Following the announcement of KSC President Melinda Treadwell’s resignation, The Equinox hopes Treadwell’s successor will embody the same values of compassion, leadership and student-centered decision-making that she has during her tenure at KSC.
On Tuesday, Sept. 16, Treadwell announced in a campus-wide email she would be resigning from Keene State to take on the role of president at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Geneseo, a public liberal arts college with an enrollment of just under 4,000 as of fall 2024.
Treadwell was appointed as the interim president of KSC back in 2017, having previously served as interim provost and a professor, as well as being an alumna of the college.
Entering into the role during a time of financial crisis for the college, Treadwell spearheaded the extremely hard work of right-sizing our campus and academic reorganization.
While it is unfortunate this work had to have been done in the first place and we understand the impact that the program cuts and faculty buyouts had at the time, upon reflection, it is easy for us to say these were the right things to do.
Treadwell put Keene State ahead of the curve when it came to another impending crisis: The COVID-19 pandemic. The college had to grapple with all the setbacks and losses that came with a once-in-a-generation public health crisis while continuing the work of academic reorganization.
The college, at one point, faced a projected $5 million deficit, according to previous Keene Sentinel reporting.
The work that had to be done during the early years of her presidency was not pretty, but it was necessary for the college to survive.
Keene State’s budget deficit now sits around $330,000, with the college continuing to inch closer to that breakeven fiscal year.
Now, we see the University of New Hampshire and Plymouth State University, the other two University System of New Hampshire (USNH) institutions, struggle to make ends meet while they enact sweeping cuts of their own. We can feel somewhat grateful that we at KSC have already gone through those tough times and came out on the other side.
While Treadwell’s resignation announcement was largely a reflective one that did not get too far into the reasoning behind her decision to leave the college, we cannot help but think of how our state government has treated higher education this past year and how hard it has become to be the president of an N.H. college.
Over the summer, state legislators cut USNH’s funding by 15 percent, roughly $26 million, according to previous Equinox reporting.
Along with this budget cut, the state also passed an amendment targeting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, threatening to prohibit public funding to any public institution engaging in DEI practices.
The state continues to show, time and time again, that it does not appreciate or care for education generally, but higher education in particular.
One would figure that a state like N.H., which boasts one of the highest median ages in the country at around 43 years old and has an aging workforce, would want to invest in the future of its economy by supporting higher education, but it seems the legislature is intent on doing just the opposite.
During her tenure, Treadwell has been a fierce advocate for higher education and the liberal arts, always advocating for students and relaying why N.H. needs a thriving, well-funded KSC and USNH.
The battle for better funding has always been an uphill one, but Treadwell never shied away.
She was always candid about the challenges that came with the presidency and we deeply appreciate her commitment to transparency and freedom of speech on campus.
At a time when campuses across the country have sought to crack down on pro-Palestinian student demonstrators, where political violence has become a frequent occurrence and where tensions seem at an all-time high, Treadwell has been a strong voice in ensuring that peaceful, civic debate can not only exist at KSC but thrive.
Her transparency is a defining feature of her leadership style, and that commitment has reverberated across campus.
Even when we have had sharp disagreements with the administration or campus offices on certain decisions, we never felt in the dark, and that is something that every institution should strive for.
We hope that whoever should take on the presidency next will embody the values that Treadwell has as president. We are in the fight of our lives to preserve higher education in our state, and we cannot afford to have someone who will back down in the face of governmental attacks, which will no doubt continue for the foreseeable future.
We need someone who will work day in and day out to preserve the student experience; anything less will only serve to heighten fears among the student body and make students feel defeated.
Although we are sad to see her leave, The Equinox wishes Treadwell well at SUNY Geneseo, and we know she will do great things for its student body.
