PRESS RELEASES AND BRIEFS: COA Names Dr. Sylvia Torti Its Seventh President
Second Annual Housing Summit, YWCA and Jesup Social Justice Events
BAR HARBOR — The College of the Atlantic Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the unanimous selection of Dr. Sylvia Torti as the college's seventh president.
Torti, an accomplished writer, ecologist, and innovative academic leader with 15 years of experience in higher education, will succeed president Darron Collins, PhD ’92 upon his retirement at the end of the 2023-24 academic year. Torti will begin her tenure as president on July 1.
“Dr. Sylvia Torti is the perfect person to carry College of the Atlantic into our second half century. Her intellectual curiosity, natural leadership, incredible creativity, passion for the human experience, and ability to connect with others on a deep, personal level will allow her to inspire, energize, and uplift all members of the COA community,” said COA Board of Trustees Chair Beth Gardiner.
From 2012-2023, Torti served as dean of the Honors College at University of Utah, a liberal arts college nested within a large research institution, where she achieved ambitious goals through dedicated strategic planning, including tripling the diversity of the student body as well as increasing the number of out-of-state students. She also created a successful office to mentor for nationally competitive scholarships and initiated and implemented a vision for globally oriented, integrated curricula in ecology, health, and human rights. Torti, who is from a bicultural Latinx background and has lived and worked globally, is a collaborative leader with a passion for experiential, interdisciplinary learning, shared governance, and centering the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion in today's higher education landscape.
“Dr. Torti fully understands the moment we are in, the important role that COA has in the world of higher education, and how vital it is to make sure that diversity, equity, and inclusion are central to how we evolve as a college at this time,” Gardiner said. “One of the things that we’re so inspired by is Dr. Torti’s proven track record in this area, along with her deep personal commitment. She has a firm grasp of the importance of attracting and retaining diverse students and faculty and expanding the types of classes offered so that we can better reflect the world around us.”
Torti holds a Ph.D. from the University of Utah School of Biological Sciences and a B.A. from Earlham College. She boasts a 30-year record of publication, including multiple scientific research papers, research and opinion pieces on methods of pedagogy, two novels, and multiple short stories and essays. Her latest novel, Cages, was published by Schaffner Press in 2017.
“I believe so deeply in COA’s mission and I am honored and thrilled to join this dynamic community,” Torti said. “COA is already a leader in higher education because of its successful and inspiring commitment to a dialogical, ecologically based education, an approach that I believe will become increasingly important in the years to come. COA is a bold place where people acknowledge cooperation and conflict and strive to understand how and why those behaviors manifest. I think the founders were so right to create a school where we can use what we know about these dimensions of human nature to find solutions to both small and big problems. I am so inspired by the founders’ vision and the way that the school has kept this fire alive!”
Previous to her 11-year tenure as honors college dean, Torti served as the director of University of Utah’s remote Bonderman Field Station, where she developed and implemented a creative vision for the nascent field station to serve natural sciences, arts, humanities, architecture, and engineering faculty and students, led strategic planning, and coordinated research, education, outreach, and job training programs.
“If we were able to somehow piece together the many traits and skill sets that a college president needs to have, and in particular the unique set of skills that a COA president needs to have, we would end up with Dr. Sylvia Torti. Ever since the founding of COA 50+ years ago, we've been proud of our inherently multidisciplinary approach, and Dr. Torti embodies this,” said Michael Boland ’94, a COA Trustee and member of the presidential search committee.
College of the Atlantic was in an excellent position to recruit a new leader because of the success of current president Darron Collins ’92, Gardiner said. During his 13 years at the college, Collins, COA’s first alumni president, led the completion of two capital campaigns totalling nearly $90M, the construction of a state-of-the-art academic building and new student residence, the acquisition of off-campus student housing, enrollment growth resulting in the college meeting its 350-student goal, an eight-year reign as Princeton Review’s #1 green college, creation of the COA Summer Institute, and the installation of a site-specific artwork by internationally renowned land artist Andy Goldsworthy.
“I feel enormously fortunate to follow President Darron Collins,” Torti said. “While I was on campus, it was clear to me that his consistent and passionate leadership has contributed to a highly engaged faculty, staff, and student body, and raised the school’s national profile. I look forward to building on his many successes.”
COA has been led by a highly capable succession of leaders since its incorporation in 1969, beginning with founding president Edward Kaelber and followed by Dr. Judith Swazey, Dr. Louis Rabineau, Dr. Steven Katona, David Hales, Andy Griffiths (one-year interim president), and Collins.
