Johnson Commencement Recap

Welcome, I am Luke Walters, the Johnson SGA president, 

Encompassing five campuses and multiple learning sites, Vermont State University is situated on the lands and waters that have long served as places of convening and stewarded by generations of Indigenous peoples, particularly the Western Abenaki. 

We honor and respect the indigenous knowledge interwoven in these lands and waters, and we also recognize that a land acknowledgement is merely a first step toward addressing historical injustices. 

We commit to uplifting the Indigenous peoples and cultures present on these lands and waters and within our communities in alignment with our dedication to nurturing a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive learning and working environment where all members of the community are valued and respected. 

PRESIDENT BERGH: 

Welcome to the Vermont State University Johnson Commencement Ceremony, the 2^nd Official VTSU Commencement!  

Before we go any further, let’s take a moment to celebrate the heart of today’s event—our graduates. Please join me in a round of applause for the VTSU Class of 2025!  

Good morning and welcome to you all. I expect it’s an especially good morning for our graduates, and maybe an even better one for the family and friends who are celebrating here with us today. 

Thank you all for being here in Johnson on this glorious Vermont day. Thank you students for all the hard work you put in to get here, thank you families and friends for your unwavering support, and thank you VTSU faculty and staff for your passion and dedication to our students and their success.

I am joined on this stage today by, President Emeritus Barbara E. Murphy, Chancellor Beth Mauch, Board of Trustees Chairwoman Lynn Dickenson, Trustee David Durfee, Trustee David Siverman, Provost Nolan Atkins, Dean of Students Jamia Danzy, Dean Leslie Kanat, Mace Bearer Dr. Gina Mireault, Alumni Association President Julie Hulburd, and our keynote speaker, Gregory Tatro.  

It is our collective honor and deep privilege to be here with you all today and to bear witness to your triumph – to watch all of you – Vermont State University’s second graduating class – cross this stage and collect the diploma/credential you have earned.  

We are all here to celebrate not only this thrilling moment in your educational career – with the gowns and the photographers and the handshaking, and the tears of joy (mostly mine) – but also the countless invested hours that led to this moment. Hours of studying, questioning, practicing, planning, programming, building, testing, trying, failing, and trying again with the industriousness, creativity, and dogged determination that defines Vermont State University students and will serve you well throughout your personal and professional lives.  

As you prepare to embark on the next chapter – whether that be a first job, a new job, a promotion, a new degree – I want to draw attention to a few often overlooked, but highly valuable competencies you have developed in your time as a VTSU student – gifts I hope you will continue to nurture and practice throughout your life.

Curiosity, Flexibility, and Courage.  

Be curious. 

Curiosity is how you started this journey. Curiosity led you to VTSU – curiosity about who you are, how you learn, what you love, and how you can learn to do what you love better and make a living at it. Maybe your curiosity pushed you to take an extra lab, join a club, take a class online, travel abroad, go to a conference, pursue an internship or an apprenticeship, or do something that really, really freaked you out. Your curiosity probably also led you astray once or twice along the way, because, despite what they say about the dubious relationship between curiosity and cats, few real, worthy journeys in life follow a perfect or linear path. 

Stay curious about people—especially those who may think differently than you. Ask more questions than you answer, and challenge yourself to listen and truly hear what others are saying – both their words, and their meaning. Learn new skills, even when you don’t have to. Read as much as you can. And never assume you’ve got it all figured out, because in my own experience, moments of surety most often occur right before the universe decides to teach me a lesson.   

Curiosity will keep you growing long after you leave the classroom. It will keep you sharp and protect you from complacency. Curiosity is a gift, albeit sometimes an uncomfortable one, that, perhaps most importantly, will lead you to empathy, kindness, creativity, and innovation— vital qualities we need more of in the world today. 

Be flexible. 

If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that life is unpredictable and change is constant. Sometimes you may CHOOSE to change careers, change cities, change skills, change direction.  And sometimes, change may not be your choice, but a requirement.  

Whether you are off to start your first career, or your 3rd, you will likely all face moments that challenge your plans—and your patience. 

And again, that’s okay. 

Success rarely looks like what we imagine or expect. You will face some challenges that are easily navigated, and others that test your character, strength, and resolve in the extreme. Facing the ebb and flow of life’s challenges with flexibility allows you to pivot without losing purpose. To adapt without losing agency. To be resilient, rather than rigid. Maintaining an ethos of agility will allow you to embrace change over time, not as an obstacle to conquer, but as a partner in your growth. 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly: Be courageous. 

