92: Here I Am with Rice University President Reginald DesRoches

Reginald DesRoches, the eighth president of one of the most prestigious universities in the country, recently completed the first year of his historical post. The Haitian-native is the first Black president, the first immigrant and the first engineer to ever lead Rice since the founding of the university in 1921. But the history of Rice is a bit complicated and very controversial. Join I SEE U as host Eddie Robinson chats candidly with the Chief Executive Officer of Rice, Dr. Reginald DesRoches. A university that once banned Black undergraduates from attending, DesRoches shares his feelings about leading an institution whose founder, William Marsh Rice, profited from the slave trade. With DesRoches establishing the first Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Rice, a private institution, he offers up his perspective as to why state lawmakers are looking to dismantle those same offices at public universities across Texas. Plus, we learn more about his mentor—the former president of Prairie View A&M University, Dr. Ruth Simmons—and the role she’s played in his career since his arrival at Rice in 2017. A pioneer in higher education herself, Simmons now serves as the President’s Distinguished Fellow and Advisor at Rice.