Robert 'Bob' Perrin, C'13

Robert 'Bob' Perrin, C'13

April 25, 2013
Graduating senior comes full circle from 1964

Robert Perrin—call him at his office at Thomson Reuters and he’ll answer as Bob—has a secret. Maybe not exactly a secret, but it’s something that’s kept him on his toes throughout his entire professional life.

Perrin doesn’t have an undergraduate degree.

But that will change on May 11, 2013, when Perrin will walk across the stage and earn a Bachelor of Liberal Arts (BLA) from the University of Richmond.

At Commencement, when we see all of the graduating students in mortarboard and robes processing into the Robins Center, we tend to take for granted that earning a degree is important for career advancement and development.

For Perrin, earning his degree is a point of personal pride.

In September 1964, Perrin enrolled in University College (UC) junior college (Perrin remembers it as University College day school). He admits that his focus was less on academics and more on sports—he considered himself “a pretty good athlete” back then, but now reflects that he was probably “just average”—and as a result left University College in spring 1966.

On further reflection, Perrin admits that he wasn’t even thinking about college until his senior year at George Wythe High School. Only when his guidance counselor called him in and asked him where he planned to attend college did he even consider it. His guidance counselor recommended a new University of Richmond program at the recently-established University College, and Perrin followed that recommendation.

In fall 1966, Perrin transferred to Richmond Professional Institute (RPI), which combined with MCV to form VCU a few years later. The problem was, word of his transfer didn’t reach the Selective Service, which simply noted that he was no longer eligible for a student deferment. As a result, his draft board notified him that he was eligible to be drafted. Harboring no desire to serve in Vietnam, Perrin left RPI and enlisted with the National Guard in 1968, stationed at Byrd Field here in Richmond.

Following his active duty assignment, Perrin started working in the Virginia Department of Taxation. This job would define his professional trajectory, as he has remained employed in the taxation field—largely dealing with banks and bank trusts—since 1968. In October 1968, Perrin married. With this, the two factors that would affect his future college experience were in place: family and work.

Perrin has been personally and professionally successful. He and his wife have raised three children, and he works for a firm that started with no clients in 1998 and now has over 200,000 corporate clients across the country. But without an undergraduate degree, Perrin remained on the defensive throughout his career against peers with undergraduate and even advanced degrees. Perrin recalls, “You’re constantly looking over your shoulder a bit. The way I survived—and I use the word ‘survived’—you have to be constantly prepared, be pretty well devoted to your job.”

Throughout his career, Perrin has been a little too busy with family and work to go back to school. He even tried it a couple of times, but his personal and professional obligations never seemed to abate long enough to see it through.

Perrin survived, even thrived, without the degree. But lacking the degree didn’t quite sit right. As a point of pride, he knew he needed to finish what he started.

So in 2009, telling no one but his wife, Perrin contacted the School and enquired whether he could complete his degree in five years. After reviewing his transfer work, he started taking classes under academic amnesty—his grades from UC and RPI were not adequate to be accepted immediately into the degree program. And in 2010 he enrolled in the Bachelor of Liberal Arts program.

Three years later—a year earlier than his goal, and (up to this last semester, at least) earning A’s in all his classes—Perrin will walk across the Commencement platform as a graduate of the University of Richmond, earning a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts.

Perrin has since told his family about earning his degree. His 93-year-old father, his children and his wife are cheering him on all the way. He confides that he told so few about returning to school at the beginning because he wasn’t sure he could do it, and he didn’t want others to know until he was confident of success.

He’s confident now. So confident that he offers this advice to current SPCS students: “Try not to take a break... try to maintain the momentum and continuity. Take advantage of the opportunities that the school offers for adults to get back into the classroom.”

For Perrin, achieving and surpassing his goal is not simply a professional accomplishment. It’s a source of intense and immense pride. “In my case, it’s not just that [the professional importance of an undergraduate degree]. The sense of pride and accomplishment is equally important.”

Below: Bob Perrin (kneeling) was among the first students to enter the new junior college of University College in 1964. 49 years later, he’ll graduate with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts.

Richmond Times-Dispatch photo