Andrew Ramsammy Announced as Third VCFA President

January 3rd, 2025 not only marked VCFA’s first residency at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)—VCFA’s affiliate institution—but the installation of the college’s third president in its 17-year history: Andrew Ramsammy. 

Andrew Ramsammy is no stranger to VCFA or the arts. He is a multiple Emmy Award winner with more than 25 years of global experience in creative, content, and production, and has committed much of his career to expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion within the field of journalism. He most recently served as the Local Media Association’s Chief Impact Officer where he led Word In Black, a groundbreaking digital collaboration of the nation’s leading Black news publishers, and the Knight x BloomLab, a sustainability initiative in support of a free and independent Black press. Ramsammy joined the VCFA Board of Trustees in 2021 before stepping in as Interim President during a key time for the development and growth of VCFA. As Interim President, Ramsammy navigated a new affiliation agreement with CalArts, one that ensured new opportunities for collaboration and a permanent home for VCFA’s residencies. 

“It is with immense gratitude and humility that I stand before you today as your third president,” said Ramsammy during the January 2025 ceremony. “This is not just an honor—it is a profound responsibility, one that I accept with a deep commitment to each of you and to the future of this remarkable institution.”

“Together, we will ensure that VCFA thrives as a beacon of unapologetic creativity and a place where visionaries build a just future.”

Ramsammy shared his vision for the college, explaining that “Creativity sits at the heart of so many of the pressing issues of our time, and VCFA must be a leader in those conversations.” Ramsammy hopes to examine and strengthen the college’s relationship with art and social justice, art and democracy, art and commerce, art and technology, art and lifelong learning, and art and VCFA’s boundaryless model “…where creativity is not confined to traditional structures or borders but instead exists across disciplines, geographies, and modalities.” 

In his speech, Ramsammy noted the importance of VCFA’s new affiliation with CalArts in the role of moving these bold new goals forward.

“This collaboration marks the beginning of a new era for VCFA,” said Ramsammy. “As we honor our Vermont roots—the mountains that grounded us, the independence that shaped us—we now step into California’s boundless energy, its diversity, and its spirit of exploration. This is our opportunity to bridge the past and the future, to create an institution that thrives in this unique intersection of places, ideas, and possibilities.”

The college thanks the Board of Trustees for their work in ensuring this next chapter of VCFA. Read Ramsammy’s full January 2025 speech at the link.