At Spelman in Atlanta, Lisa Cook was the “personification of excellence,” said Darlene Smith-Garner, a 2023 graduate of the historically Black women’s college, where Cook also studied.

“We see her as one of our great alumnae, a model,” Smith-Garner said. “To get where she is, she had to overcome a lot and fight."

Cook’s latest fight is with President Donald Trump to keep her position on the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve. On Thursday, Cook sued Trump over an “unprecedented and illegal“ effort to fire her.