Boise State’s Tromp wants to bridge divides, talks challenges in State of the University

At the start of her State of the University address, Boise State President Marlene Tromp acknowledged the many challenges people have navigated over the past few years.

The COVID-19 pandemic, the “great resignation” and the political division throughout society have had an “enormous burden” on the university community and people across the country, she said.

“There have been extraordinary hardships, and those hardships have taken their toll on the people in our campus community,” Tromp told a full room in the Morrison Center at Boise State University. “I want to acknowledge and honor the extraordinary courage and strength it has taken for our community to navigate these choppy and often treacherous waters.”

The problem of polarization and the importance of listening to others were themes throughout her address, as she lauded programs at the university that seek to improve engagement. Tromp also talked about Boise State’s accomplishments and celebrated university milestones while praising faculty and staff members.

“Whatever challenges we face, we face them together,” she said. “And we will develop creative and meaningful solutions to solve the problems that are before us.”

‘We need to engage people’

Tromp’s address comes after the university of the past several years has faced questions about “social justice” and accusations of indoctrination. During the 2021 legislative session, Boise State took a $1.5 million cut to its budget over lawmakers’ fears that universities were teaching critical race theory and using other social justice programming.

During the most recent legislative session, Tromp fielded some questions over similar issues. In response to a lawmaker’s questions, she said in January the university had “evolved” its programming and made a concerted effort to be responsive to the Idaho Legislature and its concerns.

During her address Wednesday, Tromp research shows, when you approach people with “respect and care, that they can open their minds to see other perspectives.”

“We need to engage people and talk with them, teach them and learn from them,” she said. “I genuinely believe that this has and will continue to move the needle.”

She also talked about a program called Idaho Listens, which, in partnership with Idaho Public Television, will give people the chance to listen to speakers from “a cross-section of backgrounds, occupations and experiences, who live different values and perspectives about the central issues of our state and our time,” according to its description on the Boise State website.

“We want students, faculty and staff working on the hard questions, on the intractable problems in spaces where there are differences of opinion, where people do not agree,” she said. “Because that is the work of higher education.”

Tromp focuses on university accomplishments

Much of Tromp’s speech was devoted to the university’s accomplishments and the ways faculty and staff members were making a difference in peoples’ lives.

Last school year, Tromp said, Boise State saw a record number of graduates. This fall, the university expects to see about a 20% increase in the number of Idaho freshman compared to last fall.

The university also saw $68 million in research last year, a record-breaking number, and brought in $56.5 million in donor contributions, up nearly $15 million from the previous year.

Tromp’s presentation also pointed to specific programs at the university that highlight its “expansive reach and impact,” including those that seek to help address the teacher and mental health provider shortages and serve low-income and underrepresented students.

She went on to talk about the university’s “blueprint for success,” which includes improving educational access and student success, expanding innovations and fostering a thriving community.

“When we work together, what we can accomplish is exceptionally amplified,” she said.