The search committee, chaired by COA Trustee Cynthia Baker, comprised trustees, faculty, students, and staff members, with alumni among both trustees and staff. Dr. Ruth Shoemaker Wood of Diversified Search Group held listening sessions with alumni, students, staff, faculty, and trustees, before presenting an initial pool of 81 candidates. During their extensive search, the committee considered and engaged with many highly qualified individuals from both within and outside of academia.
“The search committee was blown away by the breadth and quality of the applicants for the position. It quickly became clear that the college’s mission and model of education is resonating in a deep way with people who aspire to lead organizations, and we couldn’t have been more pleased with those from higher ed, nonprofits, and government who sought to become our next president,” Baker said. “As an exceptional leader and a systems thinker, Dr. Torti will excel at both the internal work of management and mission refinement and the external work of fundraising and public-facing leadership. I’m deeply grateful to all of the members of the committee who dedicated so much time and effort, and to the 150+ COA community members who provided feedback to our group for helping us reach this decision.”
Torti will be joined in Bar Harbor by her partner, Scott Woolsey, who considers Maine “almost home,” as his family has enjoyed a lakeside property near Bethel, Maine since his childhood. He has an extensive background in food systems and organic farming in New England and looks forward to being part of the COA and MDI community.
Partners Gather at Second Annual MDI Housing Solutions Summit
BAR HARBOR—Over 70 local leaders along with individuals from state and regional organizations gathered at the MDI Biological Laboratory on March 29, 2024 for the second annual Mount Desert Island Housing Solutions Summit.
“This year’s summit was an opportunity to celebrate the progress that we are making together to address the housing crisis on and around MDI,” said Marla O’Byrne, Executive Director of the Island Housing Trust and one of the key partners in the MDI Housing Solutions Initiative. “Similar to last year’s event, we see great value in convening a group of leaders as partners to increase opportunities for collaboration and coordination.”
Participants included representatives from local businesses, institutions, non-profits, and municipal leadership from MDI and surrounding communities, as well as state government representatives, staff from U.S. Senators Angus King and Susan Collins’ offices, local builders, engineers, developers, financiers and lenders, grant-makers, and real estate agents.
This year’s opening session provided time for housing solutions partners to share updates and celebrate achievements over the past year. Highlights included the YWCA’s Hamilton Station project; Witham Family Hotel’s new seasonal workforce building; College of the Atlantic’s new on-campus dormitory and purchase of the Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop buildings for rental housing; MD 365’s ongoing efforts to build six year-round homes in Northeast Harbor; Island Housing Trust’s completion of their new Jones Marsh neighborhood; the Town of Bar Harbor’s work on their comprehensive plan and a new housing policy framework; and the MDI & Ellsworth Housing Authorities efforts to expand their services.
Following the opening session, participants gathered in small groups to build on last year’s work and develop housing goals that were later discussed and prioritized by the larger group. Some of the goals identified include developing financial mechanisms for housing development and infrastructure upgrades; aligning regulations between towns; and the need to view housing as critical infrastructure. In all, the group found consensus around nine housing related goals.
“The MDI Housing Solution Summit is a critically important foundation that convenes leaders from across the Island and surrounding communities to find meaningful and impactful solutions to building healthy and vibrant communities rooted in stable housing that is obtainable for everyone,” said Chrissi Maguire, President and CEO of the Mount Desert Island Hospital and Birch Bay Retirement Village. “This collaboration allows for shared solutions, resources, and objectives, cumulating with defined priorities and recommendations.”
The 2024 Summit was organized and facilitated by Noel Musson and Susanne Paul of The Musson Group, a land use planning and economic development consulting firm based in Southwest Harbor that works with and for municipalities, non-profit organizations, businesses, and private individuals on MDI and across the state of Maine. Last fall The Musson Group received a grant from the Maine Department of Community and Economic Development (DECD) Housing Opportunity Program to facilitate the MDI Housing Solutions Initiative and 2024 Summit. Additional projects under this grant include facilitation of discussions amongst various professional groups, such as non-profit leadership, municipal leadership, and realtors; research and analysis of housing trust funds; the development of mapping tools to better identify housing opportunities and constraints; and research and analysis of models to incentivize year-round rentals.
“We packed a lot into one morning at this year’s summit. It was energizing to hear about all the excellent work taking place on and around MDI while also reflecting and building on the hard work we did at last year’s summit. We believe that by coming together to listen, collaborate, and seek consensus we have a great opportunity to make thoughtful and positive progress,” said Susanne Paul.
