Astonique Robinson L’25

Astonique was born in the Bronx, NY and lived in the Bronx, Antigua, W.I., and Trumbull, CT before attending American University in Washington, D.C. Astonique graduated magna cum laude from American University in 2020 with a B.A. in Political Science. In addition to building strong social, cultural, and academic communities at the university, Astonique immersed herself in local and national policy advocacy and research. Astonique was a PPIA law fellow at UC Berkeley in 2019. She served as a volunteer with Reading Partners and as an intern for the United States House of Representatives, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the Urban Institute.

After college, Astonique relocated to Chicago to work on a joint partnership between the University of Chicago’s Crime and Education Lab and Chicago Public Schools. There, Astonique worked alongside researchers, school administrators, students, families, and community members to examine and dismantle the barriers to education that students in the city’s alternative high schools were facing. These experiences solidified Astonique’s belief that law and policy are key levers for social change.

Astonique joins the Penn Carey Law community with a particular interest in education law and child advocacy and an eye toward public interest more broadly. She acknowledges that education is inextricably linked to housing, civil rights, immigration, employment, and a multitude of other issues. Astonique is interested in doing work that provides marginalized people with the necessary resources and opportunities to live dignified lives. She envisions a world where siloed systems of care are integrated to meet the needs of the whole person.