Dr. David Holmes Swinton may have made history by becoming the longest serving president of Benedict College, but now, Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis is making some history of her own as the first woman to lead the historically Black college in Columbia, S.C., replacing Swinton who officially retired from his post last week after 23 years on the job.
This isn’t the first time that Artis has shattered a glass ceiling.
In 2014, she was named the first female president of Florida Memorial University in Miami after spending a year as its interim leader. Prior to her arrival at FMU, Artis was provost of Mountain State University and had an established legal career before joining academe.
“I am humbled and grateful and very, very excited,” said Artis in a phone interview with Diverse. She said that her although her time at FMU was wonderful, she is now ready to “take the same skills and talents to a similar and larger environment
Dr. Marybeth Gasman, the director of the Center for Minority Serving Institutions and the Judy & Howard Berkowitz professor of Education at the University of Pennsylvania said that she does not know Artis well but is “happy to see more women leading HBCUs.”
A rising star among college presidents, she was reportedly a finalist for the presidency at Jackson State University. During her tenure at FMU, she has been credited with advancing bold initiatives to support student success through bridge programs, international education and STEM, said Dr. Ivory A. Toldson, the former executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
“President Roslyn Clark Artis is a visionary leader who knows how to innovate programs and connect academics to service,” said Toldson, who is currently the President at Quality Education for Minorities and a full professor in the School of Education at Howard University. “She is an example of the fresh leadership that will be necessary for the future viability of HBCUs.”
