D . C . A L U M N I PROFILE
Faces of LIFE
Dr. Randy Rhino
Enhancing
LIFE at Tech
Dr. Randy Rhino had a poster in his room
growing up that said, “What you are is God’s gift
to you and what you make of yourself is your
gift to God.” A 1983 alumnus of Life University
(then called Life College), Rhino has made it
his purpose to make a special gift in return and
currently serves as Team Chiropractor for all
Georgia Tech varsity student athletes.
Rhino grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina
and attended Olympic High School where he
lettered in baseball, basketball and football.
He was named All-State and All-American
and earned the title ‘Athlete of the Year’ in the
Charlotte area while at Olympic.
He then began his college career at Georgia
Tech, from which he earned a Bachelor of
Science degree in Industrial Management in
1976. Rhino’s father, Chappell Rhino, had also
attended Tech and was a football letterman
and All-Southeastern Conference baseball
player while there. In football, Randy Rhino
became the only three-time first-team All-
American in Georgia Tech history. Rhino adds
that someone we have all heard of here at LIFE
was a classmate and football teammate of his
father’s — Dr. Sid Williams.
After college, Rhino joined the Canadian
Football League (CFL) and played for the
Montreal Alouettes. He earned all-pro honors
for the 1977, 1978 and 1980 seasons and was a
member of the Grey Cup Championship team in
1977. He retired with the CFL record for career
punt return yardage and in 2002, was inducted
into the National Football Foundation College
Football Hall of Fame.
Another important milestone also occurred
in 2002 when Rhino took the next step in his
chiropractic career when he started working for
his alma mater. He says, “The Athletic Director,
Dave Braine, gave me an opportunity to have my
dream job when he invited me to come and work
in the Georgia Tech training room as the Team
Chiropractor.”
Rhino recounts a few memories of his time
here at LIFE when he says that Dr. Gerry Clum
and Dr. Williams were huge benefits to him
by helping him with this unusual schooling
arrangement. He elaborates, “Because of the
way that I went to school — two quarters playing
“I believe that all of the new
degrees that have taken it from
‘Life College’ to ‘Life University’
have also been a tremendous
enhancement to the chiropractic
portion of health care in general.”
football professionally in Canada and then two
quarters at school — I needed special approval
for that arrangement that I had to do for several
years.”
Rhino says that in 1978, when he began
his education at LIFE, “It was just some trailers
really. There was maybe one building, but most
of the classrooms were trailers,” adding that the
way the school looks now is “truly mindboggling.”
Another memory of his days here, is one of
Dr. Williams and Lasting Purpose. He says, “Every
Thursday, we had meetings where the whole
school got together to get a famous ‘Dr. Williams’
sermon’ on Chiropractic, the Palmers and our
beginnings.” Rhino notes that they were inspiring
and helped students who might have been
lagging behind a bit to pick themselves up and
move forward, newly energized by chiropractic
philosophy.
About his current participation in
Chiropractic, Rhino points out that it is
extremely important to him as he specializes
in musculoskeletal injuries for sports. He says
that as he works with students, he teaches them
how the proper alignment and adjustment of
their spines can not only help them recover
from injuries, but also even help prevent injuries
and perform optimally. He adds that while he
specializes in only the athletes’ musculoskeletal
issues, he works with one of the best trainers in
Division 1 football, Jay Shoop, who works with
them on other issues. He adds, “(Jay) respects
what I do, and I respect what he does immensely.
We work well together to keep all of our athletes
in their best shape for competition.”
Rhino says that his typical day consists of
treating Georgia Tech athletes, other students
and even faculty and staff, with about 20% of
his time spent with private patients. He notes
that some of them have been coming to him for
the more than thirty years that he has been in
practice. He says, “That’s cool for them because
I treat them here in the Tech training rooms,
and we might have the starting quarterback, or
the point guard for our basketball team in here,
and it’s always exciting for the patients to meet
them.”
When he reflects on his time at Georgia Tech,
he adds, “It has absolutely been a privilege, and I
cannot ever imagine wanting to retire. Hanging
around the kids here keeps me young. Especially
the kind that go to Tech who get through this
rigorous academic environment and still play at
the level that they do; it’s the ‘cream of the crop’
kind of kid.”
He says that it has been amazing to see
some of them come back as well. He remembers
student-athletes who he took care of during
their time at the school who later come back to
visit him and bring pictures of their own kids to
show him. He adds that sometimes they even ask
for one more adjustment for ‘good ole times’ and
muses that he probably gets more out of these
relationships than they do.
Rhino also has great things to say about
the way that ‘Life College’ has evolved into
such a modern and diverse institution. He says,
“I really like what Dr. Riekeman did to expand
the University. I believe that all of the new
degrees that have taken it from ‘Life College’ to
‘Life University’ have also been a tremendous
enhancement to the chiropractic portion of
health care in general. I just really respect how
the school has changed and become what it has.”
Alumni.LIFE.edu | 2018
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