Sarah Willie-LeBreton was named the new President of Smith College on Thursday, Sept. 15, and will begin her term on July 1, 2023. This announcement from the Smith College Board of Trustees came after the February release of current president Kathleen McCartney’s plan to step down.
Willie-LeBreton is the provost and dean of the faculty at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. She received her bachelor’s degree from Haverford College, though in her welcome speech in John M. Greene Hall (JMG), she spoke about taking courses at both Bryn Mawr College, a historically women’s college (HWC), and Spelman College, a historically Black women’s college.
“It was in these places,” she said of the HWCs “that I began to truly feel this experience that my parents hoped I would own: a sense of belonging and the right to a place at each table where I found myself, even if a place had not been set for me.” Smith’s identity as an HWC, she says, is part of what makes it so valuable to its students.
Willie-LeBreton’s doctoral work focused on the impact of Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ (HBCUs) on Black students’ educations, she told The Sophian during an interview. “People who are in sub-dominant groups often find themselves able to focus without the distraction of the various forms of injustice around them,” said Willie-LeBreton. She found that a benefit of institutions like HWCs, similar to HBCUs, is that marginalized students are able to “gain confidence and gain clarity about the way forward.”
Willie-LeBreton plans on spending “the first several months, if not the first year, listening very carefully to what members of the community articulate.”
One of her goals, she shared, is addressing the need for diversity: “I believe that a truly excellent college, as Smith is, needs to be a diverse college, and the more diverse the college is, the more students and faculty are drawing on their own experiences to bring to the co-creation of knowledge.”
When asked for comment, McCartney—who has served as president for nine years—said about Willie-LeBreton, “Having met her, I think she’s the perfect person.”
After the speeches, the college held a reception on Chapin lawn with food and drinks. Students milled about on their lunch break and had the chance to speak personally with President-Elect Willie-LeBreton.
“I feel like she really represents the diverse community of Smith,” said Juliana Makonise ’25, who was at the reception. “She seems to have a whole focus on women empowerment and just creating more spaces for diverse groups of people.”
Maya Martinez ’26 stated: “I’m really excited she’s a person of color, which feels very surface level, but also really important. When you try to emulate diversity and inclusivity, it’s really great when you have the position of power also representing that.”
When Willie-LeBreton begins her presidency in July, she says she’ll retire one of her favorite sweatshirts, which reads “Just a Massachusetts girl in a Pennsylvania world.” “Massachusetts is home,” she said in her speech, “and it will be wonderful to put the sweatshirt away, and actually be home.”
Naomi Scully-Bristol also contributed to this report.