Our world is complex and fast-moving. You will encounter uncertainty, disappointment, and moments of doubt that require you to deploy more courage than you feel you possess. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the decision that something else matters more. Courage is taking on a challenge with honor, fortitude, and purpose. Courage is speaking up when it would be easier to stay silent. It is abandoning what’s comfortable in pursuit of what’s meaningful.  

You don’t need to be fearless – no one truly is. You just need to be brave enough to take the first step, and then the second, and then the third, and so on. Some of the most important choices in your life will not come with a roadmap or a role model. But the courage to begin anyway, to try and be willing to fail, and then to try again—that’s what shapes true leaders, thinkers, and doers. 

Graduates, the world needs you now more than ever – not just your knowledge and skills, but your character. We need your curiosity to solve problems we haven’t yet imagined with empathy, respect, and kindness, we need your flexibility to navigate whatever challenges come next with patience and grace, and we need your courage to take the first steps. 

I want to take a moment to emphasize the importance of kindness – kindness to yourselves and to those with whom you are sharing your journey. We are all fellow travelers and we are all deserving of patience, grace, and support as we navigate this together.   

As I imagine the full scope of the positive impact you all will have within your families, your workplace, your communities and beyond, I am filled with a sense of deep hope and resounding optimism for our collective future.  

On behalf of Vermont State University and all the faculty and staff here on the Castleton Campus thank you. Thank you for trusting us with your education. Thank you for letting us learn, adapt, and grow with you.  

It’s been a true honor for all of us to share this part of your lives with you. 

Congratulations, graduates. 

LARISSA STRIDE: 

Good evening and thank you Vermont State University for welcoming me and my fellow peers to this beautiful campus here in Johnson. As I stand up here in front of you all I think about how only a few short years ago I walked across this very same stage to receive my undergraduate degree. On that day we were graced with Cindy Lauper as our guest speaker. Now I know I am no Cyndi Lauper, but I want to share with you one of the important messages that she shared with us then, which is “my bad luck became my good luck” and I’ve sat on this statement over the years and have come to recognize what that actually means to me. 

To share, I’ll be honest, Johnson was not my first choice for a school. I was determined that I would go to Colby-Sawyer college, I had gotten accepted, had done the tours gotten the presidential scholarship and even had a preliminary schedule. But then I met with my VSAC representative, who sat down with me and my family to show me the numbers and how even with that very respectable scholarship, I would still be paying an exorbitant amount of money out of pocket. We recognized that Colby-Sawyer was unfortunately just not going to be in the cards for me, and at that time I was angry, at myself for getting so excited just for my dream to be crushed, at my family for not being rich, at my VSAC counselor for telling me no (you know typical teenage frustration) But she didn’t let that stop her from still helping me achieve my goal of going to college. So, after a few tear-filled days we started looking around at more affordable options. We were down to about a month before classes started when we were able to finalize all of the paperwork for a school she thought would be a good fit. What was the worst that could happen? I hate it and I drop out or I transfer? Okay, sign me up. So, we landed at this small school up in the mountains in the middle of nowhere Vermont. I figured I would give it a shot considering I grew up in a small town in the middle of nowhere, Vermont. And tell you what, boy was I happy I ended up not attending Colby-Sawyer. I am so thankful that I had some bad luck and that my past dreams kind of crashed and burned because it led me to where I am today.

My bad luck became my good luck, and now I am standing in front of you all at the same school that I was so upset about having to attend, about to receive my master’s degree from this very same school. 

Looking back over the course of this degree I think about how the journey tested our intellect, challenged our endurance, and, at times, caused us to questioned our sanity. Earning any degree is no small feat. We all came into this program hopeful and ready to make a difference. All of us came from different walks of life, with different reasons that drew us to keep going. There were so many late nights of research and last-minute homework submissions, balancing jobs, families and personal challenges, there was imposter syndrome, zoom fatigue and the forever question of am I doing the right thing. And yet here we are today sitting in our caps and gowns about to receive a diploma that proves that all of the procrastination and frustration was not in vain. We made it because we were determined, we want to be the change that happens in this world. We have pushed ourselves to the point of exhaustion. But we made it, and now (for the most part) we can relax and celebrate a little bit. 

