Awesome Service
Coming to WVU for Shirley Robinson (Regents, ’06) was little more than crossing the street. The Morgantown native and Morgantown High School’s number-one tennis player was familiar with life in a university town.
Robinson didn’t immediately hit the tennis courts or even expect to try out for an NCAA tennis, but someone made the suggestion and with a bit of a “well, okay” attitude, she did. Never having formal training, she would watch tennis on television and try to adapt her game to the professionals. She became the first African American female tennis player in WVU’s history. That’s not why she tried out, though.
“I did it because that’s my passion,” she said. She combined that passion for athletics in her major, which was physical education and safety. Robinson left school after three years because her grandfather was ill, and like many West Virginians, did what she had to do to help out her family in caring for him. Years later, she decided to make a return to campus as an employee and a nontraditional student.
Her passion, by then, had changed. She was able to combine the hours she’d earned with her experience and discovered she needed only 21 hours to graduate. It was just another short walk across the street for a job with the University where she’s been for the last 36 years. Now in the Office of the Provost, Robinson works in undergraduate education, initiates the approval process for helping out-of-state students navigate getting into programs through the Graduate Academic Common Market that aren’t offered in their home state, process all graduate tuition waivers, process undergraduate course overloads, assist in preparing the Academic Calendar and monitor students in the Ohio Reciprocity and Garrett College Reciprocity to make sure they are accessed correctly when there is a major change. Robinson is the current chair of the Classified Staff and the representative on the Board of Governors and is an advocate for better working conditions and better pay for hourly workers.
She is also a local pastor at Destiny Deliverance Ministries in Westover, a calling she felt long
ago. She has always had a heart for people and their concerns. She continued to serve in ministry and the door was open for her to become the pastor of her home local church. She believes that to become a good leader, you have to be a good follower. This is something she does not take lightly, and you must have a caring and loving heart. When the previous pastor left, the door was open and the call she felt took her to the pulpit.
The pandemic in 2020 brought about many challenges for many churches, but Robinson’s congregation faced potential devastation.
She was visiting friends on a Saturday morning when she got the call her church was on fire. She thought, “Are people saying that her church was on fire because they were known for praising the Lord or is it literally on fire?” It was the latter because it was intentionally set on fire. By the time she arrived, the building was completely engulfed in smoke and the flames had been extinguished, but even in that moment, Robinson was able to find a blessing. Whoever had tossed accelerant into one of the church’s classrooms had chosen the one where the gas line was located. Seemingly by divine intervention, the fire was extinguished before an explosion occurred and the church had what Robinson described as “a whole lot of smoke damage.” Beyond that, though, there was water damage, electrical work damage and holes cut in the sanctuary floor by firefighters who were making sure the fire did not spread there.
Three young men were caught setting fire to the church on the security camera of a nearby business. They faced criminal charges and possible jail time, but when Robinson found out one of them had contracting experience, she asked the judge to sentence them to repair the damage they’d caused.
Robinson is not one to confine her ministry to a building; she began a Bible study for unsheltered people, and she volunteers her time every Saturday in Morgantown to help feed the hungry.
She sums her work with undergrad students at WVU, her leadership on Staff Council, her ministry at Destiny Deliverance and her work feeding the souls and hungry stomachs of people who are unhoused in one blanket statement.
“I have a heart for all people.”
Excerpt from Always a Mountaineer in the Fall 2024 WVU Magazine