She raised seven kids as a single mom in East Vancouver. Now she will graduate from UBC with a PhD alongside one of them

From the front row, Jocelyne Robinson beamed with pride as her son Randy, in cap and gown, strode across the stage of the Chan Centre auditorium to receive his law degree. 

“I’m more than proud,” said Robinson, wreathed in smiles, at the University of B.C.’s Rose Garden where celebrating grads exchanged hugs and posed for photos with families and friends Wednesday. “I’m just all jittery and heartbeats. I know the work he’s poured into this.” 

But she’s more than just a proud mother. On Thursday, it’ll be her turn to cross the stage. The mother-and-son double graduation is a rare achievement at the university, which is celebrating its 100th graduation year. 

The pair, both Algonquin from the Timiskaming First Nation in Quebec, plan to use their degrees to help improve the lives of other aboriginal people — Randy Robinson as a lawyer, to lend indigenous people a voice in court, and his mother, who earned her PhD in education, to shape education policy and attract First Nations students to subjects such as math and sciences.

“My goal is to leave behind a legacy for the next generation,” said Jocelyne Robinson. “It wasn’t that long ago aboriginal people couldn’t go to university or practise law. Or even leave the reserve. It’s pretty incredible that we’re here.”

Jocelyne Robinson and Randy Robinson pose for a portrait at UBC’s Rose Garden on Wednesday. 

She worked in a Surrey school as a support worker where she witnessed first-hand the under-representation of aboriginal children in certain subjects — an observation that shaped her career goals. A sculptor with a fine arts degree from Emily Carr University, she went on to pursue a master’s degree at Simon Fraser University in First Nations curriculum. 

Her seven kids all completed post-secondary programs. Randy Robinson, 31, will be the second to complete a law degree. 

Growing up near Commercial Drive, he wasn’t insulated from the social ills and poverty prevalent in the inner-city Downtown Eastside neighbourhood just blocks away.

“There’s a lot of inequalities that exist in the community,” he said, noting that First Nations people are over-represented in the criminal justice system and under-represented as lawyers.

“I specifically want to contribute to a resolution towards resolving that inequality. Law gives you the tools and skills that can effect real, lasting change.” 

Randy, who has worked a variety of jobs, including landscaping and scrubbing toilets and floors as a janitor, recalled going into a Vancouver law firm’s office as a first-year law student for a wine-and-cheese shindig and getting a case of déjà vu. 

“It was really familiar. Then I recognized the place and remembered I actually cleaned that floor,” he said with a laugh.

“I’d like to show that with my experience, you don’t have to come from the traditional path to get a law degree. There’s lots of ways to get there.” 

Randy describes his mother as a role model who taught him to see the importance of education, to pursue what you love to do, and most importantly, “to find practical ways to make use of it in the community.” 

On Thursday, he’ll be the one in the front row as his mom receives her degree. On Saturday, mother and son will celebrate together at a ceremony for indigenous students at UBC’s First Nations Longhouse. 

chchan@postmedia.com

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