Ruth J. Simmons, former president of Brown University
and Smith College, has been chosen as the speaker for
commencement on May 17.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHESTER HIGGINS JR.
Commencement weekend is filled with memories of years spent at DePauw University, the celebration of the beginning of a new chapter and melancholy of no longer being a student. The weekend concludes with the formal Commencement Exercises, which include an address given by a notable member of society.
The speaker for the University’s 176th Commencement Exercises will be Ruth J. Simmons, President of Brown University from 2001-2012.
Simmons was the first female president at Brown and the first African American president of an Ivy League Institution.
"Seniors always want the same two speakers: Ellen DeGeneres and Michelle Obama," said DePauw President Brian Casey.
However there are students who see the value in a speaker outside of the traditional spotlight.
“As a senior woman, I’m excited that an incredibly accomplished, trailblazing woman was chosen to be our commencement speaker,” senior Rachel Massoud said. “Dr. Simmons has done some amazing work in higher education and I’m looking forward to her remarks to the senior class.”
While at Brown she completed a $1.4 billion initiative to improve academic programs. Her stellar leadership earned the confidence of many distinguished alumni who made gifts of over $100 million back to the university, which provided valuable scholarship opportunities to current and future students.
"She's going to be a lot different than Kal Penn—Penn was a lot of fun—but Ruth has done so much academically, that I expect everyone who hears her speak to take a lot away from it,” said Casey.
Along with her immense academic achievements Simmons has earned countless prestigious awards that include the 2002 Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal and The Rosenberger Medal from Brown University in 2011.
Students like senior Parker Schwartz agree with Casey and believe she has a valuable message to instill upon this year’s graduates.
“She’s one of the most successful and popular university presidents in the history of the Ivy League and her perspective is one every student can value,” he said.
She joins the ranks of New York Times Bestselling Author Barbara Kingsolver, ’77, Actor Kal Penn, Marine Biologist Wallace J. Nichols, ’89 and many more renowned people who have been selected to give addresses in DePauw’s history.
Said Massoud: “I’m honestly just excited because she’s a woman who went where no other woman has gone before her [Presidency at Brown].”