I cannot leave here today without thanking the professors who have encouraged and supported us all as we fought through the stress of the world while also working towards this common goal. I also cannot say enough thanks to my cohort. Vermont 19 you have all been some of the most amazing, supportive, and genuinely good people who I have had the pleasure of meeting. Whether it has been a class weekend at home and we are messaging back and forth about the weird faces being made on zoom, or we are getting lunch at chef’s corner or healthy living.

You have all been by my side through some difficult times and some really great ones, and I do not believe I would be standing here today without the support from you all. 

Now, for all of you graduating today, I can imagine that you too have created your own communities and found families. Hold on to those connections because they may be some of the best relationships that you can carry with you into your future. They will be your comrades in your chosen field that you can lean on when you need support. They will be the friend who has an in with the new job you are hoping for. And they are the ones who understand where you come from because they have been there too. During your time in school you learn a lot, sometime more than what you can remember, but there is a lot that we have all learned that also wasn’t graded on, and those are some of the lessons that have stuck with me and I will carry into my future. I learned that I have a vast network of connections now across this state and even all the other states that this program supports. I have learned that learning about self care and actually doing said self care are VASTLY different things. And despite being in a field where there is so much support it is okay to feel alone sometimes. But I have also learned that there will always be someone there to lean on when I finally feel ready to get back up. So to say that that this place has had a huge impact on the person I have become is an understatement. It has been a long road getting to where I am today, and I won’t lie it hasn’t always been easy. But my bad luck definitely paved the road for a whole lot of good luck. 

I am truly grateful and genuinely pumped that we have made it to this point today! A lot of work goes into getting a degree, whether that is an associates degree, bachelors degree, or a masters. Everyone here today has done something amazing and you should all be immensely proud of yourselves. So from me to you congratulations class of 2025!  

PRESIDENT BERGH: 

It is now my pleasure to introduce our Keynote Speaker Gregory Tatro.  

Gregory is the co-founder of the non-profit Jenna’s Promise, a grassroots organization dedicated to creating pathways to wellness for people with substance use disorders. Their innovative Village Model aims to shift the paradigm of substance use disorder treatment and create better outcomes for individuals in recovery, as well as support the struggling rural Vermont community that houses the organization. Tatro’s dedication to this cause is driven by his personal experience of the death of his sister Jenna and a commitment to ensuring that others do not have to face the same struggles alone. 

GREGORY TATRO:

Hi everyone! 

It’s truly an honor to be with you today—especially here, in Johnson. 

This town is where I grew up. I grew up a little over a mile from here, on a dusty dirt road. There my sister Jenna and I grew up in a beautiful pastoral setting, where my mother had a horse farm. You might be thinking, “oh how nice! Getting to see horses every day as a kid must have been so nice!” And sure, there is some truth to that thought. But there were real challenges—it’s tough to grow up with literal neigh-sayers around you all day. Alright—that’s my one Dad joke for the day. I hit my quota. The point is, growing up with then-Johnson State college so close, it was a background character in my every day life. I remember the time of year when “the college kids” would show up and make the town with life and activity. I watched soccer games here with my dad, went to camp in the summers, and learned to swim in the pool. Later, as a teenager, I’d bring girls I liked to that fields behind the college and lie under the stars, wondering what life might hold. 

The university played a big role with my sister, Jenna, too. In fact she came to this very campus with dreams of leaving with a psychology degree. She believed in helping people—and she believed she could do it. 

Johnson, at that time, felt like a place full of possibility. But quietly, things were shifting. 

The town I loved—like many rural towns across New England—began to falter. Industry had declined. Jobs disappeared. Young people moved away. The kind of future we used to imagine here started feeling more out of reach. 

And Jenna’s story echoed that. What started with so much promise slowly became a struggle. After being prescribed painkillers, she spent years fighting addiction—cycling through treatment centers, trying to hold onto hope, and sometimes losing it. 

She went to treatment centers across the country. She joined support groups. She tried. Over and over again. 

She was fighting to find her way in a world that didn’t make it easy. There is a familiar story here, for you all listening. 

Still—there was a moment in time when she was doing better. From one of the places that was working for her, she called my mom and said: 

“Mom, when I get out of here, me and you are going to help people.” 

That promise—those words—would come to mean everything. 

Jenna was 26 when she died of an overdose. 

To watch someone so full of determination and hope fade from the world—it leaves you breathless. Lost. Like the ground has shifted beneath you and no one can tell you where to step next. 

