SPC to honor Randy S. Wilson with 2025 Pacesetter Award
LEVELLAND – South Plains College and the SPC Foundation will recognize Odessa native Randy S. Wilson as the 2025 Pacesetter honoree at the 27th annual Scholarship Gala.
Wilson will receive the award at the event at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 21 at the Mallet Event Center in Levelland. The Pacesetter Award recognizes select benefactors who have provided exemplary support through their philanthropy, service or leadership that makes a difference in the lives of SPC students. Wilson, a former SPC Texan basketball player, has an SPC scholarship endowment in his name that supports current students on the basketball team.
“I’m very honored to serve as the Pacesetter for 2025,” he said. “I see the people that have been honored before. Terry Hill, one of my friends, has been honored as a Pacesetter in the last five years. It’s neat to be recognized by the college you went to 47 years ago.”
On a full-ride scholarship from 1978-80, Wilson played basketball under the leadership of the late SPC Coach Dennis Patton. After graduating with an Associate of Science in petroleum engineering and transferring to Texas Tech University, Wilson said he realized the value of financial support for college students.
“I did the initial funding of it, Don and Tanya Wood added a little bit more, I’ve added some this year already and we’ll continue to do so,” he said regarding his SPC scholarship endowment. “It’s just a pleasure to help the basketball program.”
Supporting students is one way Wilson said he shows his appreciation for academic institutions. In addition to SPC, he said he set up endowments at Texas Tech, where he received his Bachelor of Business Administration in 1983, and Odessa College, where he serves on the Board of Trustees.
“The two years of class that I took here at South Plains was very instrumental in what I completed at Texas Tech,” he said.
After higher education, Wilson said he worked for 34 years in the banking industry, 23 of which were spent at Wells Fargo in Odessa. His most recent position before retiring six years ago was senior trust and fiduciary specialist at the bank.
Wilson also serves on the advisory committee for the Rea Charitable Trust, formerly a trust account at Wells Fargo. Because of Wilson’s encouragement, SPC requested and received a $120,000 grant from the trust for new seating, carpet and paint in the Helen DeVitt Jones Theater on the Levelland campus.
“I have always believed you should give something back, and that’s what I feel I’m doing right now with South Plains,” he said.
Supporting academic institutions is a focus Wilson said alumni should have for the institutions they are affiliated with or have attended. He said the full-ride scholarship SPC gave him was a great opportunity, and his time at the college was the best two years of his higher education.
“They just made it so much fun and so easy,” Wilson said regarding SPC employees. “I’ve told hundreds, if not thousands, of people that if this would have been a four-year college, I would have stayed.”
Sponsorships and tickets for the Scholarship Gala are available by calling 806-716-2019 or at www.southplainscollege.edu/gala. For information about the Scholarship Gala or other ways to support SPC students, contact the SPC Development office at 806-716-2019 or sgoldie@southplainscollege.edu.
