CDI Interview: Lindsey Robison

By Julian Bond

Editor’s Note: The following interview was originally aired on WLMC Radio and has been edited for clarity.

Hello, everybody! It’s your boy JB, a.k.a. Julian Bond. I am back with another interview from the amazing CDI. Introduce yourself.

My name is Lindsey Robison.

And what do you do in CDI?

I am currently the assistant coordinator for the Center for Women and Gender.

All right. So, Lindsey, what was it like when you first started at Landmark?

When I first came back to Landmark, I had originally graduated with my associate in 2013, but when I returned to Landmark in the fall of 2022, things were a little different. I noticed that not as many people are out and about as much. And I noticed that people seem to be a bit more introverted than I was used to, but I really liked the studious atmosphere and the academically focused student body we have here on campus now. And still enjoy that there are still little goofy things that happen here and there that are very unique to Landmark. Like the first person that spoke to me, literally came up to me and handed me a rock. And all they said to me was, “Isn’t this rock so smooth?” And I was like, absolutely.

What? <laughs>

Yeah, that was the first interaction I had with anybody on campus from the student body.

That is a very like, what the heck?

It was. I was like, OK. It this is home.

So talk to me about when you first joined CDI.

I first joined CDI in the fall of 2022. I didn’t officially join any center. I just showed up as a white ally to the meeting about the racist graffiti incident on the RA’s door, I think it was.

Yeah, that’s the first time I met you during when that was happening. I’ll never forget, for those who don’t know that happened, that literally happened as soon as this semester started.  But yeah, so how did that feel we had that discussion?

Well, I was amazed at the centers. I had heard about them during the orientation process, but I was amazed because when I was here before, we did not have the centers. So, I was shocked and amazed that we even had them and that there were so many. And they were so big and they’ve expanded so much since I’ve just been here in the last year.

But I remember in that conversation it was a little frustrating for me, because I am an older nontraditional student, so it gets a little frustrating sometimes when I hear other white people act shocked when they hear about racism, and saying they’ve never seen anything like that before when I know they most definitely have, and they just don’t realize they have. And I understand, when most of those students are here at the age that they’re here, most traditional students the tend to be at the beginning of their journey towards allyship, whereas I’ve been at it for a while. But I would say I remember being a little frustrated and pointed that out to them. But basically, I think at the end of that meeting I just started crying because I had so many feelings, and found a way to volunteer almost immediately with the position I had through Emily North to promote the activities with CDI in the front of the Dining Hall.

Talk about the time when you first graduated before you decided to come back.

Oh, oh boy.

I know that was for a long time.

Ohh, yeah. The student body was very different from the student body now. I know back then, I would describe a lot of my friends and the people that I spent time with, to put it politely, I would call us novelty risk takers. I was a bit of a wild youth in my early 20s. But after a really rough first year at Landmark, I really managed just to kind of get it in my head that I really needed to buckle down and you know, put my back into it, put some elbow grease in. And I really, really started to take things seriously in my third semester ever here. And I went from being a student who could barely keep up with two classes to, by the time I finished and graduated in 2013, I had I graduated cum laude and was a straight A student.

So, I put in the work. But I literally had to come to that realization myself and it was hard. I remember it being very hard, but very worthwhile in the future and I don’t think I’ve I haven’t really been able to replicate that success the way I would have wanted to outside of Landmark.

So, what was the Landmark environment like back then for you compared to where it is now?

You know, at every college the students affect how things move around. So, things like Dungeons and Dragons and Magic the Gathering were not big back then. A lot of people had either brought with them or developed smoking habits from sitting in the smoking areas, because that’s where everybody hung out. And nowadays I barely see anybody at those spots.

True, yeah.

I think Landmark’s been able to, with the advent of the four-year degree program–because I was here before–like I think I graduated and then the first bachelor’s degree was introduced that following semester. So, for me when I was here it was all about where are you going next, and getting you ready for the next step. Whereas now, they want you to stay here and finish your degree here. So, I think there’s differences in that.

I think with the students, there’s been a shift. I feel like there’s a lot less extroverts than introverts. I think there’s now more introverts than extroverts being that people don’t ever come out of their room.

That’s true.

You know, trying to get people out of their rooms all the time. I hear that a lot around here.

What made you come back to Landmark?

So this go-round with finishing my bachelor’s here has been kind of a long time coming. I have been to–since I last attended Landmark–I’ve been to two other colleges and a trade school and I did not do well. I managed to finish the trade school program, but I was not able to finish or do well at the other two schools. One was community college. One was another private institute. Actually, the private college that I went to in Maine, they actually used to advertise here during the college fairs that would happen, and they did not have the supports.

Oh, wow.

The reason why I came back to Landmark, I was really burnt out in my career. I had been a professional pet dog trainer for 6 1/2 years. I needed a change and I didn’t know what to do. I had tried going to community college to try to work on a business degree and that wasn’t working out. I really just wanted to start over, basically. So, I was like, “well, I don’t know where else to go, so I guess I’ll go back to Landmark” is really my thought process. And so here I am.

How does it feel now that you’ve been back at Landmark and became a part of CDI? And how have things changed with the more support that you’ve gotten here?

Lindsey Robison

Well, right now I’m tired. <laughs> Finals is just around the corner.

Yeah, I know. And you just got out of a meeting.

I just got out of a meeting. Actually, one of the things I really like about Landmark right now is that there feels like there’s so much more opportunity here than there was in the past. CDI being one of them. Today I was talking to some guests, there was a group visiting campus, and I got to talk up the Center for Women and Gender and just what we do and what I’m trying to do. I really like my position as the assistant coordinator. I feel like I have a very good opportunity to be a mentor towards other young women and female identifying students, like I’ve had in the past. Now it’s my turn to take up that mantle a bit.

I see that there’s opportunities for people that were hard to find, if they were there and available when I was here before, and CDI has given me a chance to channel a lot of the drive I have to do good in the world. And you know, one of my big things personally is diversity and making sure that it is there, it’s respected, and that we learn from each other. And so having that foothold in CDI, as I go throughout the rest of my time here at Landmark, has been helpful. Because even if I’m having a bad day, I can always go up to the centers and be like, hey, I’m having a bad day, can I come hang out? And everybody, no matter where I go in the centers, everybody will be like, yes, absolutely, come join us, we are doing XYZ.

I appreciate you so much for when I first met you, and when the whole [graffiti] thing happened, how you came back and being stronger than you ever have been. I really appreciate it so much.

Julian, thank you so much.