Samantha Ketterer, Staff writer
Feb. 10, 2023Updated: Feb. 10, 2023 7:26 p.m.
Prairie View A&M University President Ruth J. Simmons will resign from her position at the end of February, months earlier than expected after a falling-out over the decision-making power she would hold in her final months.
Simmons announced her early departure in a letter Friday to the Prairie View A&M community, adding that she was recently informed she could continue with “limited presidential authority” only, as she had to planned to step down from the position June 1.
The Texas A&M University System announced Simmons’ replacement at the historically Black university last year. System officials said they will appoint an interim president to serve until Tomikia LeGrande, current vice president for strategy, enrollment management and student success at Virginia Commonwealth University, assumes her new role as planned.
“No one is more surprised than I by this premature end to my tenure,” Simmons said. “Indeed, I had counted on working assiduously to assure the success of my successor by completing in full and as ably as I can my responsibilities as president. However, I was informed recently that I could only continue as president with limited presidential authority. My immediate response was that I could not and would not agree to being president in name only.”
Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp said Simmons’ departure was because of an administrative disagreement, as he had informed her that all departing university presidents in the system cannot hire senior staff or deans on a permanent basis. They can appoint administrators on an interim basis only.
The policy, which has been in place for decades, is so that new presidents can choose their leadership teams. Sharp said he “afforded the same courtesy” to Simmons when her predecessor announced his retirement, and Texas A&M University did the same for more than a year as it waited for the arrival of its current president, Kathy Banks.
“We simply believe new presidents should be able to choose their top staff,” the chancellor said in a statement. “I informed Dr. Simmons that we will not make exceptions to this policy, and she chose to resign. I am sorry she chose this path, but I am forever grateful for her service at Prairie View A&M University and look forward to even greater things in the future.”
Simmons is beloved by many students, alumni and community members, and her peers consider her a trailblazer in the higher education field.
She came out of retirement to become Prairie View’s president in 2017 and quickly made herself known around the small college town with a knack for forming personal relationships and boosting fundraising success. Last March, she announced that she would be stepping down from her position after a long career in administrative roles, including as president of Brown University and Smith College.
The president said she had “anticipated a brief stint at the helm” and planned to stay on as a professor with no departmental home. But on Friday, Simmons said she could not lower her expectations of being “all in” in her role. Through a university spokesperson, she declined speaking beyond her written statement.
“I will continue to speak out for high standards and just decisions on behalf of the university and other HBCUs,” she wrote. “I will support the efforts of faculty, staff and students who seek the best for themselves and their university. We must not be held hostage to how others choose to see us or treat us, but, instead, continue to chart our own path demonstrating the pride, commitment and integrity that defines us.”
Simmons’ decision sent shockwaves through the university community, leading some alumni to speculate why the system wouldn’t trust a leader with Simmons’ reputation to make good decisions for the next president.
“Why are roadblocks being placed under her? Is it that Prairie View is advancing too much too fast?” said Marie Herndon, a Prairie View resident and 1967 alumna. “Our history is one of continuing to fight and continuing to struggle while striving for excellence. When Dr. Simmons is pushing for this, why are you going to tie our hands?”
Tramyra Simmons, president of the Prairie View A&M University Houston alumni chapter, said Ruth Simmons embraced the university as if she were an alumna herself. But she felt that the longtime educator barely seemed to get recognition from the A&M system when she announced her resignation and when the board of regents selected LeGrande — illustrating a pattern of the system not taking the university seriously enough, she said.
“This was unexpected,” she said. “We knew this day was coming, but not as abruptly as it has.”
Lorenzo Jones, a 2017 master’s student, said he worries about what will happen in the interim.
“A little bit of nerves,” he said. “There’s always that up in the air of ‘what’s next?'”