College history, and during a period of considerable social change. He retired in 1987. Gloria Randle Scott became Bennett's 12th president and its second woman in that position.
Gloria Randle Scott started as President of Bennett College on July 1, 1987. She established the Women's Leadership Institute and the Center for African Women and Women of the African Diaspora. Bennett admitted new African immigrants as well as students who were African nationals. In 1989, poet and activist Maya Angelou was installed as a member of the board of trustees. Scott was President of Bennett for 14 years before retiring in 2001.
=== 21st Century ===
Bennett underwent numerous changes under Sister President Emerita Johnnetta B. Cole, who was inaugurated in July 2002. In her first year at Bennett, Cole erased the school's $3.8 million deficit and raised an estimated $15 million in funding. Before Cole's tenure, Bennett College had been under SACS probation for two years, which was finally lifted in 2002. The school was revitalized …
