The new president of the University of Vermont said she believes higher education can address a moment marked by anger and hatred.
Marlene Tromp was announced as UVM’s 28th president in March and assumed office this summer, but a Tuesday ceremony served as her formal installation.
“We have seen people destroy the ground under our feet, and the bodies above it,” she said in her presidential address. “We have seen a degradation of service and knowledge, an assault on lifesaving cures, planet-saving discoveries, and individual peace and safety.”
“Higher education will be a part of shoring up knowledge [and] reaching for new horizons, of making a new world from ashes,” she said.
Before coming to UVM, Tromp served as president of Boise State University for six years. At the installation ceremony Tuesday, Gov. Phil Scott said Tromp is positioned to help Vermont.
“It’s no secret: Vermont’s facing a demographic challenge, with fewer young people in our state... I believe UVM can be taken to the next level, and I believe she is the right person, at the right time, to accomplish this,” Scott said.
Tromp said the university’s impact can travel beyond its campus.
“I believe in the power of our faculty, students, and staff to change the world. I believe we can create a better future, and that this moment of suffering and struggle can be the ground upon which we become wiser, braver, and make lasting and meaningful change,” Tromp said.
