UVM is ready to announce its 28th president: What Marlene Tromp says tops her resume
Prospective University of Vermont president Marlene Tromp said she is coming to Vermont with a willingness to lead the university, and an impressive resume to back that up.
Tromp began her journey into higher education as a first-generation college student, her father working "triple overtime" at his job in the coal mines to pay for her to attend Creighton University in Nebraska.
Tromp, the Boise State University president, said the job she has held for the past six years was "an opportunity to help communities similar to how I grew up."
Tromp is the sole finalist for the UVM presidency and spoke publicly on campus Wednesday.
She received her Bachelor of Arts undergrad degree, then attended the University of Wyoming to earn a Master of Arts in English. Tromp then earned a PhD in English from the University of Florida.
Tromp has been president at Boise State since July 2019 - the first woman to hold that role there. She has presided during a period of enrollment growth - the student body has grown between 20% and 50% each of the past five years - when national rates of college enrollment have declined in some places by 50%.
Idaho's largest four-year university, Boise State's fall student headcount was 27,198 last fall.
Boise State has also grown its research portfolio over the past five years. Research awards totaled $83 million in 2024.
While student numbers have grown, Boise State has also seen an improvement in graduation rates. In 2022-23, Boise State's four-year graduation rate was 42.7%, up from 38.1% three years earlier.
Other accomplishments included a campaign to raise $80 million in endowed funds, providing 1,500 scholarships. She said she was also able to keep Bosie's tuition the sixth lowest in the country. She spoke to Vermont's more rural areas when she said socioeconomic factors cannot be a roadblock to having an education.
In her time at Boise, and especially since the change in the legislature in the recent months, Tromp has been at the forefront in an ongoing Statehouse debate over social justice as well as diversity, equity and inclusion.
In September, an Ada County jury awarded Big City Coffee owner Sarah Jo Fendley nearly $4 million in a First Amendment lawsuit against Boise State; Tromp testified in the trial.
Tromp served as provost and executive vice chancellor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and dean at Arizona State University New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. She started her career at Denison University.
In a public forum Wednesday with faculty, staff and students, Tromp answered a plethora of questions. In many of her answers, she referred back to past relevant experiences in higher education institutions.
She said Santa Cruz had a "profound dedication to social justice and social change." She saw that work as a commitment to excellence and a clear example of collaboration between staff and students, something she wants to bring into her time at UVM.
In Arizona she served as provost and dean to a school of 170,000 students. While many were part-time, she said having to serve such a large populus forced her to be decisive and think in new ways.
Arizona State University ranked No. 1 in innovation for the tenth year in a row, in the annual 'Best Colleges' 2025 rankings by U.S. News & World Report. Tromp said that experience will heed well in her approach to UVM's research focus.
Sydney P. Hakes is the Burlington city reporter. Contact her at SHakes@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Marlene Tromp, UVM's presidential finalist, shares her experience
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Portland ICE building being restored after riot, protests
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – After two days of , the block appears to be clear Monday afternoon. Several protesters camping outside of the ICE facility were ordered to move, and they are now set up down the street. Second man involved in Clackamas Town Center parking lot shooting gets 70-month sentence Meanwhile, the building itself is in the process of being restored with protective boards and the graffiti is being power washed away. Tensions were high over the weekend, with hundreds of people protesting outside the ICE building on Saturday. That number dwindled down to around a few dozen on Sunday. Portland police declared the protests a riot on Saturday night, saying they were going to make targeted arrests. That night, ICE agents also threw several rounds of tear gas into the crowd. KOIN 6 News reporters observed some of the protesters tossing the canisters back at the building along with water bottles and other materials. Crews also saw ICE agents use paintballs, rubber bullets and pepper bullets against protesters. Stabbing suspect at large after victim seriously injured in SW Portland Damage to the ICE building includes graffiti, smashed windows and doors, and trash. One protester, Blue, told KOIN 6 News there are greater things at stake than building damage. 'People are going to exercise their First Amendment right how they choose,' Blue said. 'It's a building. It has no rights. It has no importance to me. Compared to the human lives that are at stake here.' 'People are choosing to be in a location that they're not supposed to be, it seems like the protest is that's kind of, to begin with, their only crime. And then the police come out and get violent and then it becomes something else,' added a protestor named Casey. over the course of the weekend, and some face felony charges. Four appeared in court Monday. 'I grieve that there's the violent, or more demonstrative, type of stuff missing. I'll just making that statement about why this is what we're about,' said protestor Wayne Smith. 'I think maintaining social order is the responsibility of the police.' Portland Mayor Keith Wilson with the following statement: 'An estimated 50,000 Portlanders marched together in solidarity and protest yesterday, joining demonstrations from across the nation. We celebrate all those who peacefully and powerfully raised their voices against Federal overreach, which are deeply held values in both Portland and our nation. Miles from the planned demonstration, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility was damaged by fireworks and other materials. The Incident Command team learned of one federal officer being injured and sent resources to assist, but learned he did not require medical treatment. Later in the evening, PPB was notified that two additional officers received minor injuries and they, too, did not require treatment. The Portland Police Bureau responded swiftly, arrested one person, and cleared a path for a medical evacuation, which was ultimately not required. Later in the evening, a small group of demonstrators remained at the facility and the majority were exercising their constitutional right to free speech while remaining law abiding. However, PPB did step in to make targeted arrests when they had probable cause of criminal behavior. Portland is a sanctuary city within a sanctuary state, and the Portland Police Bureau serves and protects our community. We affirm the right to free speech and expression while emphasizing that violence, destruction, and obstruction carry consequences. Portland complies with all applicable federal and state laws and will not obstruct lawful federal enforcement operations. Our officers will not be used as agents of ICE, but will intervene when criminal acts occur. Accordingly, our officers have maintained a presence at the facility during demonstrations. It is important to note that just because arrests are not made at the scene, when tensions are high, that does not mean that people are not being charged with crimes later. Even when arrests do not happen in the moment, PPB members will continue to conduct follow-up investigations, make arrests, and forward cases to the Multnomah County District Attorney for prosecution. Portland has not requested and does not require the intervention of the National Guard. Deploying military troops to the heart of an American city, as the administration has in Los Angeles, is an unwarranted, unprecedented, and unconstitutional action. If we witness federal abuse following this incident or any other pretext, we will bring it to light, take legal action, and take the fight to federal courts, where we will prevail.' KOIN 6 News reached out to ICE officials, but we have yet to receive a response. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
New Texas law requires 10 Commandments to be posted in every public school classroom
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas will require all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments under a new law that will make the state the nation's largest to attempt to impose such a mandate. Gov. Greg Abbott announced Saturday that he signed the bill, which is expected to draw a legal challenge from critics who consider it an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state. A similar law in Louisiana was blocked when a federal appeals court ruled Friday that it was unconstitutional. Arkansas also has a similar law that has been challenged in federal court. The Texas measure easily passed in the Republican-controlled state House and Senate in the legislative session that ended June 2. 'The focus of this bill is to look at what is historically important to our nation educationally and judicially,' Republican state representative Candy Noble, a co-sponsor of the bill, said when it passed the House. Abbott also signed a bill that allows school districts to provide students and staff a daily voluntary period of prayer or time to read a religious text during school hours. The Ten Commandments laws are among efforts, mainly in conservative-led states, to insert religion into public schools. Texas' law requires public schools to post in classrooms a 16-by-20-inch poster or framed copy of a specific English version of the commandments, even though translations and interpretations vary across denominations, faiths and languages and may differ in homes and houses of worship. Supporters say the Ten Commandments are part of the foundation of the United States' judicial and educational systems and should be displayed. Opponents, including some Christian and other faith leaders, say the Ten Commandments and prayer measures infringe on others' religious freedom. A letter signed this year by dozens of Christian and Jewish faith leaders opposing the bill noted that Texas has thousands of students of other faiths who might have no connection to the Ten Commandments. Texas has nearly 6 million students in about 9,100 public schools. In 2005, Abbott, who was state attorney general at the time, successfully argued before the Supreme Court that Texas could keep a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of its Capitol. Louisiana's law has twice been ruled unconstitutional by federal courts, first by U.S. District Judge John deGravelles and then again by a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which also considers cases from Texas. State Attorney General Liz Murrell said she would appeal and pledged to take it to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
The US has changed the course of the conflict - how will Iran respond?
