2026 Distinguished Alumni Service Award - Kathleen Gilbert

2026 Distinguished Alumni Service Award - Kathleen Gilbert

As the first in her family to have attended college, Kathleen Gilbert (’15, ’21) knows the struggles many first-generation students face. In her role as director of the Sam Houston State University Food Pantry, she is part of the frontline of people removing barriers for students attending college.

Gilbert grew up in East Texas, moving around as her father worked in different prison units under the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Following her graduation from Lovelady High School in 2003, she attended Stephen F. Austin University to earn her Bachelor of Science in Health Services.

Eager to continue her educational journey, Gilbert decided to attend SHSU for her master’s in health and wellness after moving back to the area. While pursuing her graduate degree, she worked as a program coordinator in SHSU’s College of Health Sciences. At the time, the SHSU Food Pantry was operated out of a small closet as a student organization, with students supporting other students by providing free canned goods and other food items. As the former organization advisor was leaving, they tapped Gilbert, who gladly took on the advisory role.

Since taking the helm of the organization, Gilbert has grown the size and reach of the pantry multiple times. It went from a student organization with an advisor to a key campus service with Gilbert as the full-time director. With this growth, the closet was left for a building on campus that greatly expanded their capabilities and the volunteers turned student employees grew increasingly busy helping stock shelves and coordinate distributions.

Another aspect that has grown exponentially is programming and partnerships held by the food pantry. Over the years, Gilbert and her team have forged strong relationships with groups such as the Houston Food Bank, the Powell Foundation, the American Heart Association and more.

Using the materials and funding these groups have provided, Gilbert has successfully taken over and expanded Tripod’s Thrift and the Reba Bock Career Closet to provide not just free food to students, but clothing, toiletries and similar necessities. They have also established a community garden, emergency response unit and a mobile food pantry that permitted offsite distributions and spread awareness about the pantry.

Ever-focused on supporting student success, Gilbert and the pantry received funding to purchase 1,000 backpacks for Huntsville ISD’s after-school backpack program for students in need.

For her outstanding work growing the SHSU Food Pantry and supporting the success of her student employees as well as those visiting the pantry for assistance, Gilbert received both the SHSU Staff Excellence Award and the SHSU Keys of Excellence Award. Her proven leadership has also earned her a place on the Swipe Out Hunger Leadership Council for 2024-2025. She currently sits on the Houston Food Bank Advisory Committee, working closely with one of the pantry’s biggest suppliers.

The only thing that outweighs Gilbert’s pride for all of the awards and successes of the food pantry is her pride for the family she has built. She is married to Chris Gilbert and mother to sons Colton and Jakson.

Gilbert’s track record of excellence in service to the university community serves as a living, evolving example of the university’s motto, “The measure of a Life is its Service,” earning her the university’s Distinguished Alumni Service Award.