Supporting Generations of Wabash Students
Wabash College wasn’t easy for Paul “Robbie” Robinson ’67, a first-generation college student who didn’t even think pursuing higher education was possible as a kid. Now he’s giving other kids like him the gift of education.
Paul “Robbie” Robinson ’67 remembers sitting on his grandfather’s lap learning to count when he was a young child. Later, he learned fractions while baking bread alongside the same grandfather who was a baker. His love for math grew from there.
“My mother said I knew addition and subtraction tables by the time I went to kindergarten. I just had an innate interest,” Robinson says. “By the time I was a junior in high school, I would get an encyclopedia and look up algebra for fun.”
Math was the only subject that interested Robinson and that he felt he was actually good at while growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio. But he never felt pursuing a college career studying math was a viable option.
“There wasn’t much encouragement from home. Nobody had gone to college or valued that education,” he says. “Everyone went straight to work after high school.”
By the time Robinson became an upperclassman in high school studying equations for fun, he had gotten good at something else too: football.
College coaches came to his football games to recruit. That’s when the idea of pursuing higher education started to take shape.
“I didn’t know what else I was going to do with my life,” he says. “Other people from high school were going to college or had a job, and I didn’t. I felt stuck.”
His neighbors, former Wabash football players Roger ’61 and Carlos ’61 Carroll told Robinson about their experiences at Wabash and put him in contact with former Head Football Coach Ken Keuffel to learn more. Then a representative from Wabash visited his family’s home.
“We didn’t have the money,” Robinson says. “I remember saying, ‘It’s not going to be possible. I can’t go.’ Dad assured me it’d be fine, but I still wasn’t confident.
“Then, I got a letter in the mail that I was awarded a scholarship that covered tuition,” he said. “I was so grateful. For the College to take an interest in me and see something in me, it was so special.”
Wabash wasn’t easy for Robinson and he hadn’t always bought into the College’s mission. He refers to himself as “a C-student, who was knee deep in immature behavior.” It wasn’t until he got to graduate school that he realized how successful Wabash was in educating and preparing him for career success.
“People got through Wabash a lot easier than I did,” he says. “I credit my fraternity brothers. We’d all walk together to the physical chemistry building and study from 1 to 5 p.m., have dinner and free time for about a half-hour, then from 7 to 10:30 p.m., we’d go to another building to study some more. That discipline saved me. That’s what it took for me.”
He also credits then Dean of Students Norman Moore, for molding him into a positive force of change.
“He was my mentor. He told me how to act and how to talk, and really cleaned up my character,” Robinson says.
In addition to playing football, Robinson majored in mathematics, was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity and the Sphinx Club while at Wabash.
“I’m grateful that Wabash let me through. They actually graduated me and gave me a degree. That was never lost on me,” he says. “I didn’t belong there. But Wabash wooed me and took good care of me.”
Robinson was hired by IBM after graduation and got his MBA in corporate finance from the University of Oregon.
In 1971, he was hired as a broker with a New York Stock Exchange firm. Eight years later, he went on to work independently and spent most of his professional career as a certified financial planner in the greater Phoenix, Arizona, area.
“I have always loved math, but didn’t have the natural talent or the head power in the business world. I had to work at it,” Robinson says. “But I got enough confidence that once I started taking economics classes in graduate school, I said ‘Gosh, I can do this. Wabash classes were harder than this!’ Wabash College felt tougher, but it set me up for success.”
Robinson made it a priority to instill the importance of higher education in his grandkids. As each of them begin high school, he has given them a copy of Loren Pope’s book Colleges That Change Lives which conveniently includes a chapter on Wabash. He encourages them to research and rate all the liberal arts schools listed in the book.
“I remember I was a sophomore in high school, and I asked grandpa, ‘What do I have to do to start thinking about college?’ And it was like he was waiting for me to ask,” says Robinson’s grandson, Wade Haesemeyer ’22. “So every week we would Skype and go through a chapter of Colleges That Change Lives. Every week we would talk about one school, I’d grade it. I think Wabash was about a 8.5. Grandpa was a big proponent of liberal arts schools.”
Wade’s brother, Paul ’21, recalls a similar experience.
“Grandpa was so excited when we were in high school with helping us through the college process and figuring out where we wanted to go,” says Paul. “He loves Wabash, obviously, but he was more passionate just about us going to school. He knows how much higher education transformed his life as a student and professional.”
Both Paul and Wade dismissed Wabash when they first started the college search process. It wasn’t until they saw Wabash in Pope’s book that they really started thinking about the College seriously.
“Oh, this is interesting,” Paul recalls thinking. “This is really cool. Let’s actually see what grandpa’s talking about.
“Wabash was at the bottom of my list, but it quickly went straight to the top after attending Scarlet Honors Weekend,” says Paul. “I was so impressed with how excited everyone on campus was. They had answers to all of my questions, and were so welcoming.”
Robinson was “over the moon” when Paul and Wade told him they officially picked Wabash. He continued to be his grandsons’ biggest cheerleaders throughout their college experiences.
“I remember freshman year, he was one of the first people I called all the time because he knew Wabash and I needed someone to talk to about Wabash,” says Paul.
He has always been grateful for the lasting opportunities Wabash provided him and his grandsons, and he proudly believes in the College’s mission of educating men to think critically, act responsibly, lead effectively, and live humanely.
A few years ago as he was approaching retirement, Robinson began thinking about how he could give back to his alma mater. With the help and support of his family, including Paul and Wade, Robinson established The Paul “Robbie” Robinson Family Scholarship.
The scholarship will provide support to Wabash students with demonstrated financial need, with a first preference given to those who are first-generation college students (defined as neither parent having completed a four-year college or university degree).
“I owe it. I feel like I needed to square up to how well they treated me in spite of me, and how well they’ve treated my grandsons,” Robinson said. “I’m grateful to have the means to do it, thanks to Wabash.”
Robinson also established the scholarship in a way that will allow his grandsons to do their part in contributing to providing an unmatched liberal arts education to students.
“He’s been talking about this for the last year-and-a-half, and to see it all come together for him is so exciting,” says Paul, who now works as a stitcher for Alabama Shakespeare Festival, a performing arts theater in Montgomery, Alabama.
“My grandpa has always been so passionate, enthusiastic, and loved Wabash so much. Now he gets to share all of that with his grandsons,” Paul says. “I don’t think I would have imagined having a hand in something as impactful as this so early in my career, but it’s really cool to be a part of and have that legacy with my family.”
Wade, a classics major and art minor who now works as a videographer and editor in Billings, Montana, explained that being involved in the scholarship process has opened his eyes to some of the struggles that first-generation students, like Robinson, experience and the kind of support that they may need to succeed in college.
“We didn’t grow up rich, but we always had enough, and my parents and grandparents have college degrees and experience. I could go to them for help and guidance,” Wade says. “That’s not the reality for a lot of people. Many are not as fortunate, and it’s much harder for them to get to and stay in college.
“My grandpa is a prime example. But he made it, because he got the financial help and support throughout his four years at Wabash,” the new graduate says. “We hope this scholarship will inspire others and give those same opportunities to students who need it.”