Dear Friends,

With deep sadness, I write to share the news that Delores Robinson, administrative assistant in the Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility, died on Sunday, June 1. She was 62.

From the Lang Center’s very beginning more than 20 years ago, Delores devoted herself to welcoming and supporting its students, faculty, staff, and community partners. Known as “Dimples” to her family and friends, she is remembered for her integrity, creative problem solving, and, through her remarkable ability to listen deeply, for transforming ordinary moments into meaningful connections. 

Delores is survived by Carl Robinson, her high school sweetheart and husband of more than 25 years; daughter Eboni Wesley; granddaughters Sanai, Taryn, and Alaia; and extended family, including her nephew, Oliver Feaster, a staff member at Broad Table Tavern. A viewing at 10 a.m., followed by an 11 a.m. service, is planned for Monday, June 16, at First African Baptist Church, 901 Clifton Ave., in Sharon Hill, Pa.

I invite you to read more below about Delores and her many contributions to our community.

Sincerely,

Val Smith
President

In Honor of Lang Center’s “Heart and Soul” Delores Robinson

Delores Robinson, described by colleagues as the heart and soul of the Lang Center, died on Sunday, June 1, at 62. With her passing, the Swarthmore community has lost a devoted, wise, and generous colleague, confidante, and friend.

“Delores was the first person to sit at the front desk of the Lang Center,” says Centennial Professor Emerita of Anthropology and Provost Emerita Jennie Keith, who, as the Lang Center's first executive director, hired her for the role. “From those early days, her warm and welcoming presence set the tone for the Center as a bridge joining campus and community. Her positive influence will have lasting effects on this College institution.”

“Delores has been the heart and soul of the Lang Center for years and years, and a dear friend and confidante to just about everyone on our staff,” says Lang Center Executive Director Ben Berger. “She was dedicated to her colleagues and our students and community partners, as well as to the principles of fairness and conscience with which Eugene Lang [’38, H’81] imbued the Center. In addition to all that, she was one of my closest friends at Swarthmore. A true friend and a phenomenal person.”

Robinson grew up in Darby Township, Pa., and graduated from Darby Township Junior-Senior High School in 1981. She then worked for PNC Bank in Center City Philadelphia for 18 years.

Robinson came to Swarthmore in 2002 as a member of the Treasurer’s Office staff. But she found her true campus home the following year as one of the five women chosen as members of the inaugural staff charged with establishing the Lang Center, first located in the Swarthmore train station.

“As the administrative assistant, Delores was the foundation around which everything else evolved,” says Cynthia Jetter ’74 who, as another member of that inaugural group, stewarded the Center’s community partnerships in Chester. “The Lang Center as we know it today is a result of Delores' years of commitment to ensuring that the Center continues to thrive.”

As the only remaining member from that original group still working at the College, Robinson was “the keeper of so much history,” Jetter says. “All roads led to her office eventually if you were to get anything accomplished.”

For her Lang Center colleagues, Robinson’s job title never fully captured all that she did. Perhaps as expected, she coordinated activities, budgets, schedules, and events, and tirelessly supported its 10 full-time staff members and 12 undergraduate Lang Center Associates (LCAs). Just as importantly, if not more so,Robinson served as the Lang Center’s ambassador to its myriad community partners in Chester and the Greater Philadelphia area.

“Delores was the type of person we all aspire to be,” says the Lang Center’s Director of Community Engaged Learning & Special Projects Katie Price. “She was the heart and rock of the Lang Center — outshining and outworking everyone around her. She always went above and beyond to make everyone feel welcome and cared for, and would have done anything for her Swarthmore family.”

“Delores was the engine and anchor, and that’s why we’re having such a hard time,” says Lang Center Assistant Director Ashley Henry, who coordinated student programs and supported the Chester community with Robinson since her own arrival on campus 13 years ago. “Nothing worked without her — a person of character.”

As one example, Henry describes Robinson’s successful efforts to hire 40-50 students every semester for Dare 2 Soar, a tutoring program in Chester. “She also organized the vans and student drivers to get everyone to Chester every week, without issue,” Henry says. “And when there was no student to drive, she drove them herself. I couldn’t have managed that program without her.”

Jennifer Magee, the Center’s director of program development, implementation, and assessment, also attests to Robinson’s singular impact. “When I’d reach out to vendors on Lang Center business — even if what we wanted wasn’t on the menu, or they didn’t deliver on weekends — you better believe they came through for Delores. She had mad social capital,” says Magee, who worked closely with her for 17 years. “But more than that, she nurtured relationships. She made people feel seen, heard, and valued.”

Robinson also had “a direct hand” in supervising the LCA students at the front desk, says Henry, who co-ran that program with her. “She would roll her chair back and pop her head out of her office to make sure things were OK,” Henry says. “She had candy stocked for their desk shifts and ordered their favorite food from off campus for their monthly meetings. She always had their back.”

“Delores embodied what I think are some of Swarthmore's core values, particularly the idea of a close-knit community grounded in care and compassion,” says the Lang Center's Senior Fellow in Social Innovation and Engaged Scholarship Nimesh Ghimire ’15, who knew her as a student before they reconnected five years ago when he returned as a staff member. “She played an instrumental role in helping run the Center smoothly, without ever calling attention to herself.”

Robinson’s characteristic humility was on full display in 2020 when she received the Suzanne P. Welsh Award, given biennially to a staff member who has made outstanding contributions to the College and demonstrated their commitment to its mission through hard work, creativity, and kindness. Given the remote nature of work at the time, she learned the news during a weekly Zoom staff meeting that grew to include numerous current and former students, colleagues, and faculty members, along with members of her family.

“I’m at a total loss for words,” Robinson said at the time. “You guys don’t know what you mean to me. You’re my extended family. I am so appreciative.”

An excerpt from that recorded Zoom shows the moment Robinson realized the true reason for the meeting. An extended version includes tributes from the more than 40 people who joined the call.

“She treated all of us the same way,” Henry says. “We all got the same Delores. Despite her recent health challenges, she never waned, she never asked for help. She just kept pushing through.”

“Delores maintained an unwavering commitment to the Lang Center, never wanting to let anyone down or for the Center to be presented in anything but the best light,” Jetter says. “She was more than a friend, she was a sister chosen by heart rather than blood. Her friendship came with no conditions or expectations — just pure acceptance and understanding.”