Pioneer University Leader to Address Rust College Graduates

HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. — A path-blazing university president will address graduates at Rust College.

The Holly Springs school expects 113 students to receive diplomas at the ceremony Saturday.

Dr. Ruth Simmons, currently president of Prairie View A&M University in Texas, will address graduates. Simmons was the first African-American person to lead an Ivy League school, serving as Brown University’s president from 2001 to 2012.

Simmons earned a bachelor’s degree from Dillard University in New Orleans and master’s and doctoral degrees from Harvard. She was a professor and administrator at a number of universities, serving as president of Smith College from 1999 to 2001.

Rust is a historically Black college chartered by the United Methodist Church.