Kathleen McCartney, President of Smith College, announced in an email to the Smith community on Feb. 25 that she will be stepping down as president in June 2023. McCartney took office in 2013 and will have served as president for 10 years by the time she leaves Smith.
“When I accepted this role, I noted that a good education encourages individuals to seek change, to risk change; a strong institution encourages its community to do the same. Together, as members of this remarkable college, with its venerable traditions and its distinguished history, we continue to embrace change and the opportunities it presents,” said McCartney in her email to the Smith community.
In a separate community-wide email from The Smith College Board of Trustees, the board recognized her as “an inspirational, aspirational and values-driven leader, with contributions that have infused nearly every aspect of the campus. Most notably, she has dedicated herself to Smith’s mission of educating women of promise for lives of distinction and purpose”
“Bill and I have made Smith College our home in every sense, and we know already that it will be difficult to leave this community of extraordinary people who make this college the outstanding place we all know it to be,” said McCartney. “I am heartened that we still have much time to be together—after all, another Mountain Day awaits us this fall, and I will be ready to ring the bells one last time.”
McCartney spoke to The Sophian about her decision to step down.
“On June 30, 2023, I will have completed 10 years as president,” she said. “It has been a great privilege to serve Smith, and I think we have accomplished a great deal as a community. I do not plan to accept another full-time position, but I hope to bring my experience to causes I care about, including education access and women’s leadership.”
As president, McCartney’s achievements include “funding initiatives important to students, such as increased resources in Inclusion & Equity, divestment from fossil fuels, a gluten-free dining facility and so much more,” as well as reimagining Neilson Library, which she described as “the intellectual heart of our campus.”
McCartney’s term at Smith is not done yet. She has many goals for the next 16 months, she said. “I hope to raise funds for Smith to become need-blind in admissions and for Smith to implement our new vision for career development,” said McCartney. This goal is personal for her, and her achievements in this realm are a point of pride.
“I am most proud of my work on college access and affordability,” she said. “As many students know, I was the first in my family to attend college, thanks to generous financial aid. As president, I have done my best to pay it forward. My team and I have raised nearly $200 million for financial aid since I became president. And with the support of the board of trustees, we just eliminated loans from our financial aid packages, added grants for first-year students receiving financial aid, and equalized the student experience in many ways, for example free music lessons. For me, financial aid is personal—it changed my life.”
She also talked about the importance of her relationship with students. “I hope Smithies will remember that their voices mattered to me … When students wrote to me or came to office hours, I listened,” she said. “I plan to continue to spend time with students, because it is the most gratifying part of my job. You can expect to see me at sporting events, concerts, house teas and special occasions like Cromwell Day and Rally Day.”
As for what she will miss most, McCartney cited the students and the community here at Smith. “I will miss Mountain Day,” she said. “In fact, I plan to celebrate it for the rest of my life.”
Students are using this time to reflect on their own experiences with McCartney. “If she sees a Smithie in need, she is going to go beyond what is needed and what she is obligated to do to make sure that this kid under her umbrella gets what she needs and is going to be safe at the end of the day,” said Tamana Attali ’23. Attali said that she will be sad to see McCartney go.
McCartney offered some words of wisdom for students, the community and the next president. “My advice for Smith is to keep changing,” she said. “The best institutions are continuous learning environments that evolve to meet the needs of changing times.”
McCartney is the 11th president of Smith College. She is a graduate of Tufts University and earned master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology from Yale University. At Smith, she has launched initiatives and programs to focus on female leadership and equity, like the Jill Ker Conway Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center and the Wurtele Center for Leadership. Her 2016 fundraising campaign for Smith set a record as the largest and most successful fundraising campaign undertaken by a women’s college.
Some students, like Rose Ordonez-Rodriguez ’25, are looking towards the future. “It would be very great to have a woman of color be our next president,” said Ordonez-Rodriguez. She stressed the need for the next president to further invest in the issues relating to students of color.
The Board of Trustees will be launching a search for Smith’s 12th president in the spring. The search committee, chaired by vice chair of the board of trustees Susan Molineaux ’75, will be composed of trustees, faculty, staff, and students.
