Carefully taking down the framed
bulldog drawing that hangs near his
desk, Robbie Graves, assistant vice
president of undergraduate admissions, says, "This is a very
special picture to me."
Graves remembers a local student he'd encouraged to attend Union. "He drew it for me in his high school art class." As he turns it over, he reads a handwritten note that says, "Mr. Graves, thank you for all you have done for me."
It's one of the many memories Graves cherishes in his role as an admissions counselor. For 35 years, he has worked in the world of admissions, and it doesn't take long for anyone to realize why he has remained steadfast despite the grueling cycle of admissions life.
For Robbie Graves, it's a calling.
"I just love what I do," he says. "I feel like it's ministry, a calling, work that has eternal impact, making a difference."
Graves graduated from Union in
1987 and became a sales representative for a local music store. While
calling on a musician who worked at
Lake County High School in Tiptonville, he saw his enrollment counselor,
Elizabeth Wingo, talking with prospective Union students.
"I can still picture the scene," Graves says. "It hit me right there: that is what I want to do."
Even then Graves sensed God's call and confirmation on his life's work.
This call to come alongside potential students came to fruition not long afterwards when he applied to Union and was hired as an admissions counselor in July of 1989.
One of the first students to experience Graves' encouragement was Ben Garrott. Arriving at Union in the fall of 1990, Garrott was part of the first class Graves recruited.
Garrott, a Nashville native, hadn't initially considered Union until a summer baseball tournament in high school brought him to Jackson where he met Union faculty member, Judy LeForge, who first urged him to consider Union in the future.
Graves reached out to Garrott, encouraging him to apply to Union's Scholars of
Excellence program. Though Garrott was
one ACT point short, Graves' confidence
and steady encouragement spurred him
to take the test one last time. When the
scores came in, it was Graves who called
him with the exciting news: he'd made it.
"He may have been as excited as I was," Garrott recalls of the celebratory call, which marked the beginning of his transformational journey at Union.
As the Scholars of Excellence event approached, Graves soothed his anxieties about the interview process, encouraging him and helping him feel prepared. Garrott credits Graves for helping him start on the right track and connect him with a lifelong community.
Garrott would eventually meet his wife at Union, earn a degree in accounting and go on to build his career in West Tennessee. Later, Garrott's children would both attend Union and carry on the Union legacy within his family.
Around the same time, Jennifer Delk, associate professor of nursing and chair for undergraduate programs at Union, met Graves at a college fair when she was a high school student, and it was Graves' ability to build a relationship with her that led her to apply and eventually attend Union.
Hailing from the Nashville area, Delk wanted to leave Nashville and attend a Christian university. Union's nursing program caught her attention, but she only knew one person who attended Union. Graves encouraged her to apply, convincing her that he could see her thriving at Union. Graves even traveled back to Nashville to meet Delk's family and share more about the school.
While at Union, Delk met her husband,
also recruited by Graves, finished multiple degrees and went on to work in the
nursing field for over 20 years.
Speaking for herself and her husband, Delk says, "We personally both thrived here, and ended up finding community here in Jackson."
She later returned to Union to teach in the same nursing program that shaped her as a student. But her connection to Union didn't end there. Graves has also built relationships with her children.
Delk says Graves guided her children through the process, offering just enough information without overwhelming them. Now, her daughter is at Union studying music, while her son, a soon-to-be high school graduate, eagerly texts Graves with updates on test scores and application details.
"Union is designed to draw certain people, and I think [Graves] sees that in certain people and sees that they'd be a good fit for [Union], that they'd grow and thrive in this community here," she says.
Admissions counselors play a crucial role in engaging potential students, Delk says.
"A lot of admissions counselors come and go, but he's been a steady piece through it all," she says.
The steadying force that drives Graves is his eternal perspective. Graves has kept his focus on doing his work for the glory of God. He genuinely loves helping students find their place, but more than that, he is committed to a higher calling.
He wants to leave an eternal impact.
Graves recognizes that entering freshmen are at a "crossroads time" in their lives, and he hopes the Lord can use him to help students attend Union where perhaps their college years can become, as President Samuel W. "Dub" Oliver has stated, a "greenhouse for their faith rather than a graveyard."
"That's important stuff," Graves says. "That's ministry."
Before stepping into a college fair, Graves says that he and other admissions counselors often pray, "Lord, I pray you will open the path for the divine appointments that you have here tonight. Use me as your servant."
Thankfully, Graves has been ready for those encounters. He saw one of them come full circle at a college fair in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 2002, when he introduced a student to Union.
"I have never felt more compelled to talk to somebody," Graves says.
When this particular student passed by Union's display table without a glance, Graves did something admissions counselors aren't supposed to do: he left his table and began to search for the student.
