Robin Leonard never took a break.
“Even her breaks weren’t breaks,” said Robin Leonards’ son, Alex Leonard. “She would sit and read her textbooks or play mind games or something like that. Her breaks were not breaks.”
Alex said she was constantly working, preparing for her classes and helping students.
The ETSU psychology professor died on Jan. 29 following a stabbing in her home, which left her on life support for 11 days.
Despite her constantly busy schedule, Alex said Robin always made time for people.
“She always just had time for people, even when she didn’t have time,” said Alex. “She was really bad about ‘Oh, I have this entire class with a brand-new textbook to get ready in two or three weeks. Oh, so and so came into town? Yeah, come on over and spend a couple nights.’”
ETSU student Gracie Carter said she remembers Robin’s nature to make time for people, especially her students, well.
“It was like our third test of the semester and I was like, ‘Robin, I don’t know what the hell this chapter is about. What I do know is I’m going to fail.’” said Carter. “And so, she’s like, ‘Alright, come to my office. Let’s figure this out.’”
Carter said Robin began making jokes out of the questions to help her remember the answers.
“She’s like ‘Alright, if you don’t get it by the book, we’re going to learn it by joke,’” said Carter. “And I ended up making like a 93 on that test, which is amazing. It was that kind of commitment to her students that made her so popular, makes her so loved and makes her so missed.”
Matt Palmatier, a professor in the ETSU Department of Psychology, echoed sentiments about Robin’s hardworking nature and dedication to her students.
Palmatier talked about a program he and other psychology department faculty had worked on to help first-year college students in the introduction to psychology course, which allowed students to retake an exam after meeting certain criteria. Palmatier said he and the other faculty members involved were receiving compensation for organizing the program, while Robin was doing it for free to benefit her students.
“Robin wasn’t getting anything out of it, and it was extra work for her for her intro courses,” said Palmatier. “But she knew that there was a population of students that needed this sort of extra help, and so she took the extra time to get the documentation for when the students completed the things that they needed to complete and then gave them an extra shot at one of their exams…and she didn’t have to.”
Robin’s former student Blythe Lybrand remembers Robin’s lectures as inspiring and said they made her respect Robin greatly.
“She would also always just tell us these wonderful stories from how she grew up and how she became who she is and the different things that influenced her life,” said Lybrand. “And just watching her overcome so many things as an individual was really inspiring to see. So, I had a lot of respect for her. I loved her a lot, [I] still do.”
Alex said Robin earned her students’ respect through her actions.
“She never thought she was better than anybody else,” said Alex. “She never was condescending to the students. I mean, hell, the students called her Robin. A bit of that’s because she didn’t want to feel old, but I firmly believe respect comes from a place where your actions demand it, not from where your title demands it, and my mom was one that practice that ideology.”
Many of her former students and colleagues would describe her as a spitfire, but Alex said the more accurate word is honest.
“She would tell you exactly how she felt and exactly how the situation was, even if that was going to create a negative consequence,” said Alex. “She always thought the consequences – she didn’t care about the consequences. She cared about doing the right thing.”
Carter said Robin was always doing what she felt was right.
“Robin was just this fiery, vivacious, loud force of nature,” said Carter. “I mean, nothing stopped her. She took up for students, she went to bat, I can’t even count how many times, for students. When she thought that there was legit discrimination or there were problems, she would be the first one to be right with that student in the chairs office being like ‘This is not okay, this is not right, we’ve got to fix this.’”
ETSU student Raven Woods agreed with other’s interpretations of Robin’s honesty.
“She has that personality, that, it’s a light in the room and it’s just very powerful,” said Woods. “She was very powerful as a person.”
Alex said Robin never judged those around her, and made it a point to pass the lesson to him.
“She always would advocate in not judging anyone because she hadn’t lived their life at all,” he said.
Alex said Robin practiced non-judgement every day, and often spent time loving and educating people around her who many others would not, such as a friend struggling with severe addiction and a friend who was physically abusive.
“I didn’t take that perspective,” said Alex. “There’s no one that just comes with it, naturally, in my opinion. I don’t know where my mom learned it, but she saw the value in it, and she practiced it every day, and it is something that you have to practice.”
Woods told a story about how during her first day of classes, she broke down crying when speaking to Robin about her anxiety.
“After hearing her first lecture, I was just like ‘She’s here to help,’” said Woods. “She didn’t judge me. She assured me that it’s normal to go through these issues.”
Woods and other students in her behavioral analysis class, which was supposed to have been taught by Robin, have set up a GoFundMe to help Robin’s family with whatever expenses may arise, and they have currently raised $465. Donations can be made here.
