The Department of Athletics is always looking for ways to promote the accomplishments of its former student-athletes and will be conducting a series of Alumni Spotlight's to highlight their professional and personal accomplishments. If you have a story you would like to share, please contact Assistant AD for External Relations Tim Lutz at tlutz1@aum.edu or at 334-244-3832. He can also be reached on Facebook or Twitter (@timlutz). We would love to hear from you and share your accomplishments.
 
Today's Alumni Spotlight features Father Chris Boutin, a three-year member of the baseball program. Originally from Prattville, Ala., Boutin played for the then-Senators from 2001-03, helping the team to a 139-57-1 record during those three seasons.
 
Following a standout prep career at Prattville High School, where he earned all-metro honors as a senior, Boutin joined the Governors' baseball program at Wallace Community College in Dothan, Ala. He played two seasons at Wallace, hitting .385, with 13 home runs and 79 RBIs during his career. Additionally, he scored 89 times, had 14 doubles and five triples.
 
While at AUM, Boutin appeared in 46 games, posting 11 hits, including a pair of doubles, a home run and five runs batted in. He also walked 10 times. He earned his bachelor's in marketing in 2003.
 
Following graduation he spent seven years working in the insurance industry, before he felt a calling to commit his life to something else.
 
He began his new calling at St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington, La. Boutin earned a philosophy degree from St. Joseph Seminary, before obtaining a master's in divinity in 2016 from St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in St. Meinrad, Ind. He was ordained a Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Mobile in June of 2016.
 
Fr. Boutin currently serves as pastor at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Parish in Troy, Ala., while also serving as a campus minister at Troy University. In his free time, he enjoys catching up with old friends and attending sporting events.
 
For more information on what Chris is doing now and how AUM played a role in his life, please check out the Q&A below.
 
1. Where are you living now and what are you doing? Did you know you always wanted to do what you are doing professionally?
I currently live in Troy, Alabama, where I serve as pastor to St. Martin of Tours Catholic Parish. I am also campus minister to Troy University.  Becoming a Catholic priest was the farthest thing from my mind and heart when I graduated from AUM in 2003.  I really just wanted to get married, start a family, and begin a career in business.  God had other plans for my life.  You know the old saying, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans."
 
2. How did your time as a student and student-athlete at AUM prepare you for your career and life after college?
The main thing AUM taught me as a student and student-athlete was beyond the classroom.  I received a good education that has helped me in my current administrative duties of being a pastor, but the lasting friendships and discipline I received from coaches and teammates helped me to realize what it was to be a part of something bigger than our own wants and desires.  I think that is the great thing about sports in general that so many learn.
 
3. What are some of your future goals in regard to your career or personally?
Future goals?  You mean beyond the obvious of becoming a saint and getting to heaven?  Since Catholic priests take a promise of celibacy, forgoing a family, my one goal is to shepherd those entrusted to my care to the best of my ability in the name of our Lord, and to do so with great love.
 
4. When is the last time you've been to campus. How has the campus changed?
I was on campus last November.  I was on my way home (Prattville, Ala.) to visit family, and I stopped in to visit Coach Lovrich.  The campus has seen tremendous growth since I was a student, but the basic layout has remained the same.  It was easy to find my way around.
 
5. What originally attracted you to AUM as a student-athlete?
The thing that attracted me the most about AUM was the reputations the athletic program had along with the School of Business.  Several members of my family had attended AUM for various fields of study and all were extremely successful.  Plus, having the opportunity to compete as a member of AUM's baseball program and play for Coach Lowe and Coach Lovrich was a great draw.
  
6. What are some of your most memorable moments from your time as a student-athlete at AUM?
It's funny, but the things I remember the most don't involve wins, losses, or scores.  Many of those things fade with time.  Of course, I can remember some of the games, but I can remember the people involved with much more clarity.  I think I hit one homerun in my time at AUM.  I could not tell you who it was against or the final of the game, but I can remember Matt Braun almost giving me a concussion by slapping me on the head at home plate.  The guys you were around every day is what makes that time so memorable.
 
7. How often do you keep in touch with your former teammates?
It's great to keep up with my former teammates.  Of course, social media keeps many of us connected, but I often just randomly call the guys to see how they are doing.  After my ordination to the priesthood in 2016, I was assigned as a chaplain to McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in Mobile.  I worked closely with the sports programs there.  It was great to see my former teammates, many of whom are coaching now, at the games.  I think they're more surprised that I became a priest than anyone.  They have a lot of stories they could tell I'm sure that could back that up.
 
8. What are some things you enjoy doing in your free time?
In my free time I like to catch up with old friends and share funny stories.  It's also great to just simply go sit in the stands somewhere and watch a game as a fan like anyone else. 
 
9. What advice would you have for the current student-athletes at AUM?
I have spent a lot of time working around student-athletes in high school and now at Troy University.  My biggest piece of advice is to just "be present".  There is a tendency for everyone to plan for the future or look back at the past while forgetting the present.  I enjoyed my time at AUM because I was "in the moment".  Be where God has put you most fully, in this time, and in this place, but don't do so in a selfish manner.  Look for opportunities to be in the moment for others in whatever role that is, especially for your teammates.
 
10. Anything else you would like to share with the AUM community?
AUM was tremendous experience for me in the classroom and on the baseball field.  Great people have big impacts.  I was blessed to be around some great people that had a lasting impact in forming me for life.  God's grace builds on nature.  However, nature is not random chance or luck.  It is created by the environment you find yourself.  I thank God my environment was surrounded by so many great people at AUM.  Go Warhawks and God bless!