Skidmore student honored for civic engagement

Emily Durante ’15 has been named a 2014 Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact, a national coalition of colleges and universities dedicated to fostering civic and social responsibility. The award recognizes college students for their efforts to explore social issues and work toward positive change. 

With a double major in Environmental Studies and Geosciences, Durante has focused her civic work on environmental issues, particularly those related to transportation networks. She is known both on the Skidmore campus and in the surrounding community for helping to raise awareness and initiate projects related to environmental concerns.

On campus, Durante has led efforts to mobilize and coordinate student environmental organizations and to create a bike-share program, which she currently manages. She is one of three students serving on the Campus Sustainability Subcommittee and is helping to develop a strategic plan for sustainability at Skidmore.

Durante is also active in Saratoga Springs, where she has worked with the local Cool Cities initiative (a nationwide alliance of cities working to reduce global warming), helping to pass an anti-idling ordinance for vehicles. In an internship that began last summer, she is working with the Saratoga Springs Planning and Economic Development Department on a project to expand trail systems. Using skills she acquired in the college’s GIS Center, she is assisting the city’s Complete Streets initiative with a mapping project to improve sustainable transportation. 

“I hope to pursue a career in urban planning and continue to create accessible, sustainable mobility in our cities,” said Durante.

Wrote Skidmore President Philip A. Glotzbach in nominating Durante for the fellowship, “Emily has gone straight to the root of environmental problems associated with local transportation by pushing for long-term options that reduce environmental degradation and improve public health. Emily is now a junior at Skidmore, and we look forward to seeing all that she will accomplish in her remaining semesters at the College.”