Theotis Robinson Jr. was in the fifth grade when the ideals of justice and civil rights were emblazoned into the mind of the man who has spent much of his storied career fighting for diversity and equity in education.
Robinson, a foundational figure in University of Tennessee history, grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he and his mother, Alma, would listen to the radio, discussing historic elections and admiring the courage of civil rights leaders. Robinson would soon join their ranks.
Born in 1942, he was an aspirational child who had his life planned out long before high school. He would go into the Air Force, followed by college, law school and then run for political office. He set the bar high for himself and he was culturally aware, which he credits to his parents who grew up in rural Mississippi and Georgia without the same opportunities toward their education.
“I had it all figured out,” says Robinson with a laugh. “I would join the Air Force because I had this love of airplanes, go to college, run for Senate, and then become President.”
Sitting at a conference table donning one of his many personalized ball caps, on this day one that reads “good trouble”, he shares fond memories of the Black educator who set the tone for his entire life.
“Her name was Mrs. Drake. I was in her homeroom class,” he says. “She played the piano and she had a song she would always lead that said, ‘We’ve been right there in line, we are Americans too.’ So, she instilled this in us along with the understanding of what the United States was supposed to be. She was teaching us the ideals of Black Pride long before the term was a thing. And that stuck with me,” he adds.
While enrolled at Knoxville’s Austin High School, Robinson joined classmates in a failed attempt to desegregate the all-white East High School, leading to the landmark Josephine Goss v. Knoxville Board of Education case. Later, he participated in sit-ins at Knoxville lunch counters during the summer of 1960 and downtown movie theater demonstrations, protesting segregation along with other cities across the South. Those experiences solidified his commitment to justice and resistance.
In 1960, a newspaper ad was run in the local newspaper that caught Robinson’s attention. It highlighted the University of Tennessee’s exclusion of Black students. So, he submitted a letter of application to the college.
“I had already been taking part in the sit-ins and civil rights demonstrations, so when I read that article in the paper, I knew that too, was something I could do something about,” he recalls. “So, I wrote a letter, took it downtown and dropped it in the mailbox. I didn’t even consult my parents. A couple of weeks later I got a response to it in the mail that said, ‘I’m sorry but we don’t accept Negros.’ I knew they must have been screening me, so I took it a step further and wrote another letter demanding a meeting with the two men who signed my rejection letter,” says Robinson.
He and his parents met with then UT President Andy Holt, asserting his taxpayer rights and the need for change. By threatening legal action, Robinson finally persuaded the Board of Trustees to admit him to the University. He enrolled along with two other students, that following semester on January 4, 1961, becoming the first African American admitted to the state’s flagship university. The rest is history.
Throughout his life, Robinson consistently challenged the status quo, breaking new ground at every turn. He never made it to the Air Force or law school, but he made his political dreams come true. In 1970, he became the first Black person elected to the Knoxville City Council in over half a century, serving two terms. Afterward, he led economic development efforts for the 1983 World’s Fair where he fought for Black inclusion. Robinson later returned to the University of Tennessee, initially as a political science lecturer. In 2000, he was appointed UT System’s vice president of equity and diversity, a role he held until retiring in 2014.
In 2019, he became the recipient of both an honorary doctorate in social work and a Distinguished Alumnus award for his decades of commitment and service to racial equality, the highest honor awarded by the University of Tennessee Alumni Board. In 2021, UT honored him by naming a dormitory after him, ‘Robinson Hall’ on the Knoxville campus.
At 83, Robinson remains dedicated to supporting the next generation. He understands the challenges that Black faculty and administrators face at predominantly white institutions.
“You have entrenched racism, passive resistance, and barriers to navigate,” he says. “It’s all about policy—you have to make changes there to see real progress.”
During his tenure as vice president, Robinson worked to reduce graduation disparities for men of color and helped launch campus chapters of Brother to Brother, a national organization supporting African American and Latino male students.
Having been a young married college student with five children by the age of 28, and who took courses while working full-time, he knows personally the everyday hurdles many young men and women face while attempting to finish college.
Robinson also stresses the importance of civic engagement, particularly voting and running for office.
“It’s one thing to be standing on the outside trying to get somebody on the inside to do the right thing. That can be a difficult thing to do,” he says. “But if you get on the inside yourself, you can do it yourself. We really need people in our communities to become more civically engaged and attend these meetings where decisions are being made.”
To ease students’ paths, Robinson and his family established the Theotis Robinson Jr. Flagship Pathway Scholarship Endowment in 2021. The scholarship supports graduates from 38 designated high schools across Tennessee, renewable for up to four years and combinable with other scholarships.
“If you aren’t woke, you’re asleep,” he says. “So, I hope to expand possibilities for students who look like me and forge a path for them to become future leaders who understand the value of an education.”
