Dr. Molly Easo Smith Out as Manhattanville President

Manhattanville College's president for the last two years has resigned, marking a sudden end to a short—sometimes turbulent—reign in charge of the Purchase campus.

Dr. Molly Easo Smith resigned effective May 31, 2011, school spokesperson J.J. Pryor confirmed Thursday. Pryor said in a statement that Smith left after achieving specific goals and objectives for which she was appointed by the Board of Trustees in 2009.

"This includes the recruitment of a strong leadership team, refocusing the college’s commitment to its core values of academic excellence, civic engagement and social action and the engagement of alumni to the Manhattanville College community," Pryor said.

Robert Hall, chairman of the Board of Trustees, will serve as acting president effective immediately. In the statement Pryor said an interim president will be selected shortly while the school begins the process of finding a permanent replacement.

Smith had served as the school's 11th president. Calls to her office seeking comment were not immediately returned. Pryor said the school is not commenting further at this time.

Manhattanville experienced tragedy and at times controversy during the two years of Smith's leadership. Marissa Pagli, a Manhattanville freshman, was . Although the situation never posed any danger to other students on campus, parents were critical of Smith at times for providing little information during the hours immediately following the tragedy.

In an interview with Patch one year later, Smith said that she spoke openly with students, but was following police orders to avoid publicly discussing the case in the fragile hours after the incident. Stacey Pagli, Marissa's mother, was and charged with second-degree murder on Feb. 24, 2010. She to first-degree manslaughter this spring and was  on April 5, 2011.

Controversy hit the school again later in Smith's first year, when on May 6, 2010, hundreds of students . Students there accused Smith and the Board of Trusties of making changes without openly discussing them with students.

Specifically, students said they were upset about the sudden departure of two popular school administrators. Imma Destafanis, who had served as academic dean and acting vice president for student affairs, and Jose Flores, who had served as vice president of enrollment, left the school that spring despite their popularity at Manhattanville, especially among international students.

Things did appear to settle down in Smith's second year as president. Just two weeks ago when the then-president  for the class of 2011 there were no indications that her time at the school was limited.

A native of India, Smith graduated from Ethiraj Women’s College and Madras Christian College in the University of Madras before earning her Ph.D at in English literature from Auburn University in 1988.

She served as a faculty member and administrator before becoming Manhattanville's president.