KEENE, N.H. (MyKeeneNow) Outgoing Keene State College President Dr. Melinda Treadwell reflected on her years leading the college — and on the future of public higher education in New Hampshire — during an in-depth farewell interview Friday on Good Morning with Dan Mitchell on WKBK Radio.

Treadwell, who leaves Keene State later this month to become president of SUNY Geneseo in New York, spoke candidly about the challenges, triumphs, and defining moments of her presidency, as well as her deep personal connection to the institution where her higher education journey began.

“It has been the institution that changed my life,” Treadwell said early in the interview, recalling her time as a Keene State student and basketball player in the late 1980s.

A 1990 Keene State graduate, Treadwell joined the faculty in 2000 as a professor of occupational safety and health before becoming interim president in 2017 and later, in 2019, being officially appointed president. She described her path to academic leadership as unplanned but rooted in her love for solving complex problems.

“What I love about administration is you use science and logic and data — that’s my foundation,” she said. “But I love working with people. I love solving complex problems, finding ways to move resources, finding ways to build things.”

Steering Through Crisis and Change

When Treadwell returned to Keene State in 2017, the college faced steep financial and reputational challenges. She said her first priority was restoring stability and rebuilding trust both on campus and in the surrounding community — relationships that had frayed in previous years.

Her scientific background also proved crucial when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Under her leadership, Keene State adopted innovative public health strategies, including wastewater testing to predict potential outbreaks — a collaboration that became a model for other institutions.

“We can’t be ivory towers,” she said. “That isn’t who we are. That isn’t who we should be.”

Defending the Value of Liberal Arts

Throughout the interview, Treadwell passionately defended the importance of a public liberal arts education, saying it prepares graduates not only for their first job, but for lifelong adaptability in an evolving economy.

She cited data showing that liberal arts graduates tend to have longer, more flexible careers and higher lifetime earnings compared to those in narrowly-focused training programs.

Funding Pressures and the Future of USNH

Treadwell also spoke bluntly about the severe financial challenges facing the University System of New Hampshire (USNH), which has long received the lowest per-student funding in the nation.

“We don’t have and won’t have enough state funding to continue business as usual,” she said.

She suggested that the system may soon need to consolidate leadership roles to remain financially viable.

A Lasting Connection

Though her career is taking her back to her home state of New York, Treadwell said her commitment to Keene State and its students will never fade.

“The college is more than a president,” she said. “It is a community that is now strong, believes in itself, is resilient, and has proven it can overcome almost anything.”

Listen to the full interview: