A homecoming and a new chapter

For Dr. Tracy Penny Light, stepping into the role of president of United College is both a new beginning and a return to a place deeply connected to her professional journey. 

“Coming back to Waterloo certainly feels like a homecoming for me. It is where I grew up as an academic and an academic administrator,” she said. 

Her return to Waterloo is also the latest chapter in a career that has taken her from professor to dean, provost and now president. Across each role, one belief has remained constant: education can transform lives. For Tracy, leadership and learning have never been separate pursuits.  

“In all of these roles, I have had the privilege of learning alongside others. It makes me really excited to learn alongside everyone here at United,” she said. 

That commitment to learning alongside others is part of what drew Tracy to United. She was attracted by the way the College brings together many dimensions of a university experience in one close-knit place: direct connections with students, staff, faculty and alumni, alongside the opportunities that come with being affiliated with the University of Waterloo. 

“What attracted me most to United was the fact that it has all of the elements I think are important in a university. It has a distinctive set of academic programs that are focused on social justice, innovation, human rights and entrepreneurship. It also has an amazing living community, so students can come and live here and learn at the same time," Tracy added. 

While the College’s programs and structure first caught her attention, its people have made the strongest impression since she arrived. Tracy has spent her first weeks meeting students, staff, faculty, alumni and donors. The welcome has reinforced what she sensed before taking on the role: at United, community is more than a word. 

“You really do feel it when you come here, from the minute you step through the front door,” she said, reflecting on her first few weeks as president. “There are students, staff, faculty and often even alumni in the halls. We have a hub where people can come together, dine together, live together if they want to, and learn together, which I think is the most important thing.” 

That sense of community extends beyond those who study or live at the College. Tracy has also noticed people from across the University coming to United for lunch, meetings and conversation. She sees United’s position as a small hub within the wider Waterloo community as one of its greatest strengths. 

“We have this little hub within the broader University of Waterloo ecosystem, where people can come together and think about the best ways to foster change in the world,” she said. 

That connection between community and change is especially meaningful to Tracy. Nearly 20 years ago, while creating a professional portfolio, she chose the phrase “learning and teaching for change” to describe her work. The idea has remained at the heart of her career, and she sees it reflected in United’s focus on positive social change today. 

For Tracy, learning and teaching for change cannot stop at the College’s doors. She wants United to continue preparing learners to participate meaningfully in their communities and to consider how they can help make the world better. That means strengthening connections across United, the University of Waterloo, the broader Kitchener-Waterloo community and the international higher education community. 

“How are we engaging learners to really think about how they can make positive change in the world?” she asked. “How are we learning and teaching for change across all of our constituent groups?” 

Turning that vision into United’s next chapter begins, in Tracy’s view, with listening. She describes her leadership style as collaborative, innovative and focused on people, and she is not arriving with a fixed blueprint for the College. Instead, her first-year priority is to listen and learn, understand the qualities that make United distinctive and develop ideas with the community rather than for it. 

“I never come in with an idea of the way it needs to be. We need to generate those ideas together as a community," she said. 

That listening-first approach will shape her immediate focus: surfacing and celebrating the strong work already happening at United, making it more visible to the broader community and identifying how the College can build on its existing foundation. Alumni, she believes, will be essential to that process. 

“They have lived and learned here, and I think they can tell us a lot about what their experience was like and how they see United evolving into the next chapter,” she said. 

With those perspectives helping to guide the way, Tracy hopes to expand United’s reach while preserving the close relationships that make the College special. She wants more students to experience an education that equips them to engage with their communities, ask difficult questions and help create meaningful change. 

Behind that institutional vision is a leader who remains deeply curious. Tracy calls herself a “nerd at heart” and an integrative thinker. Whether she is drawing on her experiences as a professor, administrator or yoga teacher, she looks for connections and new ways of bringing ideas together. At United, that curiosity is paired with an open-door approach. 

“You can ask me anything, anytime. Most importantly, I would love to meet with you and learn more about what has worked for you while you were at United, and how we can build the future together. Tracy added. 

In many ways, that openness captures what “coming home” means for Tracy. It is not a return to a place that has stood still. Waterloo has changed, universities continue to evolve and United is evolving too. She is excited to honour the work that has brought the College to this moment while helping its community shape what comes next. 

Stay connected with United College as we share more from President Tracy Penny Light and the people shaping the College’s next chapter.