Seven Sisters Get First Black President

A sharecropper’s daughter took her place at the head of Smith College on Saturday with a promise to uphold the school’s mission of allowing women to pursue knowledge at its best.

“Education is today the subject of attack and derision as many call for sweeping changes. Many speak of new regulations that will limit curricula. Yes, some would have us set aside the characteristics of our profession in favor of production line procedures,” Ruth Simmons told about 5,000 people at her inauguration.

“Whatever fancy things we do in the academy, none is as powerful as a teacher guiding a student’s mind toward discovery, knowledge and achievement.”

She is the ninth president of the 2,700-student women’s college founded in 1871, and the first black president at any of the Seven Sisters, a group of elite private women’s colleges. The other members are Radcliffe, Barnard, Wellesley, Vassar, Bryn Mawr and Mount Holyoke.

Previously vice provost at Princeton University, Simmons, 50, took over from retiring Smith president Mary Maples Dunn on July 1. Dunn was president for 10 years.

The great-granddaughter of slaves, Simmons has said she intends to attract more minority students to Smith, where only 86 of its 2,700 students are black.

One of 12 children, Simmons grew up in Texas and attended Dillard University in New Orleans. She received a master’s and a doctorate in Romance languages from Harvard.