"But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve." Matthew 20:26-28
Mr. Michael VanGilder is a staff member within ETBU’s Athletics Department working as an Athletic Trainer. He loves getting to interact and encourage ETBU student-athletes on their journeys through college, life, and their faith walks. He finds joy in using his God-given skills to help heal, treat, and rehabilitate athletes as they return to playing their sports.
He initially began his Athletic Training career as a Student Athletic Training Aid for two years at Dover High School (Dover, Ohio). He followed this with three years as an Athletic Training Student at Baldwin Wallace University (Berea, Ohio), and has worked since 2017 in various roles at ETBU.
During the 2017-18 academic year, he served as a Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer while completing his graduate degree. In the 2018-19 year, he transitioned into an Intern Athletic Trainer position. In the Spring of 2019, he added responsibilities as an adjunct instructor in the Kinesiology department. In the summer of 2019, he was promoted to a full-time Assistant Athletic Trainer. In June of 2023, ETBU was happy to announce another promotion for Mr VanGilder into the role of Associate Head Athletic Trainer.
Mr. VanGilder completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at Baldwin-Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. While there, he dual majored in Athletic Training and Exercise Science. He completed his Master of Science degree in Kinesiology from East Texas Baptist University. He passed the Board of Certification, Inc. exam for athletic trainers, to certify him as a Certified Athletic Trainer in May of 2017. He then completed the Texas requirements to become a Licensed Athletic Trainer through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in August of 2017. His primary sports assignments have been to ETBU’s Men’s Basketball team and Volleyball team, and he has additionally assisted with nearly every other sport that ETBU offers.