As Benjamin Netanyahu stood at the podium in the Israeli prime minister's office this morning, he did not at first address the Israeli people in Hebrew, to update them on the latest, dramatic development in this, his latest war. Instead he spoke in English, speaking directly to, and lavishing praise upon, US President Donald Trump after the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites. If Netanyahu's tone was triumphant, and the smile barely suppressed, it is hardly surprising. He has spent most of his political career obsessed with the threat he believes Iran poses to Israel. Netanyahu has spent much of the last 15 years attempting to persuade his American allies that only military action (and only American munitions) could destroy Iran's nuclear weapons programme. While congratulating Trump for a bold decision that "will change history", Netanyahu can also congratulate himself on changing the mind of a US president who campaigned against overseas military adventures, and whose supporters were overwhelmingly opposed to joining Israel's war against Iran. Follow live updates It should also be noted that Trump's own intelligence agencies had not shared Israel's assessment of how quickly Iran could seek to build a nuclear weapon, nor indeed whether it had taken the decision to do so. Throughout this conflict, which began just 10 days ago, Israel's government and military have insisted that Israel had the capacity to deal with the Iranian threat on its own. But it was no secret that only America possessed the massive ordnance capable of dealing with the strongest levels of protection around Iran's nuclear facilities, particularly at Fordo, built deep inside a mountain. If the nuclear sites bombed last night are now indeed out of use then Israel's prime minister will be able to declare his main war aim complete, perhaps bringing this conflict closer to an end. For its part, Iran says it had already moved its nuclear material out. But without last night's bombing, Israel would have continued working its way down the long list of targets its air force has spent years drawing up. Damage would continue to have been inflicted on the Iranian military, on its commanders, on nuclear scientists, on government infrastructure and on the parts of the nuclear programme accessible to Israel's bombs. But Netanyahu may have been denied a clear point at which Israel could say the nuclear threat had been definitively neutralised. Perhaps only regime change in Iran could have delivered that moment. The B2 bombers have undoubtedly changed the trajectory of the war. Whether it escalates even further will depend on how Iran and its allies respond. Last week Iran's supreme leader had vowed to hit back at the US were it to enter the war. "The Americans should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said. Only on Saturday the Houthi group in Yemen - staunch Iranian allies - had threatened to attack US ships transiting through the Red Sea if America entered the war. American military personnel, businesses, and citizens in the region are now potential targets. Iran can strike back in multiple ways, should it so chose, attacking US warships, or bases in the Gulf, and potentially disrupting the flow of oil from the Gulf, and sending the price of petrol soaring. The US has signalled that, for now, its military action is over, and it has no interest in bringing down the government in Tehran. That may encourage Iran to limit its response, perhaps attacking US targets in ways that do not lead to high casualties, or using proxies in the region to do the same. Iran chose to follow this course after Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader Qasem Soleimani in 2020. On Saturday night, the US president repeated his own threat to Iran, to use overwhelming force to counter any retaliation. This morning the whole of the Middle East is holding its breath, waiting to see whether this marks the beginning of the end of this conflict, or the beginning of an even more deadly phase to the war. What we know about US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities Trump's Iran gamble fraught with risk - at home and abroad
