DMACC Urban Campus is full of unique stories. Professor Jessica Robinson-Rabon’s story went from serving our country to serving our communities. She is a professor of English, Writing, Comp I & II, Intro to Literature, and the Co-Advisor of Black Student Alliance (BSA).
“I joined the military in 1999 while still attending high school,” said Robinson-Rabon. During that time, women made up only 18% of new recruits in the military.
Describing her military career, Robinson-Rabon said, “I did basic training in Fort Sill Oklahoma. After training I went to Fort Lee Virginia, where I went to school to be a 92 Yankee, a Supply Specialist that focused on logistics.”
Focusing on organization, planning, and coordination, Robinson-Rabon said, “I ordered everything pertaining to the military from pens, pencils, toilet paper to tanks, guns, and lodging.” She said, “my first duty station was Fort Huachuca Arizona, for three years and then moving on to a navy base in Pensacola, Florida for another three years.”
Robinson-Rabon left the military to pursue her civilian education. She went to the University of South Florida for her bachelor’s in English. “I chose a major in English because I would have a bachelor’s degree that would help me with law school after taking the LSAT,” said Robinson-Rabon. “I wanted to be a juvenile defense lawyer, but during my internships and preparing to take my LSAT, I realized I wanted to help people at a different level—before they got into the criminal justice system.”
During her senior year in college, she realized she missed the military. “So, I joined the Army Reserves. After graduating college, I was given an opportunity to do a humanitarian mission in Honduras, living with the population and working with engineers while building schools, and upon my return, I was offered a full-time position as their supply sergeant,” said Robinson-Rabon.
She spent the next six years in the military, which is how she ended up stationed at the 103rd Exploitation here at Fort Des Moines. She met her husband, who was born and raised here in Des Moines.
She was deployed to Kuwait doing coordination. After her return, Robinson-Rabon said, “I decided to start my family, so I took a position here in the reserve as a logistic instructor, which took me back to the teaching realm. I became a reading coach at Hillis Elementary school. I then applied for an adjunct position here at DMACC, where I was hired for ESL, and a year later for the Literacy Lead for Hi-Set.”
Robinson-Rabon worked on Hi-Set here at DMACC while still in the reserves. She said, “My last deployment was in Syria in 2018, while Isis was there.”
Upon returning from the military in 2019, she obtained a full-time position at DMACC and became the Advisor of BSA. She retired from the military in August of 2023 as a master sergeant promotable. “The same energy I put into my military career I wanted to put into education. That is the one reason I switched from pre-law to English; I wanted to be of service,” said Robinson-Rabon. ”It prepared me to work with diverse people of all levels and to meet people where they are. The military also taught me the politics of the system, and understanding how to communicate with higher ups.”
Abi Castaneda, now a fellow professor and Robinson-Rabon’s officemate, said, “I first met Jessica while working in the DMACC Hi-Set program. As a colleague, Jessica thrives on creating community and fostering meaningful interaction. She always has a project or event in the works. For example, she published a series of children’s books based on her own family heritage. I am so very thankful to have worked and learned from Jessica, and our college, city, and state are better because she is here. Like Professor Jessica, we should all look to serve the people around us for the good-better of our community.”
Her discipline can be seen in the way she thinks about DEI. Robinson-Rabon said, “DMACC Urban campus is the most diverse campus in the state of Iowa. When you take away word choice, it does not just hurt our black and brown students, it hurts our disabled and blind students, students from the Easter Seal program, our LBGTQIA, and our religious population of students. To say we do not want DEI on a campus that prides itself on having the most diverse campus is a challenge for me.”
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