That’s the place my family found ourselves. And it’s the place I want to start from today. A moment—a promise. A time of hope, and then hardship. There is resonance here, I think for all of you. Let’s talk about this moment– these are incredibly uncertain times. For our nation, for each of you. Leaping forth boldly, but on unstable ground takes courage. Global instability, political division and brinksmanship at the national level, massive technological disruption. As someone who graduated into the Great Recession, I get it. But while my crisis was deep, it was just one. You all have multi-faceted issues confronting you. That volatility, that adversity, that uncertainty—it’s enough to make one pause, here, now, at the edge of the precipice of the unknown. Because it’s just at this time when I think hope shines brightest. One of my favorite authors when I was younger, Matthew Woodring Stover, wrote that the void of not knowing can be a “cold and lonely” place. Yes—the unknown can be frightening, even lonely. It strips away the safety of predetermined answers and leaves us standing on the edge of an infinite possibility. As Stover writes, if we are always certain, if we always know the right, “where is freedom? No one chooses the wrong… uncertainty sets us free.” In other words, it is uncertainty that is the very gateway to freedom. Life is not a set of ready made answers, instead it is a canvas, your choices painting the broad strokes of your vision and hopes and dreams. When my family lost Jenna, it was like the void of loss swallowed up all we knew about the world. The path forward was the definition of uncertain. We didn’t know our next step at first. But my parents remembered Jenna’s last words—her promise to help others. And the family began to get to work. We wrote, we began talking to people who also were struggling. 

My parents wanted to build something as a monument to Jenna—a way to make things better for others like her. Friends, neighbors, even strangers rallied around us in the days following Jenna’s death. It wasn’t just about one family’s grief anymore—it was about all of us, coming together in the face of a much larger crisis. We banded together in our shared vulnerability, and in doing so, we’ve started to bind the wounds we all carry. At first we didn’t know the path, but the lesson we learned is that we can never know all the answers. In other words, uncertainty set us free. In moments like this, it demanded that we chart our own path without a map laid out by someone else. And while we didn’t have the full vision of Jenna’s Promise in that moment—we found our answers by acting. By stepping forth. Now our organization has helped hundreds of people like Jenna—people who were more likely to fall through the cracks when they were fresh in recovery, and we’ve wrapped them up in what we believe is a paradigm-shifting model for substance use-disorder. All the while, we have bought up abandoned buildings in this amazing town, and worked to help play a part in revitalizing it. Where Jenna and I went to church, now stands a community center with its doors open to all. It’s been called the new heart of Johnson. Where drug dealers once operated from the corners of town—that building is now a recovery home for people to live in—a beacon of light. When the rural areas are being hollowed out in our country. Jenna’s Promise has, across town, reinvigorated six abandoned buildings and brought something needed to our town. A café on main street, a surplus goods store, a roastery. Plus a community center and recovery housing. People are stopping in town again—not driving through! And our community is amazing—not pushing back against us but supporting this vision of recovery, and helping us break down the stigma of addiction. And the residents who partake in our village model… they leave with jobs, they leave reunited with their kids, fully independent, and in strong, stable recovery. It’s not just about “I’m not using.” It’s about so much more. It’s about strengthening all parts of the person so they have diversified skills, networks, and experience put to use as they take their steps into another world. We believe we’ve stumbled upon something special, and we hope if Jenna were here today, she would be proud to see the legacy she helped build. This was the answer we forged from that moment of uncertainty. It is in the act of choosing that you assert your identity and claim ownership over the unfolding mystery of your life. Stover puts it this way– “Life is more a matter of choosing than knowing. [One] could never know the eventual destination of his path, but he could always choose in which direction to take each step.” Without choice, you remain a passive observer in a world that demands 

engagement. In making a choice, you are saying, “I will not be held hostage by uncertainty.” You are boldly stepping into the arena of life, armed with the courage to face the unknown. 

