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The Story Behind the Gift

8/25/09

The Lohmans' recipe for success

When Carolyn Lohman was a home economics teacher, her final exam consisted of handing students a bag filled with groceries and telling them to create a dinner using only those ingredients. Today, Carolyn no longer teaches home economics, but she and her
husband Tommie are experts in making something great out of the ingredients of their lives.

The Lohmans have a special talent for putting together the right people in the right places with the right resources to create success. And, they have made generous contributions to Texas A&M University in the form of professorships, scholarships, learning communities and the new basketball facility. But to the College of Education and Human Development, one of their greatest contributions was a simple sculpture.

"By far, watching Carolyn put together the Shaping the Future sculpture was one of my most satisfying experiences with the College of Education and Human Development," Tommie says. "From working with the university administration to the physical plant, it was something to behold."

The Shaping the Future sculpture was the first sculpture on the Texas A&M campus to feature a woman with children, all of whom represent a different ethnicity.

"I remember President Ray Bowen saying he didn't think it could happen," Carolyn recalls. "And I said, ‘You know, I think I am going to do it anyway.'"

"We, as a university, couldn't let the century end without including women and diversity in the sculptures on our campus," she says.

True to her words, Carolyn got to work on the sculpture with Tommie by her side and the support of then Dean Jane Close Conoley. She raised the necessary money, worked with the sculptor and invited the entire college to be a part of the process. Faculty, staff and students were encouraged to go to the artist's studio and assist in placing the clay at the base of the sculpture. Careful inspection reveals hundreds of fingerprints and a few Aggie ring indentions.

Carolyn also takes delight in several barely noticeable, but deeply meaningful parts of the sculpture.

"The teacher is wearing two rings. One is an Aggie ring from 1969-the first year of the college," she says. "And, the other is a butterfly ring to symbolize the transformation inspired by education."

And, just in time for the college's 30th Anniversary Celebration in 1999, the sculpture became the focal point of Education Plaza on the west side of the Harrington Education Center.

But, even with all the time, effort and work that Carolyn puts forth in order to accomplish great things for the benefit of Texas A&M, she is quick to give credit to those who provide assistance along the way.

"The donors who supported the project deserve credit for their belief in the vision of what the sculpture could do for our university and our college," Carolyn says. "At the end of the day, we all just want to make Texas A&M an even greater place to get an education."

Today, the Aggieland Visitor Center highlights the sculpture on campus tours, and it is not uncommon to see students posing by the sculpture for a photo.

And, the Lohmans can take a quick break before working on their next big recipe for success to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

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