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Steve Vrooman hadn’t even finished his dissertation when he applied to join the faculty at ����̽�� back in 2000. He was at Arizona State University, and had completed his PhD in Communication—other than that one small detail. Lo and behold, he landed the job in Texas. “When you find out you got the job in those situations, it's of course great, but it also means you have to finish your dissertation on time, or else!” he says.

By that time, he’d also earned his BA at Loyola Marymount and his MA at Arizona State. So he wrapped up the PhD, packed up, and set off for Seguin.

Over the next twenty-five years or so, he taught hundreds of students, earning a reputation as an exceptional teacher. Those who’ve taken his classes say he has high expectations and is full of energy for the subject matter. He’s one of those professors you remember. You also remember his classes—and he’s created some unique ones through the years. “My field is Communication Studies, and within that, I specialize in rhetoric and cultural studies, which includes pop culture, the culture of everyday life, and how they intersect,” he says. “So I get to teach really cool stuff and ruin things for students!”

For example, there was the time he taught a class on zombies, and the students actually produced an independent microbudget film called Z: A Zombie Musical.

And then there was his class “Cultures of Christmas,” which explored the history of the December holidays. That one covered “the religious history of Christmas, the Dickens influence, the 20th century explosion in Christmas cultural products like film and music, the supposed ‘War on Christmas’ and the public discourse around that, and more,” he explains. “And then we explored how that intersected with our everyday lives, especially in terms of family.” The class capped off with a Christmas party where Vrooman presented each student with a simple ornament with an “A” on it. “But there was an asterisk and a note in fine print that said ‘For entertainment purposes only. Not for use in actual course grading.’”

In Vrooman’s “Documenting Belief: Ghosts, Aliens, and Monsters” class, he took his students on a ghost hunt. Like, a real ghost hunt. “This was before all the ghost hunting shows hit the air, so it was really an experience for the students,” he says. “The late John Gesick connected us with folks who owned haunted properties all over the county, and we did our investigations with EMF detectors, laser temperature guns, motion detectors, photography, etc.”

Of course, in every one of these classes he was always getting at the bigger lessons. “Most people have different standards of belief for things, and we were exploring what it took to generate belief or disbelief. What evidence do you need for bigfoot, ghosts, and aliens? What about God, love, and, let's say, Alaska? What does it mean that we probably have different standards for what counts as ‘proof,’ and what should we do about that?”

Vrooman might ‘ruin’ things for his students, but he gets them to think.

“If you think about what I teach, I need to have real conversations with the students,” he says. “We get into deep and controversial material.” That’s one of the reasons he’s stayed at ����̽�� all these years. Those kinds of conversations can’t necessarily take place in a class with a hundred students. “It's so much easier in a small class when you can get to know the students. More importantly, they can get to know each other. My reaction to something they say is safer. It's governed by professional expectations and responsibilities. But fellow students you don't know can be scarier. At ����̽�� you can get to know your fellow students. So, it's easier for me to get my class to a space where we can talk about real things.”

Real things are most definitely what interests Vrooman—pondering them, mediating discourses about them, exploring and studying and constantly expanding his own thinking and inspiring those around him to do the same. So it’s no surprise that he’s recently expanded his reach at ����̽�� by taking on the role of Associate Vice President for Campus Equity. He’ll still be teaching as well. “I love teaching, so I'm glad I will continue to teach one class a semester in this new role. It's a lot of new challenges, but I went into the professor life so that I could always keep learning, and I'm certainly learning a lot!”

One of the initiatives he’s overseeing: the formation of CCC, which stands for Celebrating Community and Cultures. It’s a program that connects all of the various cultural events hosted by the university. “Our faculty and staff do so much work developing amazing events and programs all year round, and I wanted to help get the word out so that it would be easier for ����̽�� students, faculty, staff, and alumni, as well as community members to find ways to participate in these events,” he explains. CCC will, in essence, be a banner under which numerous events connected with monthly observances—like Women’s History Month, Black History Month, Pride Month, and Disability Awareness Month, to name only a few—will be organized to make it easier for people to find out what’s going on at ����̽��. “I'd love to see folks in Seguin think about ����̽�� as a place where they are attending a performance, a game, a lecture, or other fascinating event, maybe even every week if they want. We've got that much going on! This project is just at the beginning stages in trying to help people think of ����̽�� as their community's university with something for them, whatever their interests.”

And there really is something for everyone at ����̽��. “I just attended a Black History Month barbecue lunch event with Drs. Stephen Newby and Robert Darden from Baylor University's Black Gospel Music Preservation Project, where we were able to listen to and learn about the music of Andraé Crouch” says Vrooman. “Last fall, our Mexican American Student Association and our Veterans and Society Together student group collaborated on our second annual Dia de los Veteranos, where we hosted hundreds of community members at a festival celebrating our veterans and their service, with everything from food trucks to live mural art to a mariachi performance to a classic car show. Next month, two spotlight events will be a lunch panel highlighting women leaders in Seguin for Women's History Month and our second annual Wheelchair Exhibition Race for Disability Awareness Month. And that's just a few of our many events and activities that celebrate community and cultures.”

Pulling it all together is no small feat, but Vrooman is willing to climb that mountain if it will help to foster awareness and educate and inspire the community, both within and beyond the borders of the university. Meanwhile, he’s staying balanced by spending his downtime wisely. There’s a disc golf course right on campus—and it doesn’t hurt that Vrooman keeps a bag of discs in his office, just in case an after-work game should pop up. He’s still beaming from the ace (hole in one) he got in December—his first one. “And then there's tennis, pickleball, and various nerdy board games,” he adds. “Since I teach pop culture, I have to keep up on that as well. So I have to watch movies. You know, as a professional.”

Now �ٳ󲹳�’s dedication.