Bill Text: TX HR1070 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Congratulating Dr. Ruth Simmons, president of Prairie View A&M University, on her selection as principal speaker for the 2021 Harvard University commencement celebration.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-05-18 - Reported enrolled [HR1070 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HR1070-Enrolled.html
| H.R. No. 1070 | ||
|
|
||
| WHEREAS, Ruth Simmons, president of Prairie View A&M | ||
| University, has been named principal speaker for Harvard | ||
| University's commencement celebration on May 27, 2021; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Born in Grapeland, Dr. Simmons grew up as the 12th | ||
| child of sharecroppers; she earned a scholarship to Dillard | ||
| University and after graduating summa cum laude in 1967, she went on | ||
| to earn her doctoral degree in Romance languages and literatures | ||
| from Harvard; for several years, she taught French at the | ||
| University of New Orleans; a new career path in administration took | ||
| her to California State University, and then to the University of | ||
| Southern California, Princeton University, and Spelman College; in | ||
| 1995, she was named president of Smith College, where she focused on | ||
| increasing access and established the first engineering program at | ||
| a women's college in the U.S.; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In 2001, Dr. Simmons became the first African | ||
| American to lead an Ivy League institution when she was appointed | ||
| president of Brown University; she earned wide acclaim for her | ||
| achievements, including need-blind undergraduate financial aid, | ||
| faculty expansion, enhanced curricula, and new facilities; | ||
| moreover, she helped the school begin to confront its links to a | ||
| shameful stain on American history, slavery and the slave trade; | ||
| she created the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and | ||
| Justice, which released a report that has aided other institutions | ||
| in addressing similar echoes of the nation's past; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Dr. Simmons retired in 2012, but six years later, as | ||
| the graduate of a historically Black college, she felt called to | ||
| accept the presidency of Prairie View A&M; while guiding the | ||
| school, she has also continued to promote educational equity | ||
| elsewhere; she testified on behalf of Harvard College in a lawsuit | ||
| challenging its right to consider race as an admissions factor; | ||
| over the years, she has received myriad accolades, among them an | ||
| honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard, and in 2013, she was | ||
| named Chevalier in the French National Order of the Legion of Honor, | ||
| the highest decoration bestowed by the French government; and | ||
| WHEREAS, One of the nation's most dynamic and | ||
| transformational leaders, Ruth Simmons has made a lasting, positive | ||
| imprint on higher education and continues to work tirelessly to | ||
| widen horizons of opportunities for all; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas | ||
| Legislature hereby congratulate Ruth Simmons on her selection as | ||
| principal speaker for the 2021 Harvard University commencement | ||
| celebration and extend to her sincere best wishes for the future; | ||
| and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
| prepared for Dr. Simmons as an expression of high regard by the | ||
| Texas House of Representatives. | ||
| J. Johnson of Harris | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Speaker of the House | ||
| I certify that H.R. No. 1070 was adopted by the House on May | ||
| 14, 2021, by a non-record vote. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
