By Luke Butner

For the third time, Katharine Burgess has returned to Greensboro College, serving in various roles within our campus ecosystem.

First, she was a full-time student at GC, then she returned as a librarian intern to earn hours for her master’s program. Finally, she is here to stay as our assistant director of special programs.

Burgess was particularly active at campus events. She acted as Student Honors Organization (SHO) vice president for a year before becoming president of SHO the following year. Furthermore, she served her peers as a Supplemental Instructional Leader (SIL) and peer tutor for Western Civilization and American History courses. Lastly, she introduced new students to the college for two years as a pride leader for PAWS and a pride guide.

As a student of GC, Burgess had an excellent academic record. She was a hybrid major in history and political science with dual minors in humanities and religion. Furthermore, she is a graduate of the George Center for Honors Studies, where she wrote her thesis, “The Phantoms of Our Past: The Technological Advancement of the F-4 Phantom in the Vietnam War,” where she used the context of the Vietnam War to analyze the development of the F-4 Phantom plane used by the United States Navy.

She was also the recipient of the prestigious Skaggs Award of the history department and a member of three national honors societies in history, political science, and religious studies.

In her position, Burgess serves the honors program and PEAK directors. She is responsible for assisting in Honors decisions, thesis co-advising, academically advising students, and serving as the point of contact for online programs. She is also looking forward to teaching her own GC seminar course next semester.

Outside of her job, Burgess spends her free time with her many chickens, cats, dogs, and hedgehogs. She also enjoys reading fantasy and historical fiction books, noting she frequents the annual Renaissance festival. She supports local music artists in the southeast and regularly attends tractor pulls. Interestingly, she has a fondness for entomology, noting that she collects winged insect carcasses. However, Burgess noted that her favorite hobby is cross-stitch.

Our interview with Burgess was enjoyable, and she had many interests to share with us. We at the Collegian believe she has made and will continue to make a significant positive impact on our campus.

As her final quote to the Collegian, she stated,

“Students: come talk to me about anything, I have a lot of interests.”