Rawhouser to receive Distinguished Alumni Award
CHADRON – Chadron State College graduate Mack Rawhouser will be honored during Homecoming with the college’s Distinguished Alumni Award for his long and notable career as an educator, coach, civic leader, and community volunteer. Stephanie (Olson) Dantzler will also receive the Distinguished Alumni Award. Distinguished Young Alumni honorees include Whitney Campbell and Hilary A. Catron.
He originally enrolled at Chadron State College in 1967, but joined the Army in 1968 and served in Vietnam until he was honorably discharged in 1970. Following his discharge, Rawhouser returned to CSC and graduated in 1975 with a degree in industrial technology education.
In 1972, Rawhouser married Ruth Filmore, and they were honored as Mr. And Mrs. CSC in 1975. After graduation, his first job was teaching industrial arts and coaching volleyball in Hay Springs.
A year later, he was offered a job as an industrial arts teacher, assistant football coach, and boys' basketball coach at Big Piney, Wyoming.
During Rawhouser's 31 years of teaching and coaching at Big Piney, he was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Boys Basketball Coach of the Year from 1982 to 1985 and again in 1987 and 1988. In addition, he was selected as the Assistant Coach for the first Boys North-South All-Star Basketball Game in 1984 and Wyoming Coaches Association Coach of the Year for 2A Boys Basketball in 1987.
Rawhouser later became the girls' basketball coach for the Sublette County School District and was named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Girls Basketball Coach of the Year from 1992 to 1996. In 1992, he was selected as Co-Head Coach in the North-South Girls All-Star Basketball Game and named the Wyoming Coaches Association Coach of the Year for 2A Girls Basketball.
From 1992 to 1998, Rawhouser was a representative for the Wyoming High School Activities Association Board of Directors for 2A Basketball. He also served as Chairman of the Sublette County Recreation Board and was Vice Chairman for Region 5 Board of Cooperative Educational Service for Southwest Wyoming for six years.
Rawhouser retired from teaching and coaching in 2007, but still continued to advocate for Wyoming athletics. He was a member of the Wyoming Activities Association Board of Directors, the Vice Chairman of the Sublette School Board, and served as a Sublette County Commissioner.
In 2011, he was presented with the Wyoming Coaches Hall of Fame Distinguished Service Award. In 2013, he was inducted into the Big Piney High School Athletic Hall of Fame. He also served as Western Sublette District No. 9 Board of Cooperative Educational Services Director and an Outreach Coordinator for Western Wyoming Community College He is the acting Commander of American Legion Post 78 in Big Piney.
He and his wife, live in Big Piney, and have one son, Charlie.
—Olivia Bryant, College Relations
Category: Campus News, Chadron State Alumni & Foundation