PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Dr. Ruth J. Simmons, who formerly served as president at Prairie View A&M University, is slated to speak at this year’s commencement, despite resigning from the university last month.
Simmons, who was president of PVAMU since 2017, submitted her resignation after a reported disagreement with Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp over hiring during the rest of her term as president.
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In a letter to the campus community, Simmons said she was informed that “she could only continue as president with limited presidential authority.”
Simmons was supposed to serve until the incoming president, Tomikia LeGrande, assumed the role on June 1.
After she resigned, Rice University announced she will join their team as a President’s Distinguished Fellow, where she will provide input on the development of Rice’s Center for African and African American Studies.
Prior to Prairie View A&M, Simmons was named president at Brown University in 2001, making her the first Black woman to lead an Ivy League institution. She is also a former director of African American studies at Princeton University and past chair of the Harvard University Visiting Committee for African American Studies and, in 2003, she led the Slavery and Justice Initiative at Brown.
Prairie View A&M’s Commencement is scheduled for Saturday, May 13 at 8:30 a.m. in Panther Stadium. The ceremony will be live streamed.
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