Smith College to formally inaugurate new president Kathleen McCartney
Fred Contrada | fcontrada@repub.com Fred Contrada fcontrada@repub.com
After a near miss with a hurricane at Dunn&#8217;s inauguration in 1985, the college has plans to transfer events indoors in case of emergency.
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Smith College President Kathleen McCartney

(Smith College)

NORTHAMPTON – Cue the bagpipes. Ring the bells. Let the discussions about women in leadership begin. Rain or shine, Smith College will inaugurate Kathleen McCartney as its new president Saturday.

McCartney, most recently Harvard’s Graduate School Dean of Education, will be ceremonially installed as Smith’s 11th president amid much pomp and circumstance at 3 p.m. at the college’s indoor track and tennis facility. McCartney officially took over the post July 1 from Carol T. Christ, who stepped down after serving as Smith's president since 2002.

A Medford native, McCartney studied at Tufts and Yale universities and is an internationally recognized authority on child development and early education. As the first generation in her family to attend college, she has remained humble amid the accolades showered upon her. In an interview with The Republican last year, she said she will work to maintain the standard set by Christ, Mary Maples Dunn, Ruth Simmons and Jill Ker Conway, her predecessors. McCartney has also vowed to advance Smith's global agenda in developing women leaders.

"Smith College has played an important role in women's issues," she said.

After a near miss with a hurricane at Dunn’s inauguration in 1985, the college has plans to transfer events indoors in case of emergency. Many, including panel discussions on the future of higher education leadership and the transformational power of women’s leadership, are already scheduled to take place inside. There will also be a bagpipe procession at 2 p.m., an inaugural lunch at 12:30 p.m. and a performance of the musical “The Doll People,” based on a novel by Smith alumna Ann M. Martin, at 8 p.m.

In a homey touch, the college’s dining services will bake blonde brownies based on the recipe of McCartney’s grandmother. Smith expects an audience of some 5,000 at McCartney’s address. Her husband, William Hagan, a former member of the English faculty at Phillips Exeter Academy, their children and McCartney’s 91-year-old father will be among those in attendance.