The Phi Beta Kappa society, one of the University’s oldest organizations, held its annual Literary Exercises yesterday in Sanders Theater as part of the week’s Commencement activities.

Brown University President Ruth J. Simmons emphasized the importance of taking full advantage of the educational and personal opportunities available at institutions such as Harvard to the Phi Beta Kappa inductees for the Class of 2003.

The inductees of the honorary academic society also listened as Pulitzer Prize-winner Mary Oliver recited a poem during the morning ceremony.

Simmons, the first black president of an Ivy League University, said that taking advantage of these opportunities helped her to develop professionally and personally by challenging herself and the obstacles that appear to people of all walks of life.

The youngest of 12 children of Texas sharecroppers, Simmons was the first in her family to attend college, graduating from New Orleans’ Dillard University in 1967 before receiving her Ph.D. from Harvard’s Department of Romance Languages and Literatures in 1973.

Simmons said that as a woman and an African-American she had to prove to both herself and others that she belonged at Harvard.

“I had to prove every day that I deserved a place at Harvard,” Simmons said of her days as a student, adding that she had often asked herself, “Why am I here?”

Simmons said she found the answer in her passion for French Literature.

“Literature was a lifeline for me,” Simmons said.

But excelling as a student relieved Simmons of the duty to constantly have to prove herself intellectually and freed her to do what she wanted to do professionally.

“I was strong enough to choose and make my choice,” Simmons said.

In the end, she chose academia.

Her academic leadership positions prior to taking the helm at Brown included Provost of Spelman College, Vice-Provost at Princeton University and President of Smith College.

Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies and Master of Lowell House Diana L. Eck, the president of Harvard’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter, praised Simmons for championing high standards and equal opportunities in her career in education.

Eck said that under Simmons’ “energetic leadership,” Smith became the first women’s college to establish a strong engineering department.