UVM President Marlene Tromp, with Governor Scott to her right. UVM photo.
by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine
Led by the traditional bagpipers, a colorful procession of over 100 university leaders, scholars, and dignitaries from around the nation — all in full academic regalia — packed the Ira Allen Chapel at the University of Vermont for the formal installation its 28th president, Marlene Tromp, Tuesday afternoon. Tromp and all the speakers made it very clear that UVM would not back down from its mission of "For People and Planet."
In her speech, whose message was echoed by others, Tromp used the metaphor of the great Yellowstone fire of 1988 near her home in Wyoming as a metaphor for how devastation can also bring renewal. She was also more pointed about the current condition of the nation and the world, while also providing hope for the future. Tromp said higher education would be a force for that hope.
Diversity was on full display. Speakers included a Native American student, in addition to a Native American scholar, a legendary feminist and a Black poet.
Tromp also mentioned her previous position as president of Boise State University and noted that Idaho was the first stop on the "tidal wave of anger" that was countered with courage by her colleagues.
Tromp was announced as UVM’s next president in March and assumed the office this summer. A humanities scholar with three decades of experience in teaching, research, and higher education administration, Tromp was previously professor of English and president of Idaho’s Boise State University from 2019 to 2025. During her academic career prior to her tenure in Idaho she held important administrative positions at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Arizona State University, and Dennison University.
The installation was preceded by a procession of UVM faculty and administrators, joined by delegates representing 35 institutions of higher learning from across North America. Leading the group was University Marshall and President of the Faculty Senate Abigail McGowan, an honor guard of UVM Police Services members, followed by members of the St. Andrew’s Pipe Band of Vermont, and undergraduate students holding aloft banners bearing the colors of the ten individual colleges and schools of the university.
The installation ceremony, UVM Board of Trustees Chair Cynthia Barnhart reminded the audience, “is both a celebration of new leadership and a reaffirmation of values–academic excellence, discovery and innovation, service, and a commitment to the public good– values that have guided UVM for more than two centuries.”
The audience next heard from Vermont Governor Phil Scott, a member of the UVM Class of 1980.
“As we celebrate this installation of UVM's 28th president I’m reminded again of why it's so special to be here in Vermont,” Scott said. “As a UVM alum, it's good to be back on campus for this event as we officially welcome President Tromp to Vermont. I've had the pleasure meeting with Marlene, and it's clear she's got the passion energy and enthusiasm to lead this university at a pivotal time for colleges and universities across the country. It's also clear to me she believes that, as Vermont's land grant institution, UVM can expand its impact far beyond Chittenden County, to all corners of our state.”
VermontBiz photos.
'In Gracious and Bountiful Hands'
The Installation Address was given by Bettina Aptheker, distinguished professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Aptheker described her longtime friendship with Tromp, and Tromp’s commitment to increasing the accessibility of a public university.
“Compassion. Care. Generosity. Attention to detail and nuance. These are the qualities that shine through in her writings, and in her work,” Aptheker said. “Vermont with its forests, mountains, and farms, and maple syrup, to sweeten our lives, is a gift. And to this university Dr. Tromp will give her all. You are in gracious and bountiful hands.”
Holding the university’s Class of 1927 Memorial Mace, a nearly four-foot-long symbol of authority used at formal ceremonies, constructed of ebony and silver-plated bronze, Tromp then bent her head as Board Chair Barnhart placed the President’s Medallion around her neck and formally invested her as the leader of the university. The medallion was a gift to the university from former President Lattie F. Coor upon his departure in 1989. It bears the institution’s ornate seal.
Looking a bit nervous and even bashful, while sporting her signature cropped blond hair, red glasses and matching lipstick, when it came time for her to speak, she stood tall at the podium and told the gathering what she believed and what she fully understands is the mission of the university.
“UVM was, from the outset, not just a university of ideas, but ideals. Not just ideas but ideals,” Tromp reminded the audience in her Presidential Address.
“UVM is a community of believers embedded in our common ground values, hewn in stone by our beautiful student union. These values are respect, integrity, innovation, openness, justice, and responsibility. Imagine if all the world were striving for this now. Not for power, or money, or priority, but this–what a different world it would be. A place that seeks to live up to these values is where I want to be–right here in this place, and most particularly, in this moment.”
Tromp encouraged the UVM community to deploy “sisu”– the Finnish word meaning “unflappable tenacity in the face of insurmountable odds.”
“The work we are doing now will require enormous sisu,” she said. “But it matters now perhaps more than ever.”
“I am here because I believe,” Tromp said. “I believe in the power of education to change the world. I believe in the power of our faculty, students and staff to change the world. I believe we can create a better future, in that this moment of suffering and struggle could be the ground upon which we become wiser, braver, and make lasting and meaningful change. That we can reach across the chasm to bring people together to do this work.”
The audience next heard a reflection on the installation from Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy, dean of Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy and its Carlos Montezuma Professor of Education and Social Policy, followed later by a recorded greeting and poetry reading by writer Risë Kevalshar Collins and closing remarks from Kimberly A. Hopely, executive vice president for development and alumni engagement at Rutgers University and president of the Rutgers University Foundation.
The Installation was followed by an outdoor reception on the University Green where ceremony attendees were joined by hundreds of other members of the university community.
About UVM: For People and Planet
Founded in 1791, UVM is the leading public university where discovery, creativity, community, and action coalesce to secure a thriving future for people and planet. Recognized among the nation’s top R1 research institutions, Vermont’s land-grant university attracts $260 million annually for groundbreaking research and enrolls approximately 14,000 students from 50 states and 75 countries. At UVM, students, faculty, and staff work together in pursuit of a healthier, greener future. Learn more at uvm.edu.
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