Kelley Cota Tully ’83 Appointed to Vermont House of Representatives
On April 11, 2020, Vermont Governor Phil Scott appointed Vermont Academy alum Kelley Cota Tully ’83 to a vacant seat in the Vermont House of Representatives. Governor Scott was presented with a list of highly qualified candidates and chose Tully in part because of her experience working in healthcare.
“During this once-in-a-century challenge, Kelley’s experience as a nurse and in business will be of great value as my team and I work with the Legislature in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Governor Scott. “She will bring an important perspective to the House and I appreciate her stepping into public service during these difficult times. She will represent the people of her district well.”
Tully came to Vermont Academy just as girls were being enrolled again. “Being a minority at VA, women together there were so strong. Super talented. Bright. We were a force to be reckoned with,” Tully explained with a laugh. “I think there were four guys for each girl, maybe fifty girls total, but being an only girl at home with two brothers, I didn’t notice the ratio. And the faculty supported us. They embraced our strong personalities.”
At Vermont Academy Tully embraced the philosophy of “try something you would never try.” She focused on science in Mr. Frey’s kinesiology course and Doc Hewitt’s biochemistry labs. “A lot VA did back then wasn’t mainstream,” she explained, “and faculty really pushed you and supported you at the same time.”
She restarted Vermont Academy’s girls’ basketball program in 1981. “It was the first girls’ basketball team since World War I.” She held roles in student government in her junior and senior years. As Tully explained, pioneering has always been part of family values.
After graduating from Vermont Academy, Tully attended Wilkes University in Pennsylvania, graduating in 1988 with a BS in biology. Later she attended Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey where she earned her BSN in 1991.
Tully returned to Vermont Academy for a couple of years, teaching for a semester under the guidance of Mr. Long and then working as an evening and on-call nurse for VA’s health services. She was also part of the staff of Vermont’s Springfield Hospital, first working as a nurse in the intensive care unit before becoming the unit’s manager. She finished out her 25-year career there in 2016 as a critical care educator. Her husband, Jim, passed away unexpectedly in 2015. She ultimately left her full time healthcare position to rejoin the family business as her husband’s replacement. She is now a vice president at Cota & Cota and the president of C & H Transportation. “Jim was a great life partner and dad. He’s up there pushing me along and laughing.” Tully has one son, Seamus, who is finishing college and playing football at Carroll College in Helena, Montana.
Tully’s first job was at Cota & Cota working for her father. She changed the oil in the service vans and pick-up trucks, cleaned furnaces, and even worked with the plumbers clearing sewer pipes. “It’s Vermont, you need to wear a lot of hats,” said Tully. “My dad’s philosophy was that he wouldn’t have his employees do something he wouldn’t have his own kids do first.”
“I’m still working in healthcare at Cota & Cota. I’m the workers compensation case manager and I oversee short-term disability,” explained Tully. “I’m able to assist our employees on-site or in the office if there’s an injury. With Covid-19, I’ve made eighty masks for our employees. I make 10 each weekend to replace ones that get lost or damaged.”
In addition to her brief time teaching and working as a nurse in the school’s health services department, Tully has been a very active alum. She has served as co-president of the alumni association, still attends VA basketball games, and volunteers her time to VA when needed.
Now she will be representing VA and every one of its neighbors at Vermont’s State House. “I’m always one to take on new challenges,” she said. “I’ve never shied from being a pioneer, trying to navigate new places and jobs by observing, asking questions, and getting my hands dirty.” She represents voters in the towns of Athens, Brookline, Grafton, Rockingham, and Windham, Vermont. She’ll be running for the seat in upcoming elections this fall. “My swearing in on April 14th was just me, my older brother, and the clerk, all wearing masks.”
Here’s hoping Tully can take part in a standard formal swearing-in ceremony in next year’s opening session.
Vermont Academy is a coed college preparatory boarding and day school in southern Vermont, serving grades 9-12 plus a postgraduate year.
