Astrid Tuminez, president of Utah Valley University (UVU), has announced she will step down at the end of the spring semester, citing personal grief and the aftermath of a high-profile campus killing. The 61-year-old made the announcement during a State of the University address on Wednesday, telling a packed audience of students and faculty that the decision had been building for some time.
“There’s never a good time,” Tuminez said in an interview. “I love UVU so much.” She described a mix of grief and relief, saying she was “heartbroken on one hand, but also happy and excited on the other, because life has its rhythms.” Tuminez, who became UVU’s seventh president in 2018, is the first woman, first person of colour and first immigrant to lead the institution.
Her tenure has been marked by significant growth, with enrolment up more than 20%, the endowment more than doubling from $55m to $129m, and sharp rises in graduation rates. However, the past year has been overshadowed by personal tragedy and institutional crisis. Her husband, Jeffrey Tolk, died suddenly in February 2025, leaving her “disconsolate and desolate”.
On 10 September 2025, the day that would have been Tolk’s birthday, far-right commentator Charlie Kirk was assassinated on campus. Tuminez, who was travelling to Rome at the time, described the shock: “Just utter shock, like my whole body was on fire.” The killing thrust UVU into a national political crisis, with divisions over how to remember Kirk and pressure from the Trump administration over campus speech.
Tuminez, a former international student who obtained her own F-1 visa, expressed concern about the current political climate’s impact on higher education. “One of the superpowers of America is our influence globally,” she said. “We educate people who go back and lead in their home countries.” She argued that openness benefits both local and international students, and warned that decisions driven by fear risk long-term harm.
Her departure comes as US universities face mounting pressure from the Trump administration, including heightened immigration enforcement and visa restrictions. Tuminez said she plans to leave the role in early May, describing her nearly eight-year presidency as one of the longest in Utah’s public university system.
