Southern
tradition claims “women should be seen and not heard,”
but dedicated female leaders, such as Appalachian State University
professor Dr. Glenda J. Treadaway, strive on a daily basis to shatter
such stereotypes.
Treadaway is the current president of Pi Kappa Delta, a national
debate honorary and past president of the Cross-Examination Debate
Association (CEDA), the largest debate association in the world.
Treadaway has worked to expand the world of debate to include the
underrepresented population of women debaters.
Treadaway will pass the gavel in March, ending her presidency in
Pi Kappa Delta. Treadaway said she was pleased with her experiences
on the nationally recognized board and feels she accomplished a
great deal while in office.
“I think the greatest accomplishment for me was providing a
role model for future women and the fact that a male-oriented group
elected me,” Treadaway said. “I think that showed a lot
of respect for me and my knowledge and what I have done.”
Treadaway is in her ninth year as a professor in Appalachian’s
Department of Communication, where she is well respected by her
students and peers.
“She’s outstanding,” fellow communication professor
Dr. Janice Pope said. “Glenda is very organized, and she knows
her field. She’s very dedicated to what she does.”
Treadaway said she began teaching largely because of her love for
debate and has parlayed that into a way of educating students about
her research on minority representation in the world of debate.
“I like to teach, and I actually think it’s a gift that
I have teaching,” Treadaway said. “I didn’t want
a job that I had to dread going to work everyday, and so I taught
for a couple of years, and I loved it and said this is what I want
to do.”
Treadaway immediately submersed herself in the world of debate by
becoming Appalachian’s debate coach, a position that allowed
her to springboard into the male-dominated field of national debate.
She also used her role as a professor to begin exploring minority
representation in debate as the basis of her research for the Department
of Communication.
“I think [women] have to work harder in debate,” Treadaway
said. “Female arguments are devalued and not really accepted
as legitimate nearly as often as male arguments are.”
Through her roles as president of two national debate organizations
and her work with Appalachian’s debate team, Treadaway has
published numerous articles on the findings she has observed concerning
minority debate.
“I think Glenda couldn’t be president of these national
organizations if she weren’t respected for her abilities,”
Pope said. “We all still, as women, fight biases.”
Treadaway said rising above the stereotypes of being a woman raised
in a traditional southern home is one of the biggest challenges
she has had to overcome.
“[Women] were not respected for their opinions, and that’s
why I ended up attracted to debate,” Treadaway said. “When
I got into debate, I thought, ‘You mean people will listen
to me?’ It was so freeing and so empowering that I could make
a difference and that people cared about what I had to say.”
Outside her professional realm, Treadaway is deeply dedicated to
the upbringing of her 10-year-old daughter, Kimberly, and feels
being a mother deeply influences her work as an educator.
“She always takes care of me, and she is a really good role
model,” Kimberly Treadaway said. “I really look up to
her for having her Ph.D.”
Treadaway said she strives to provide a positive example as an educator
and a woman for Kimberly, and for all women.
“I see all my students as somebody’s child, or as future
parents,” Treadaway said. “I try to be the kind of role
model for them that I am for my own child.”
After stepping down as president of Pi Kappa Delta, Treadaway said
she plans to step up her role as a leader at Appalachian, continue
to make an impact on the world of debate and focus on her passion
for service.
“[Treadaway] plays a key role,” Pope said. “We can
depend on her to be a thoughtful and prepared committee member,
and that matters. Her intellectual reasoning and clear thinking
are certainly chief.”
Treadaway said she plans to continue her involvement in debate and
is encouraging and assisting local high schools to develop their
own debate programs. She also plans to continue to develop as a
professor and concentrate on the success of her students.
“Every year I want to be a better teacher,” Treadaway
said. “I want to be able to adapt to my audience. I want to
keep up with what’s going on in the field so that when I walk
into a classroom, I don’t feel like I’m giving [my students]
things that were true 10 years ago, but the things that are true
now.” |
