Affable President Wright Charms Students, Faculty

The latest in the line of Smith presidents is a short, lanky, Texan who combines a Harvard accent with a southern drawl. The astute female undergraduate would quickly point out that whisps of his red hair droop quietly over his right eye, and that he is always smiling. She might go on to say that Benjamin F. Wright is very, very popular in Northampton.

Wright was plucked from the Harvard faculty two years ago, shortly after he had started the General Education ball rolling. As a professor of Government he had been well liked and highly respected, and in getting the Smith job he defeated many of the country's top educators as well as the flamboyant politician, Clare Booth Luce.

His appearance as Smith was greeted by somewhat of a bewilderment on the part of the student body. A story is told of an incident shortly after his arrival when he was walking down one of the main streets of Northampton.

A star-eyed freshman was walking the other way and as he passed she said, "Well, some lucky senior must have a date tonight." Wright started, turned to the young lady and said, "I did not come to Northampton for that purpose, my dear." So the story goes.

As an administrator Wright has been concerned primarily with the academic side of the college. In a recent public address when the question of finances arose, Wright remarked that he was less concerned with "deficits" than he was with "stagnation." Wright has stated that he is aiming to keep education vigorously alive, to avoid the rut of "academic complacency."

In the 76 years of Smith's history, there have been five president's all male. When Laurenus Clark Seeyle began his work in 1875 the community was comprised of six faculty members, 14 students, and 13 acres of land. Through the regimes of Marion LeRoy Burton, William Allan Neilson and Herbert Davis the college continued to grow, and grow until it reached its present state, the largest woman's college in the world.

Wright took office in the middle of Smith college's largest fund drive--a search for $7,000,000. At his first commencement, on the appointed hour, the goal was surpassed by $42.