The Musson Group will produce a summary of outcomes from this year’s gathering and share all information on the MDI Housing Solutions Initiative website: www.mdihousingsolutions.org.
In addition to Musson and Paul from the Musson Group, the Steering Committee for the Summit consisted of Marla O’Byrne (Island Housing Trust), Dave Edson (Friends of Acadia), Misha Mytar (Maine Coast Heritage Trust), Michele Gagnon and Cali Martinez (Town of Bar Harbor), Weston Brehm (MDI & Ellsworth Housing Authorities), and Tricia Blythe (The Knowles Company).
YWCA MDI Hosts Racial Justice Events
YWCA of Mount Desert Island invites the community to join us in some important racial equity events this month.
YWCA’s nationwide Until Justice Just Is (UJJI) campaign will run throughout April to raise awareness of systemic racism and build self-efficacy around advancing justice. YWCA MDI invites the community to participate in the national YWCA racial justice challenge and to join us at a UUJI town hall watch party at 3 PM on April 11 at Jesup Memorial Library.
YWCA’s core mission is eliminating racism and empowering women. Because racism and sexism are so deeply intertwined, our work addresses the systemic barriers that stand in the way of equity and empowerment.
The theme for UUJI is Building Bridges to Equity. The YWCA Racial Justice Challenge, the action component of the UJJI campaign, is designed to help community members gain understanding and tools to build bridges to equity in their own communities.
This year the challenge will focus on four areas: bodily autonomy, financial empowerment, gun violence, and transportation. People of color, particularly women of color, are disproportionately affected by barriers to equity in all four areas. The Racial Justice Challenge will take a deep dive into these topics to help equip community members with understanding and tools they can use in their own social justice work. The challenge is free and open to everyone at justice.ywca.org.
YWCA MDI will host a watch party for the National UUJI Town Hall on Thursday, April 11 at 3 PM. We invite the community to join us at Jesup Memorial Library to hear from activists, advocates, and YWCA leaders how everyone can build bridges to equity in their own communities and help realize a world of equity for all.
YWCA Mount Desert Island is in its 120th year of service on MDI. YWCA is dedicated to eliminating racism; empowering women; and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. Visit https://www.ywcamdi.org to learn more about the YWCA’s work in our local communities.
A Muslim Immigrant Woman’s Journey in Maine
Thursday, April 18th at 7 pm
Bar Harbor—Join us at the Jesup Memorial Library for an insightful talk by Dina Yacoubagha, as she shares her journey of service, advocacy, and community engagement in Maine.
Dina Yacoubagha brings a wealth of experience and perspective to the community. With over a decade of dedicated volunteerism and a passion for dispelling misconceptions about Muslim women, Dina has been a prominent voice in various venues, shedding light on important issues and advocating for inclusivity.
During this event, Dina will delve into her personal experiences, discussing her transition from volunteerism to running for public office. She will share the challenges and achievements she encountered along the way, providing valuable insights into the dynamics of community involvement and leadership.
As a member of the Bangor City Council, Dina will offer firsthand accounts of her experiences, giving attendees a glimpse into the realities of local governance and representation. Additionally, she will discuss her recent appointment as the Program Manager at the Maine Multicultural Center, highlighting her new role in promoting diversity and cultural understanding in our state.
Dina Yacoubagha is a Bangor resident. She settled in Maine along with her family back in 2006. Dina holds a Masters in Social Work from the University of Maine, Orono, and has been involved in multiple non-profit organizations that work towards achieving social justice. She works as the Program Manager at Maine Multicultural Center, an organization that champions diversity as essential to the economic and social vitality of Maine. She also sits on the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous and Tribal Populations, State of Maine.
Free and open to the public. Register at: https://www.jesuplibrary.org/events/dina
Public Works Facility and Transfer Station/Recycling Center CLOSED for Holiday on Monday, 4/15/2024
BAR HARBOR—The Public Works Facility in Hulls Cove and the Transfer Station / Recycling Center on White Spruce Road will be CLOSED on Monday, April 15, in observance of Patriots' Day.
Editors’ note: One of these press releases that appeared in multiple other publications last night was originally embargoed until today. We apologize for the delay, and hope you don’t mind us being ethical. It’s not the first story we’ve been scooped on because people have asked us to hold it. But we’d rather get scooped occasionally and do what we feel like is the right thing. We hope you’re okay with that. And we hope you have a great Wednesday! - Shaun and Carrie