Teacher and poet Crystal Williams has been appointed president of Rhode Island School of Design, becoming the private US art and design school's first Black president.
Williams, who is currently vice president and associate provost for community and inclusion at Boston University (BU), will become the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)'s 18th president and its first Black president.
The news comes following the school's former president Rosanne Somerson, who retired at the end of June, announcement of a plan to tackle "multiple racist issues" at the school.
"I believe in the value of art and design"
Williams' appointment is the culmination of RISD's search for a leader "with the global vision to guide RISD's role in helping to create a more just, fair and sustainable society". "I entered this search because I believe in the value of art and design to elevate and amplify the human experience, and to narrate who we have been and who we can become," Williams said.
Crystal Williams is the 18th president of the Rhode Island School of Design
"As a matter of fundamental principle, I believe in the power of art and design to not only, as bell hooks wrote '...tell it like it is' but to also, '...imagine what is possible,'" Williams told Dezeen.
"In this way, artists, designers, and creatives step into the world with courage and love for our collective human endeavor and dare to see and say: here is a new way, a different path...