Protest on the green on January 28
On Saturday evening, January 28, 2023, a group of students and alumnx projected a message onto VCFA’s College Hall:
STUDENTS & FACULTY VOTE NO CONFIDENCE IN PRESIDENT LESLIE WARD
Students read the following message:
We are a group of current students and almunx of the Master of Fine Arts programs at Vermont College of Fine Arts. We have a message that we’d like to share with President Leslie Ward, the college administration, Board of Trustees, and the Montpelier and Vermont communities.
Because for over six months leadership has been unresponsive to our concerns and questions, and has refused to communicate in good faith and with transparency, we have no confidence in this leadership.
Today, during our last in-person residency at our historic campus in Montpelier, Vermont we are projecting an image illustrating that students and faculty have voted No Confidence in President Leslie Ward. Both students’ and faculty’s letters of no confidence are available for you to read right now.
We believe that President Leslie Ward and the Board of Trustees have failed the faculty, student, alumni, and surrounding community of VCFA by unilaterally deciding to move all programs to Colorado Springs for summer residencies, and an as of now unknown location for our winter residency. According to their schedule, this is the final month of residencies here on our historic campus in Montpelier.
Stakeholders in this process have asked for a pause on the sale of the Montpelier Vermont College of Fine Arts campus and for the opportunity to work together to find an alternate plan to safeguard the campus and the school we cherish. We demand transparency (of which there has been none); that leadership honor the legacy of progressive arts education that VT is known for and that our whole community - faculty, students and staff - be given a legitimate opportunity to explore how we can remain on our Montpelier campus. We believe strongly that the Vermont College of Fine Arts should stay in Vermont.
Read the Letters of No Confidence:
