examples she gave, I finally understood and recognized what we were talking about. She paid attention to each of us and what we were doing. She makes you feel important.”
In December 2024, Kate graduated with a degree in marketing.
“In my last advising meeting, Gayle told me I should never settle for anything,” Kate said. “No one had ever told me that. To be at the end and have my professor tell me that made me feel like I could do anything — that I could actually see it through and finish it.”
Alora Evans, now a senior, also struggled at the beginning of her academic career.
Growing up with a grandfather who taught at the university and spoke highly of ASU, she knew it was where she wanted to be. However, unexpected personal and family struggles made the transition into college life difficult.
“I was completely lost,” Alora said. “When I started at ASU, I had a tough time finding and making friends. Neither of my parents had gone to college. I was struggling with my grandpa’s passing and lost the person I always thought would help guide me through college. ”
Everything changed when Alora switched her major to marketing and joined one of Randall’s classes. Suddenly, the business college felt like home.
“This is where I thrived and became the person I am today. I’ve made so many new friends in every class, and all the professors are great and make you feel so welcome,” Alora said. “Coming into Gayle’s class, she made me feel so good about myself, like I could do anything, like I could be a leader.”
After losing her grandfather, Alora also had to say goodbye to her grandmother.
“She passed away, but I came to school because I had a test,” Alora said. “I was really upset, and I ran into Gayle. Gayle just embraced me and reminded me how wonderful my grandparents were and that they would be really proud of all I was accomplishing. It’s one of the things that really stuck out to me – what she did for me that day.”
For Lauren Reyes, a senior international business major, attending ASU meant she could stay close to her home just outside of San Angelo in Wall, Texas. Her dog had been diagnosed with cancer, and Lauren didn’t want to be far. Being a student in Randall’s classes has been a bright spot during her time at the university.
“I walked into classroom 105, Intro to Business, and that was the moment,” Lauren said. “I said, ‘This is for me. This professor, I love her, I can relate to her.’”
Since then, Lauren said there hasn’t been a day that she doesn’t look forward to going to Randall’s class.
“She’s always smiling,” Lauren said. “She’s going to crack some jokes, and whatever we’re doing in class, I know it’s going to better me.”
Countless others share similar stories.
“Gayle listens.”
“Gayle cares.”
“Gayle can fix it.”
Within the Department of Management and Marketing, the university and the greater San Angelo community, saying that Randall is well-known is an understatement.
“A cool thing about San Angelo is that, because it’s a small community, it’s a really close-knit community,” Kate said. “So if you know Gayle here, you know her outside, too. If someone asks you if you’re going to school and you tell them you’re a business major, they’ll go, ‘Oh, do you know Gayle Randall?’”
For many students, even if they’re not originally from San Angelo, Randall is a household name. Parents who have never met her but have heard their students speak often about her trust her implicitly. They know they don’t have to worry if Randall’s involved.
Kate remembers asking her parents to study abroad in Europe and expecting them to say no.
“I said, ‘Professor Randall is going,’” Kate said. “And my mom said, ‘Well, if Gayle is going, of course you can go.’ It just made sense to her that Gayle would care about us just as much outside of the classroom while we were in a foreign country.”
So, it was no surprise to anyone — except, maybe, Randall, who prefers the spotlight to shine on others — when she was named a Distinguished Teaching Award winner. As the highest teaching honor awarded by the Texas Tech University System, it highlights the best of the best for exceptional teaching and significant contributions to education.
“To be recognized with an accolade that is held with such respect is something I never expected,” Randall said. “It meant so much because this is where it all started for me. This is where my heart is. You see these students, those who immediately stand out and those who are struggling. You watch as they grow, and you just want to make a difference for everyone here.”
Originally from the Houston area, Randall first joined the Ram Fam from the other side of the desk as a walk-on for the track and cross country team. As a first-generation student, she had no idea what she would do at ASU. Her arrival on campus mirrors the stories of many of her students.
“I was the only one from my graduating class to come this far west,” Randall recalled. “I had no idea what I was going to do. I knew nobody and was the first person out of my family to go to college. So this was all pretty big and new for me.”
Photo courtesy of ASUWith her mom in finance and her dad in accounting, the expectation was that she would study business. Her professors and coaches ultimately helped solidify her path.
“My experience was life-changing; there was so much more than academics,” Randall said. “My professors and coaches were so amazing — they pulled all this growth out of me, and there was nothing I felt I couldn’t do.”
In addition to competing nationally as a student-athlete, Randall became a member of the professional business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi, which was advised by one of her professors, Tom Bankston. Her campus involvement helped her form friendships that still exist today.
Now, as an assistant professor, Randall has found opportunities to support her students in the same way as her own professors and coaches supported her. She’s involved with Delta Sigma Pi, taking over as adviser after Bankston’s retirement. She organizes outreach efforts in San Angelo, including leadership events for high school students.
She also leads study-abroad trips as co-director for the Most Europe Study Abroad Program, one of her favorite activities. This, too, was a role she took alongside a former professor, Tom Badgett, who would eventually serve as her boss as department chair.
“The program is meant to be an academic immersion in culture,” Randall said. “A lot of students haven’t been on their own. Having the independence and freedom to decide anything, from what you eat to what you buy to sightseeing – those are some big decisions. You see the students’ eyes, world and mindsets open up. But the untold story is behind the scenes, where relationships are built: we start as friends and come back as family.”
Randall credits the collaborative, supportive campus environment at ASU for allowing her to be so involved – and for allowing students to find their place, purpose and success on and off campus.
With Randall as the faculty adviser, Alora helped establish a thrifting club, building a community around a shared passion. Kate completed French courses after receiving encouragement from Randall. Lauren started coaching a soccer team, hoping to emulate the care and thoughtfulness she said she learned from Randall.
“I saw how passionate she was, and I wanted to do the same thing,” Lauren said. “She cares about her students, wants what’s best for them and genuinely looks after them. Any way she can, she looks for a way to help them.”
Randall has also found ways to support, mentor and engage with her fellow faculty and staff members. For Randall, it doesn’t feel like work. She calls ASU an extension of her home. It’s where she hopes to continue building a culture of kindness, engagement and caring among her fellow faculty members that will ultimately benefit countless generations of current and future Rams.
“My heart and soul are here, my roots are here,” Randall said. “And, maybe I can impart some knowledge or share some tools that may be helpful to my colleagues. But I couldn’t do what I do without the support and collaboration of staff and administration and the willingness of the students to engage. We work together, and it makes it successful. We’re the Ram Fam.”
As for her students, Randall has no doubt of the impact they will make.
“Kate, Alora, Lauren, all of our students, they’ll go out and use their strengths and gifts, whatever they love doing, and make an impact several times over,” Randall said. “It might be something on a grand scale or at an individual level. It might be that their generosity and kindness save someone’s life. They’re smart, they’re going to make great decisions and they’re ready to give. And that’s what we need.”
She takes pride in continuing to meet students where they are, helping them build a community and thrive, but also showing them their potential to help others do the same.
“What drives us to accomplish something bigger than any one person? The world is not just about us; it’s about other people,” Randall said. “As a student, I looked at my professors and coaches and thought, ‘Gosh, you all really care about what you do.’ That served as a springboard for me. I wanted to give back in the same way.”
To say she’s accomplished that is an understatement.
“Coming into college, not having friends and having to explore and find common interests among each other is a little bit terrifying,” said Lauren Reyes, a senior international business major. “It helps to have a role model like Gayle, who has a compassionate heart and is always willing to give. She cares about her students and genuinely looks after them in any way she can. When I leave, I know I’ll take the characteristics of Gayle and Angelo State with me wherever I go.”