Finding him, Graves invited him to stop by the Union table for a chat. Eventually, that student would attend and graduate from Union with his bachelor's degree, go on to complete his Master of Divinity, earn a Ph.D. and eventually return to Union in 2017 as an assistant professor and associate dean.
In 2024, that student, Jacob Shatzer, would become the current Union provost.
Shatzer remembers the night he met Graves at that college fair hosted by a local church in Cedar Rapids. On Oct. 23, 2002, he and his girlfriend, now wife, Keshia, attended the fair with hopes of pinning down their future college plans.
As a senior in high school, Shatzer had "sensed a pretty clear call to ministry" and was looking for a college where he could study and prepare for that call. He recalls seeing Union University and Jackson, Tennessee, and thinking, "Oh, that's really far away." He wasn't opposed to traveling for college, but he had not searched for colleges that far from home.
"I remember Robbie stopping me, and I kind of read it as, 'There's not a lot of people stopping at this booth because it's so far away,'" Shatzer says.
But as Graves pointed out, it was more than that.
It was a divine appointment.
"Robbie took the initiative to slow me down and stop me and tell me about Union," Shatzer says.
Years later, Shatzer still recalls that Graves' "love and excitement for Union definitely drew me in."
As a first-generation college student, Shatzer was looking for good scholarships as well as a college that would grow his faith and knowledge.
At the time, Union's Scholars of Excellence program offered one of few full scholarships available at Christian universities, and as Graves shared more about the aid Union offered, it became a viable and attractive option for Shatzer.
Graves admits that he loves telling the story of Union and holds its core values close. Sharing Union's desire to be Excellence-Driven, Christ-Centered, People-Focused and Future-Directed keeps him centered on the characteristics that embody Union.
"If you're ever talking about Union, speaking about Union, making any decision at Union, anything, you filter it through those four things," he says. "And I love those four things. I believe in them.
"They've kept me passionate about the place all these years," Graves says.
Shatzer notes that it's rare "for someone to do the kind of work that he's done, for as long as he's done it in the same place, and that's a gift."
"It's a gift to Union students, and it's a gift to staff and faculty," Shatzer says.
Throughout the years, Graves kept in touch with the Shatzer family, connecting with them during visits to that same Cedar Rapids college fair. Shatzer siblings would go on to attend Union, and Graves would eventually even play the piano at Jacob and Keshia's wedding.
Connie Teel, who has worked with Graves for 10 years, knows that what he offers Union and the greater community is a true gift. Teel notes that there are very few people like Graves.
"Robbie loves the Lord, loves his family and loves Union (in that order) so incredibly well," Teel says. "He is so intentional and personable, and will let you know, with all sincerity, that we want you at Union.
"He has built quite a legacy," Teel says. "He is now recruiting the children of the students he recruited 25+ years ago."
Lee Tankersley, pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Jackson, can connect many of his key life moments to Graves. Most recently, he has had the joy of watching Graves build a relationship with his children as they entered the college application process.
Tankersley first met Graves at a college fair in western Kentucky and almost walked past the Union display table. Graves, though, caught his attention and pulled him into a conversation.
Tankersley was initially unsure about attending college in Tennessee; however, after a campus visit and a tour of the dorms, Tankersley knew Union was moving up on his list of potential colleges. But it was Graves' support that made the difference.
Called to the ministry at an early age, Tankersley began preaching while in high school, and Graves drove to Kentucky to support him while he preached one of his first sermons.
"It really felt like, here's someone who cares about me," Tankersley says.
Tankersley says the investment Graves made in him — the visitations, calls and coming to support him during that sermon — made him feel like he had a genuine friend. Graves didn't treat him like a number or a means to an end, and he notices that Graves is like that for everyone.
"You're a person in whom he's going to invest and care for and love," Tankersley says. "He does it all."
Recalling times Graves advocated on his behalf, invited him to church and helped him one summer, Tankersley says, "There was no bait and switch. The guy investing in me to get me to Union was the guy that kept investing in me as a student."
Graves became one of the most important people in his life at Union. Tankersley thrived at Union and even met his wife here. Now he has children attending Union, and it was Graves who met with them during the application process, encouraged them to apply for scholarships and cheered them on as they took tests or attended the Scholars of Excellence weekend.
As long as there are students seeking their next step, Graves will continue embracing divine appointments — one conversation at a time. Garrott, Delk, Shatzer and Tankersley represent just a few of the many relationships Graves has nurtured during his time at Union.
Behind his desk, a dedicated filing cabinet drawer overflows with thank-you notes, birthday cards and words of encouragement from students, families and colleagues — small but lasting reminders of the connections he has forged.
One day, Graves plans to sit down
with the notes and memories collected over the years and reflect on
the lives he has touched — each note,
each story, a reminder that a life devoted to others, rooted in God's calling, leaves an eternal impact.
