Recent Juniata Graduate Earns National Leadership Award for Huntingdon Community Engagement
(Posted July 24, 2017)
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HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Katie Jeffress, a 2017 grad of Juniata College from Corpus Christi, Texas, has received one of five national Circle Leader of the Year Awards from Omicron Delta Kappa, an organization that encourages leadership on college campuses.
The five Circle Leader of the Year Award winners are nominated by their college chapters. Jeffress, the president of Juniata’s Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) chapter, was nominated for her commitment to her campus and community.
One of the most recent examples of her community involvement was when she helped coordinate the planting of 250 trees in Huntingdon, which was part of the Borough’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
"Coordinating and carrying out the event was a blast," says Jeffress. "The 250th planting spun together environmental issues, public education and community collaboration—all of which I feel very strongly about."
Each of the five recipients of the Circle Leader of the Year Award have received a $1,000 grant that goes towards graduate studies, and another $300 that will go towards Juniata’s ODK chapter. Each of the five recipients will also be entered for a chance to win the Omicron Delta Kappa General Russell E. Dougherty National Leader of the Year Award. If selected for the Omicron Delta Kappa General Russell E. Dougherty National Leader of the Year Award, Jeffress will receive an additional $4,000 scholarship for her graduate studies.
Jeffress studied environmental economics and Spanish while attending Juniata, and also worked for the writing center. She studied abroad in Sevilla, Spain, and will spend the coming year with the Careyes Foundation in Costa Careyes, Mexico, where she will teach English, help with community programing, and collect metrics for a sea turtle conservation program.
--Written by Joey DiGangi '18--
Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.