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The Brown Noser

Following in Simmons's Footsteps, Paxson To Resign

Published Friday, March 9th, 2012

Saying that she wishes to honor the legacy that current president Ruth Simmons left behind, incoming president Christina Paxson announced on Thursday morning that she will step down as president early next semester.

“Ruth Simmons was an effective and popular president because she was not afraid to make big decisions,” said Paxson, addressing students and faculty in Alumnae Hall, “and none was bigger than her decision last fall to resign the presidency. For these reasons, I have chosen to resign at the soonest opportunity.”

Paxson explained that she aims to build on Simmons’ success by modeling her presidential policy loosely on that of her predecessor.

“Setting goals for my presidency was a complicated process, and my rule of thumb throughout it was to ask myself, ‘what would Ruth have done in my position?’ I didn’t need to look very far into the past to find the answer.”

Thomas Tisch ’76, chair of the Presidential Search Committee, said that Paxson’s resignation was exactly the kind of bold move that the committee had expected out of her when it elected her to the presidency last week.

“From our very first meeting with her, we had a strong sense that she understood and embraced Ruth Simmons’s vision for Brown,” Tisch said, “Her eminently Simmonsian decision to resign only validates our initial impressions.”

“Brown’s proud tradition of presidents who either step down or die in office stretches all the way back to its founding,” said Corporation Vice-Chair Jerome Vascellaro ‘74, “it’s a relief to know, right off the bat, that Christina Paxson is upholding that tradition.”

Paxson said that she plans to travel abroad for a year or so and pursue projects she could not devote herself to as University president, after which she will to return to Brown and join Simmons as a professor of Comparative Literature and Africana Studies.

“I cherish the time I have spent as president of this great institution,” said Paxon, “And I have full faith in the corporation’s ability to select a candidate who will in turn carry forth my legacy.”

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