College of the Atlantic’s new president looks to ‘adaptable, ecological’ approach

Photo / Courtesy, College of the Atlantic Sylvia Torti speaks at her recent inauguration as president of College of the Atlantic.

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By Laurie Schreiber

The eighth president of the College of the Atlantic was cited at her Oct. 20 inauguration as a leader who can advance the Bar Harbor school’s focus on the relationship between humans and the environment.

Hundreds came out for Sylvia Torti’s investiture ceremony.

“Today marks a beginning, but in reality, it’s just a continuum of everything that COA stands for,” said Beth Gardiner, chair of the board of trustees.

“In a complicated and often confusing world, the values of COA are more important than ever, and we feel extremely fortunate that we found, in our new president, someone who feels our values as strongly and passionately as Sylvia does.”

Torti began her tenure at COA on July 1.

“COA — with our tradition of being a benchmark for change and addressing the challenges facing current and future generations — represents the future of education,” Torti said.

“Here at COA, we fulfill our yearning to connect with one another and with the marvelously diverse more-than-human world. Ultimately, it is our sharp and adaptable, ecological minds, shaped by this connected education, that will allow us to discover new ways to flourish collectively.”

Torti served for 11 years as dean of the Honors College at the University of Utah, a liberal arts college.

During that time, she tripled the diversity of the student body and increased the number of out-of-state students. She also created an office to mentor nationally competitive scholarship recipients and began a globally oriented curriculum in ecology, health and human rights.

Previously, she served as the director of the University of Utah’s remote Bonderman Field Station. There, she led its work serving faculty and students in natural sciences, architecture, engineering and other fields.

Kathryn Bond Stockton, the University of Utah’s inaugural dean of the School for Cultural and Social Transformation, said COA and her school have similarities.

“We are each a school for ‘heart-to-structure inquiry,’ since we live the interlocking dynamics of shifting sexualities, changing genders, vital immigrations and emergent struggles against all ableist and racist actions, including inaction in the face of climate change,” Stockton said.

“We cultivate pleasure so as to practice healing from layered, painful histories — as people, as a nation. We dream of creating a livable life.”

Torti was invested by COA Board of Trustees Co-chairs Marthann Samek and Hank Schmelzer, with Schmelzer placing a medallion with the COA seal around Torti’s neck. The seal includes three runes representing humans, earth and water.

Founded in 1969, College of the Atlantic is a school of 350 students and 35 faculty with a focus on human ecology. The field aims to integrate knowledge from all academic disciplines and from personal experience to investigate — and ultimately improve — the relationships between human beings and the social, natural, built and technological environments.