Former Prairie View A&M President Ruth Simmons speaks truth to power (1553 hits)
HIGHLIGHTS:
Host Khambrel Marshall sits down with former Prairie View A&M president Ruth Simmons, who resigned from her post in February. She discusses her plans and the impact of politics in education.
Amid the state takeover of Houston ISD, experts with the Houston Education Research Consortium say the research is clear about past takeovers nationally.
After six years at the helm of Prairie View A & M University, President Ruth Simmons had made the decision to retire as of June 1st. Those plans rapidly changed during a span of several days in January.
“The system approached me and asked me to stop making appointments,” Simmons said on this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall. Saying she expected to function as president until her retirement date, she said she asked for clarification and received no response from the Chancellor of the Texas A & M System.
The next actions that transpired were surprising and led to her early departure. She talks about what took place to hasten her exit.
Other comments of interest:
On the A & M Board of Regents: “There’s quite a bit of distance between what the regents understand about Prairie View and what Prairie View needs to do.”
On efforts to cut back African American Studies on college campuses: “Universities are about truth telling and promoting facts not foolishness.”
On the potential state take over of HISD: “Non-experts, reaching into the schools trying to determine what to do, that’s very flawed.”
