The Vermont Legislature celebrated Vermont Technical College’s 150th anniversary with a Proclamation read on the Senate floor for Vermont Tech Day on Thursday, April 13.
[View the article published on the Randolph Herald.]
Vermont Tech will be meeting with community members and legislators from 1-2:30 p.m. in the Cedar Creek Room of the State House in Montpelier to exemplify the important work the college has accomplished over the past 150 years. Speakers at the event include President Patricia Moulton, alumni Mike Audet of Ledge Haven Farm, Jay Fayette of PC Construction, Senator Bob Starr, and current student, Morgan Easton.
Founded in 1866 as the Randolph Normal School, it served the community by educating teachers. The Randolph Center hilltop school had previously been the Orange County Grammar School from 1806-1866. On November 17, 1866, the Vermont State Legislature passed Public Act No. 1, authorizing three public schools in Randolph, Johnson, and Castleton—the same three public colleges still serving Vermonters.
The Randolph Normal School served in its capacity as a teachers’ college until the legislature determined a need for an agriculture school and the Vermont School of Agriculture (VSA) was established at the site of the Randolph Normal School. It was the addition of technical courses caused the school of agriculture to become the Vermont Agriculture and Technical Institute (VATI) in 1957. With authorization to offer associate degrees, VATI was renamed Vermont Technical College on July 1, 1962. Vermont Technical College was authorized to grant bachelor’s degrees in 1993 and master’s degrees in 2015.
Attending this public legislative reception will be Vermont Tech’s alums, faculty, staff, and students. Students from majors such as architectural engineering technology, electromechanical engineering technology, and software engineering technology will have their projects on display. The Hartness Library curated a display of memorabilia and photographs from each era of the college’s evolution from the Normal School to Vermont Technical College.