In Search of the Smoking Gun

Ruth Simmons found herself overseeing an unusual committee meeting this summer at the request of Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri ’65. When a brawl broke out after state police raided a tax-free, and therefore possibly illegal, smoke shop run by the Narragansett Indians, Carci-eri, facing heavy criticism, asked Simmons to chair a group to look into what went wrong. Simmons hosted four public meetings on campus and assiduously questioned witnesses, including Attorney General Patrick Lynch ’87. “We’re not here to cast blame,” Simmons told the Providence Journal. The committee’s October report knocked both sides for poor judgment and recommended better communication between the state and the tribe.