Submitted Photo

Casper College President Dr. Darren Divine posed for a photo in the Gateway Building.

By Bernadette Pieper

He started his career as a professor before becoming the faculty senate chair followed by associate vice president to vice president of academic affairs. Now he is president of Casper College. As if that were not enough, he also mastered being a husband, chocolatier, and competitive pistol shooter.

Darren Divine, Ph.D., began his journey as the president of the college in the summer of 2015. Before coming to CC, he worked as a professor and then vice president at the College of Southern Nevada and at the University at Las Vegas. Divine said he never thought he would be the president of a college, but he references a quote that helped him along the way. He shares the quote with students, crediting a professor from one of the colleges where he worked. 

“Discovery is recognizing something you didn’t know existed,” Divine quoted.

He majored in biology before starting his career. His love for biology stemmed from his father because he was a fisheries biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. His career has helped him along his journey to become president. 

“I would not trade it for anything. The reason that I got into this was because of the students. I wanted to teach. It’s no different now,” said Divine. “At the end of the day, the answer is well that is part of my job, but that’s not the important part…My pleasure, my honor, my joy is to celebrate students and support students.” 

Some of Divine’s goals for the college are to keep up with the changing needs in life in order to meet student needs. 

“If I could impart anything to anybody, it is to remind them that everything we do is for students. Literally, there is not a job on campus that isn’t here for students,” said Divine. 

Others have seen that Divine is there for the students and that is what helps CC to bring in more students. 

“One of the things that is very clear when you meet Dr. Divine is that he is passionately committed to the college. He believes the student comes first and focuses on the student’s needs and where our decisions are made in daily work,” said Christopher Lorenzen, director of public relations at CC. 

Lorenzen and Divine both talked about how Divine loves to support students. Divine traveled over 1,000 miles to watch the men’s Soccer team at Regionals, the volleyball team at Regionals, and the music concert with the Dean Morgan Middle School. 

Divine talked about how he is always heartbroken if he cannot make it to an event that involves CC students. He said he really wanted to make it to the Nationals to watch the soccer team and volleyball team but he could not. 

“I got to put my big boy pants on,” Divine said, as he has other obligations as president. 

When Lorenzen started his job at CC, he noticed how Divine does so much for the college and the students. 

“I was blown away by the positive perception that the college has. You can really see how Darren and the trustees lead the college. Their passion is for the students,” said Lorenzen. 

Aside from serving as president of the college, Divine is a chocolatier in his spare time. He found a passion for it after learning about chocolate from his father at an early age. He remembers every Christmas his dad would make chocolate pretzels and more. 

There was just one day out of the blue when he started to do the pretzels and more with chocolate when he was working at the college in Las Vegas. Divine said that when he and his wife lived in Las Vegas, she took him to a cake and chocolate shop where he met the owner. The shop’s owner helped him with his passion for chocolate. Since then, Divine perfected his work as a chocolatier. He occasionally offers a class for others to learn, giving him the opportunity to share one of his passions and still be a teacher. 

Lorenzen stated, “He likes to master it. He significantly enjoys his work. You can see by all of the things that he is involved in.” 

Lorenzen talked about how Divine is passionate about his hobbies, and works hard to master his crafts, like being a chocolatier and a competitive pistol shooter. 

Divine also participates in many pistol shooting competitions. He is a ranger too, meaning he helps with setting up for competitions. Divine said that since working as president, he has not had much time to shoot or to go hunting. He talked about how he hopes to get back to doing it more often, but he has been doing his job as president first. He really enjoys his pistol shooting competitions and all of his other hobbies. 

Divine is there for his students and employees. When he talks with students or employees about their experiences here at CC or things brought to his attention he tells them this:

Divine said he tells this to students and others, “A phrase I always use, ‘Achieve your goals and realize your dreams.’”