Outgoing Prairie View A&M University President Ruth Simmons will stay on at the university as a professor and special liaison for fundraising, advocacy, and leadership development.
The Texas Tribune reported on the new role for Simmons, who earlier this month announced her plans to step down from her role when a replacement has been selected. Simmons’ professorship will be interdepartmental and will intersect with a leadership development program to train students and future PVAMU executives.
“Because we are so politically correct, if someone is not dressing correctly, we tend not to go there,” Simmons said. “If somebody is not paying enough attention to the way they speak, we tend not to go there.”
“The greatest success I’ve had has been in getting people to adapt to the fact that they are not seen in the way that they perceive themselves to be seen, and helping them understand how to allow people to see their significant assets as opposed to superficial factors that may be turning people away,” she said.
No timetable has been set for the search or installation of a new president. Simmons, an alumna of Dillard University, has served at Prairie View since 2017.
