Katherine Treadgold
SUNY Geneseo
Katherine R. Treadgold, a second-year student at SUNY Geneseo, is a student leader actively addressing sustainability, voting rights, and civic engagement. During her first four semesters at Geneseo, Katherine has worked collaboratively with our local community, multiple offices on-campus, and national organizations to co-lead the Geneseo Votes Coalition (GVC). The GVC is a student-led group of civically-minded student organizations and community leaders dedicated to fostering civic responsibility. Her work through the GVC and Andrew Goodman Foundation focuses on voter registration, civic education, and voting rights on-campus. Also, Katherine has directly addressed sustainability issues on campus through her work with the Geneseo Bee Keeping Club and SUNY Geneseo's Office of Sustainability. Through her diligent efforts, she has maintained two honeybee hives and helps educate people about sustainability and the impact of pollinators on our natural world and agricultural systems. Together, Katherine's work with the local community, college administration, and SUNY Geneseo students has culminated in exploring possibilities for changing the location of our on-campus polling site, developing a virtual voter registration curriculum for orientation, and actively developing innovative methods for promoting sustainability at SUNY Geneseo.
Personal Statement
Protecting and preserving the environment for future generations is profoundly important to me. I am deeply concerned for our planet's future and want to dedicate my life to improve the situation. The mounting challenges posed by climate change motivated me to join the Andrew Goodman Foundation (AGF) and the Geneseo Votes Coalition (GVC). To me, social and natural science draws an inextricable relationship between civic actions and the betterment of our natural world. Within these organizations, I work to remove barriers to voting on campus by educating the student population and working with the administration to change infrastructure. Beyond my civic engagement work with AGF and the GVC, I am also treasurer for the Geneseo Beekeeping Club, where we care for two honeybee hives and help educate people about sustainability and the importance of pollinators. I am currently leading a project to replace disposable food containers with a reusable system, which may save tens of thousands of disposable containers from ending up in landfills. Lastly, I serve as treasurer for College Democrats and as a student representative on the Livingston County Democrat Committee Board. Together, these leadership roles allow me to build mutualistic connections between the college and the community.
