Our Alumni Speaker Series began in 2014. This event features Gaston College alumni from different professional backgrounds. This is an excellent opportunity for the Gaston College community to come together to listen, learn, and network with people who may be in their careers of interest. Each speaker allows a question-and-answer segment to answer any questions the audience may have.
Chasty King – October 5, 2022
Chasty King is a Certified Drug & Alcohol Counselor and Peer Support Specialist who is a graduate of Gaston College. She works with Phoenix Counseling at Gaylain’s House of Hope. Ms. King is the author of Septic: Being Cleansed from the Inside Out. Septic is her debut memoir that chronicles her journey through addiction, mental illness, & domestic violence, as well as how God turned her shame into glory.
She is the President & Founder of The Calling, Inc., an outreach ministry that is focused on helping those experiencing homelessness, incarceration, and/or addiction. She also is an ordained evangelist in the office of five-fold ministry. Chasty is a public speaker who shares her testimony with the world. Her mission is to make a difference in people’s lives, not to be noticed but to make a noticeable difference.
Ms. King visited Gaston College to kick off our 2022 Alumni Speaker series. Click here to watch her story about hope and healing.
Mayor Walker Reid, III is a Gastonia native. While at Gaston College, he received an A.A.S. Degree in Fire Science Technology. Mayor Reid retired as an Assistant Fire Marshal Fire & Life Safety Educator (23 years) for the Mecklenburg County Fire Marshal’s Office on November 30, 2009. He has also served as a fire service instructor at Gaston College (15 years). In November 2017, Mayor Reid was elected to a two-year term as Mayor of Gastonia; in November 2019, he was re-elected to a four-year term.
Former Gastonia mayor and prominent businesswoman Jennie Thomas Stultz graduated from Gaston College with an Associate of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education. She also attended Western Carolina University and Kings Business College in the Medical Records program and attended Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Dr. Malinda B. Lowery, a graduate of Gaston College who completed her doctoral studies in administration and leadership at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, is co-founder of Multiple Choice, Inc.