Every choice, no matter how small, is a declaration of defiance against fear. Theres a line from the movie Poor Things that says “it is only the way it is until we discover the new way it is and then that is the way it is until we discover the new way it is and so it goes until the world is no longer flat, electricity lights the night, and shoes are no longer tied with ribbons” And it can help you realize that instead of being stuck with black and white thinking and choices, there is always another means to get to where you need to go. There is always another choice. There is the promise of bringing forth a new future. As the philosopher Umberto Eco once said, “show not what has been done, but what can be.” That is the promise of this moment of uncertainty—the ability to bring forth desperately needed change in a world that is broken. That is the work being done by so many people in our communities—people who may not be “great” but are more importantly “good.” I believe that is the work Jenna’s Promise is something special, and we hope if Jenna were here today, she would be proud to see the legacy she helped build. This was the answer we forged from that moment of uncertainty. It is in the act of choosing that you assert your identity and claim ownership over the unfolding mystery of your life. Stover puts it this way– “Life is more a matter of choosing than knowing. [One] could never know the eventual destination of his path, but he could always choose in which direction to take each step.” Without choice, you remain a passive observer in a world that demands 

engagement. In making a choice, you are saying, “I will not be held hostage by uncertainty.” You are boldly stepping into the arena of life, armed with the courage to face the unknown. 

Every choice, no matter how small, is a declaration of defiance against fear. Theres a line from the movie Poor Things that says “it is only the way it is until we discover the new way it is and then that is the way it is until we discover the new way it is and so it goes until the world is no longer flat, electricity lights the night, and shoes are no longer tied with ribbons” And it can help you realize that instead of being stuck with black and white thinking and choices, there is always another means to get to where you need to go. There is always another choice. There is the promise of bringing forth a new future. As the philosopher Umberto Eco once said, “show not what has been done, but what can be.” That is the promise of this moment of uncertainty—the ability to bring forth desperately needed change in a world that is broken. That is the work being done by so many people in our communities—people who may not be “great” but are more importantly “good.” I believe that is the work Jenna’s Promise is doing. And when I look out amongst all of you, on the edge of the precipice, on the edge of choosing—that is the promise of a day like today too. There is so much talent in this building, we could light up the whole state. It is a reminder that while the path ahead is uncharted and the outcomes unseen, your willingness to choose is the only way to cast even a shadow of meaning upon the unknown. When you choose, you transform that liberating uncertainty into the foundation of your own destiny.  

Each of you is here too going forth unto the unbeaten path. This is your moment individually as well—as we stand on the brink of great change. How will your uncertainty set you free? What will your answer be?  

HANNAH REID: 

My name is Hannah Reid and as VTSU’s Vice President of Communications, Alumni and External Affairs, it is my honor to introduce a leader whose commitment to Johnson is matched by her vision for Vermont’s future. Julie Hulburd, Class of 2000 and a member of our Class of 2024, brings deep institutional pride and uncommon perspective to her role as President of the Johnson Alumni Council. Appointed by Governor Scott to the state’s Cannabis Control Board, Julie is a respected public servant and a powerful advocate for VTSU—please join me in welcoming her to the stage.

JULIE HULBURD:  

Distinguished faculty, esteemed guests, proud families, and above all, graduates— I’m Julie Hulburd, a proud graduate of the Class of 2000 and the Class of 2024, and President of your Alumni Association.  

Driving up here today I was thinking – there’s something about making that turn from Clay Hill Road onto College Hill—the way the road curves, revealing the foothills and small valley just before the athletic fields and academic buildings come into view – something about that always feels like coming home – even 25 years after my first graduation.   

My hope for each of you is that 25 years from now, the bonds you’ve formed here will continue to evoke that feeling of home when you look back on your time at Vermont State.  

In just a few moments, you’ll take your final steps as students, crossing this stage to receive your degrees. But, crossing the stage is not an ending—it’s the beginning of so many things including your next chapter with Vermont State, now as members of its esteemed alumni.  

Perhaps, like me, you’ll return to Vermont State to pursue an additional degree, complete certifications, or even join the ranks of our staff or faculty. Maybe one day, you’ll bring your own children here to begin their journey.

Above all, I hope you’ll come back—this fall—for Homecoming Weekend, to share your stories and your achievements with your professors and fellow alumni.  

Folks, I need a little audience participation for a moment: Could everyone who is an alum of this institution, graduated from Vermont State – Johnson, Lyndon, Castleton, Randolph, or Williston please raise your hand?   

Now, soon to be grads, take a look around.  These are your people and there are many more like them all over the world.      

Today, as you step forward, know that you’re joining a community of alumni that is excited to welcome you, mentor you, and cheer you on. We hope you’ll stay connected, through the Alumni Council, and one day, inspire future students as others have inspired you.  

To the Class of 2025, on behalf of the Johnson Campus Alumni Council—I am honored to be the first to welcome you to the next chapter.