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Tom on the Vermont College of Fine Arts

or how we reluctantly decided to found a college

2/28/2007

For the past eight months,  I've been carrying a beautiful secret like a charm.  This past Monday it was revealed in the paper here in Montpelier, Vermont,  the Times Argus .

The truth is that with my colleague Bill Kaplan and the broad support of faculty and staff, I have been working to found a new college called the Vermont College of Fine Arts by purchasing the three MFA programs and the physical campus from Union Institute & University and incorporating them into a separate college. Below is my note to current students of the MFA programs.


This is the first step to hopefully creating a remarkable new college, one rooted only in the fine arts; one that celebrates writing and literature and fine arts as its core mission; one that truly values its remarkable faculty, staff, students and alumni; and one that reaches out to make a broad impact in arts and letters in this country. I'll admit I've come to believe in a measure of fate. A year ago I had been writing full time for a number of years and living my life and I got a call asking me to come help with the MFA in Writing for children and young adults program for three months. Eight months later I am still here, and in the meantime took on this onerous task of trying to take these programs independent of Union Institute. I did it mainly because my colleagues, who I love and admire, seemed so downtrodden, and I hated seeing them that way. I didn't realize at the time that it would come to dominate my life, though it has. But I can tell you I wouldn't trade this experience for anything, especially the chance to get to know so many of you, and these amazing, brilliant and talented faculty I now am lucky enough to call my friends. I believe we are on the cusp of doing something extraordinary, building something lasting and meaningful, an institution, in the best sense of the word, that represents all that we collectively care about. One that celebrates the importance of stories and of myth, of art and its import to the larger culture, and most of all, a belief in people, in each other, to come together and form a community that is larger than ourselves. I learned that from each of you and I am stronger because of it. We have a lot of work to do in the next bunch of months, but I think we can be successful. We will be working hard to
build an organization and to raise money. If you can help in any way, please let me know.

All my best, Tom