Dr. Mike Robinson, chair of the University of Lynchburg’s communication studies department, has crossed a career milestone: He’s taught 5,000 students at Lynchburg.
This fall, Robinson taught his 2,000th student in Introduction to Film and his 1,000th in Media and Culture. With the University’s low student-to-faculty ratio — currently 11:1 — hitting the 5K mark didn’t happen overnight.
“It took me 26 years,” said Robinson, who started teaching at Lynchburg in the fall of 2000. “I went to University of Maryland College Park, where you had 700 of your best friends learning Intro to Psych or other things. A couple hundred people in my radio, TV, and film.”
By comparison, Robinson’s Intro to Film class at Lynchburg had 70 students. “It’s big for here,” he said of the class, adding, “We have a good time.”
One of Robinson’s former students, Rebecca Hogge ’17, can attest to that.
“Every comms major will remember Britney Week,” she said, referring to American pop star Britney Spears. “It’s a week during one of those media classes that we focus on Britney Spears’ life in the media. That’s the coolest way to learn.
“Also, the ‘[Weeping] Angels’ episode of ‘Dr. Who’ still haunts my nightmares.”
Hogge, now the associate digital marketing manager for Virginia Distillery Co. in Lovingston, Virginia, said it was “Dr. Mike” who recruited her into Lynchburg’s communication studies program, where she focused her studies on public relations.
“I was struggling to find a real ‘identity,’” she said. “But what I did know was I had an insane interest in the British royal family, and Dr. Mike sort of normalized that for me.
“That was, at the time, when I felt judged, if not weird, for being such a huge fan of Princess Diana and Kate Middleton, and Dr. Mike’s absolute love of comics made me feel normal. I also found his teaching style to just be cool.”
In addition to her work at the distillery, Hogge teaches public speaking at Lynchburg. She credits Robinson, whose office in Schewel is decked out like a comic book shop, with living “fearlessly” and encouraging this same quality in his students.
“Dr. Mike was great at demonstrating to all of us that you can literally take what you enjoy and apply it to your adult life,” she said. “He built a sense of confidence in me I’d never had. … [And] now, he’s guiding me through the throws of teaching at the college level.
“It’s been a real full-circle experience.”
