Alumni / Milestones in Diversity / Lou Robinson
Louester “Lou” Smalls Robinson ’77
To put it mildly, CofC alumna Dr. Louester “Lou” Ann Smalls Robinson ’77 knows quite a bit about higher education: she received her Doctorate of Education from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and holds a certificate in Management and Leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is the Dean of Trident Tech’s Palmer Campus in downtown Charleston and her mission is to “act in our time to prepare our students for a better future.”
accepting the Eddie Ganaway
Distinguished Alumni Award
Dr. Robinson’s work in education hasn’t gone unnoticed. She has received The Martin Luther King, Jr., Humanitarian Award from Trident Technical College in 2014 and was the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Diversity Scholar in 2010. In 2008, she received the Eddie Ganaway Distinguished Alumni Award, which recognizes an alumnus or alumna who has distinguished themselves in their field, promotes the College to become a better and more inclusive community, and is a loyal supporter of the College. Dr. Robinson has served on the College’s Alumni Association Board of Directors, volunteered with the Lowcountry Alumni Chapter, and participated as a Student Alumni Associates Mentor.
When Dr. Robinson graduated from Burke High School in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, the College of Charleston was her “first and only choice for college.” She was a charter member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority in 1975, a work-study student in the Alumni Affairs office, and ultimately an Alumni Scholarship recipient. In between classes and working at the Alumni Affairs office she made life-long friends and learned leadership and life lessons that are still valuable to her today.
Her advice to current College of Charleston students is a quote from Civil Rights leader Dr. Benjamin E. Mays: “Whatever you do, do it well so that no man living, no man dead, and no man yet to be born could do it better.”