Brent Gough recalled paying his own way through college while competing in rodeos. Now, four decades after his graduation from Weatherford College, the president of the Weatherford College Foundation dedicates himself to helping make the journey easier for students seeking an education for themselves.
“I remember how hard it was for me to pay for college and if I can help a student not to have to do that I want to,” he told the crowd as he accepted the award for Weatherford College Alumnus of the Year at the school’s annual Alumni Awards Luncheon on March 28 at the Emerging Technologies and Workforce Building.
The event honored Gough, along with Distinguished Alumni Award recipients Dr. Deborah Liles and Fort Worth Chief of Police Neil Noakes.
Gough has served on the WC Foundation Board of Directors for 10 years and has been instrumental in securing significant donations for student scholarships. In the past year alone, he has brought three new endowed scholarship funds to the foundation from donors who previously had no ties to WC.
He and his wife, Meredith, have also established a permanent scholarship endowment for WC students. He is the founder of Gough Wealth Management in Aledo and has been in the financial planning business for more than 25 years. Gough remembered a moment when he and Meredith were inspired to start their scholarship. It was while listening to a student who became emotional about receiving a scholarship herself, allowing her to become a nurse.
“I said, okay, this is part of God’s plan,” he said.
Gough was introduced by fellow WC Foundation Board Member and former Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Lin Bearden, who referenced Gough’s rodeo competition at Weatherford College and Tarleton.
“To say he’s been through the hard knocks of life is an understatement,” Bearden said.
Bearden then praised Gough for stepping in and being a key part in keeping the foundation strong after president and major fundraiser Bob Glenn passed away in mid-2022.
“Cue the man on stage right, the one on the white horse,” Bearden said.
“If I’m ever introduced again, you’re the guy,” Gough joked with Bearden as he took the podium.
Then, he added with another laugh, “I was really afraid someone was gonna talk to one of my professors or check my grade point average and I’d be disqualified.”
Gough compared Glenn, who, after retiring from banking in 2019 until the time of his death, raised more than $600,000 in new endowed scholarship funds for WC students, to “being the quarterback of the [Kansas City] Chiefs after [Pat] Mahomes retires.”
Then, he gave a nod to WC Vice President of Institutional Advancement Brent Baker, saying, “With a guy like this sitting beside you at board meetings, it’s pretty easy.”
Gough joked about not actually going through graduation ceremonies at WC.
“They called me a couple years later and said ‘We have a diploma you need to come pick up,’” he said, drawing laughs from the crowd when he added, “I said, ‘What did I major in?’”
Gough’s tongue-in-cheek self-deprecation included accolades for those honored before him when he said, “After listening to these two folks, I feel like giving it up. I would’ve voted for either of you.”
Indeed, Liles and Noakes, likewise, have quite the legacy.
Liles is a 2005 WC graduate who walked the stage alongside her daughter, Kelly Staub, who is now the Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program Director. Staub introduced her mother.
Staub drew a laugh when she admitted not liking to read history books, of which her mother has authored or co-edited five, including awarding titles on Texas women’s history.
Then, she noted, “I’m incredibly proud of the legacy she continues to build and am proud to call her my mentor.”
Liles is the W.K. Gordon Chair of Texas History at Tarleton State University. She is also a Fellow in both the East Texas Historical Association and the West Texas Historical Association.
She serves on several boards, including the Texas State Archives and Libraries and the Bob Bullock State Museum.
Liles reflected on trying a couple times to attend school before finally being able to continue. She said she originally wanted to be a police detective.
“I really wanted that degree to show myself I could do it and to show my children what they could do,” she said.
Labeling herself as a non-traditional student, she said, “Life happens when you go to college.”
Noakes, a 1997 WC graduate, is police chief for the City of Fort Worth. He has spent more than 25 years in public service and will retire from his position in May 2025.
Among his accomplishments is managing a department of 1,875 police officers serving almost a million residents. In May of 2021, he rolled out the Fort Worth Safe initiative, a strategic approach to violent crime prevention that combined community policing with technology and data.
Noakes was introduced by Weatherford interim Police Chief Jason Hayes, also a WC alumnus. He looked back at attending WC at the same time as his good friend.
“I had jet black hair — and I’m gonna assume he had some at some point,” Hayes said as the crowd laughed.
“The great thing about true leaders is they leave a legacy,” Hayes continued, adding that Noakes is someone who understands “There’s a big difference between doing things right and doing the right thing.”
Noakes has deep ties to Weatherford and Parker County, noting that his grandfather, Clyde Noakes, was a firefighter in Weatherford, along with other family ties.
Upon reaching the podium, Noakes offered some words of inspiration, encouraging other leaders to “Take the time to earn the trust and respect of people you lead and they will follow. That’s where the magic happens.”
Then, he said a worthy question is to ask ourselves “Are we living a life worthy of following?” He looked at WC President Tod Allen Farmer and added, “At Weatherford College, that is exactly what is happening.”
The event began with Farmer, the 2020 Alumnus of the Year, giving a state of the college address. He stated that the student population grew 23.5 percent this past fall and 16 percent in the spring.
The school now offers five bachelors degrees, along with some students being able to receive masters degrees and even a doctorate in nursing.
“A staggering 88 percent of our students are awarded grants and scholarships,” he said.
Farmer said the school is in the process of getting a five-story, 110,000-square-foot new student union building with funds from a future tuition revenue bond. Also, they are in the process of also getting a 99,852 square feet hospital in Bridgeport to expand the school’s medical program.
The school’s international piano competition started a few years ago and now welcomes 207 competitors from 25 nations, Farmer said.
“Thanks to you and people like you, that pipe dream is now a reality,” he told the crowd.
Among other notables, Farmer referenced the Kingsley Building, given to the school by the widow of the late legendary radio announcer Bob Kingsley — which is also the home of The Coyote, the college’s own radio station.
He praised the athletics department, which includes the golf program and WC being one of the few community colleges in the United States to have its own course. Canyon West was donated to the school by Richard and Nancy Stuart in 2023.
Farmer also gave accolades to the numerous sports programs that are nationally ranked, most notably the Coyotes baseball team that is No. 1 in the nation.
“Thanks to good people like you, Weatherford College is changing lives,” Farmer said. “We’ve made great strides, but the best is yet to come.”
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