[2] Upon graduating in 1890, Colby College elected him the assistant professor of rhetoric.

In 1900, he studied one year at Harvard University and received a master's degree.

He led the Centennial Fund, which by 1920 had raised $450,000 in pledges and an additional $125,000 from the General Education Board, for which Roberts had specially applied.

His term also saw the creation and dissolution of the Students Army Training Corps at Colby in conjunction with World War I.

While at Colby, he was elected as a director of the Maine Central Railroad Company.