During Smith’s senior year, she served as the Managing Editor for Choragos, the recently changed name for the Mount Holyoke student newspaper. Led by Julia Van Camp ‘69, the name also marked the shift in the aims of the publication from neutral reporting to active political engagement. At this time, the newspaper aspired to be a stimulating force on campus and lead people to a more serious consideration of important issues.
Smith advocated for the hiring of Black faculty and adding Black Studies to the curriculum. In her article “Blacks,” Smith used the word “will” to speak to future norms, a necessity, and the expectation for Mount Holyoke to improve the conditions and educational relevance for Black students.
In common with many schools across the nation, Columbia University was experiencing student unrest in the spring of 1968. Students were engaged in protest in response to revelations of specific institutional support for the Vietnam War and the building of a gymnasium in Harlem. While at the New School, this activism of campus reform inspired and encouraged Smith. Returning to Mount Holyoke in the fall and after hearing Columbia student leader Mark Rudd speak at a local college, Smith, along with Eleanor “Ellie” Light ’69 and Elizabeth “Betsey” Pinkston ’69, invited Rudd to speak at Mount Holyoke the following day. Through guerilla promotion — tactics like chalk writing on sidewalks and quickly creating flyers — Rudd spoke at noon in the Mount Holyoke amphitheater to 500 people.