By LAURA BORRELLI
Sports Editor
Not everyone is able to find and pursue their passion as easily as Golden Knight Camden Malone. Malone’s participation in athletics, community service, residence life, and politics at the College of Saint Rose is due to his passion of helping others and being a part of the solutions to problems, small or large.
Malone is a political science and history major and has a minor in Spanish. He always felt that he had a strong skill set and passion that complemented politics and felt that it needed to be applied to doing good in the world. Malone said he is interested in global politics, specifically resolving humanitarian crises. Spanish will help Malone communicate and break barriers while in the profession, which was the reason he decided to add a minor in Spanish.
The faculty and staff in the political science department have been wonderful during Malone’s time at Saint Rose. He said he is grateful for the opportunities they have provided.
Dr. Angela Ledford, a Professor of Political Theory, has known Malone since he was a freshman. Malone was thankful for Ledford’s guidance throughout his education and resulting success at Saint Rose. Ledford described Malone as thoughtful, conscientious, and intellectually curious.
“I admire his openness to really considering a wide array of claims and arguments and analyzing them methodically. These are the hallmarks of a true intellectual,” Ledford wrote in an email.
Outside of Malone’s contribution in the classroom, he is kind and well respected by his peers according to Ledford. Malone “raises the bar for what it means to be a responsible, collaborative, and ethical human being.”
Malone is also a tutor for political science at the college. He has been a tutor for about a year now and said he loves to help others understand the content and share his passion for politics. He is very passionate about his major and said he wants his passion to rub off on others in the community.
Malone is active within the Saint Rose community and is a three-sport athlete. He competes in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field. Malone started running in middle school and was inspired by his older brother who ran at Gannon University.
Running has been such a big part of Malone’s life he said he was happy to continue at Saint Rose. One memory that Malone will never forget was when he ran his first 8K, and he passed out at the end of the race. It taught him to embrace the struggle.
“In that moment I learned that my career was going to be defined by how I was going to respond to adversity, not success,” Malone said. His involvement in athletics led him to join the swim team this semester to represent Saint Rose in any way he could. Malone even wrote for The Chronicle, the school newspaper, for about a year to cover athletics and student athletes at Saint Rose.
Malone played a big role in athletics as president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). He said he was a voice for the athletes and enjoyed bringing positive change to the athletic department. Malone thought SAAC was a way to bridge the gaps between the college and the community and wanted to show that the Golden Knights could make a difference on and off the field.
Aside from making a positive impact in athletics, Malone was a Resident Assistant (RA) for two years. As an RA, Malone was in charge of creating a positive and safe environment as well as a role model on campus. Malone said he enjoyed being an RA, and the staff was very supportive during his time at Saint Rose. He said he learned effective communication and the importance of empathy as an RA.
Malone challenged himself and took enough credits to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in two and a half years. Although Malone is graduating and enthusiastic to pursue his degree in political science, he is not ready to leave the Saint Rose community. He will be sticking around as part of athletics as a part time coach for the track team.
He said that he is looking forward to helping the team grow and working with his distance team. Student athlete, Kyle Ostrander is excited that Malone is going to stay and is grateful for the past years having Malone as a teammate.
“Camden has taught me to keep my head up and never give up on your goals,” Ostrander wrote in an email. Malone pushed Ostrander to do his best on and off the track. Ostrander said that he looks up to Camden as a leader.
Malone is grateful for both his teammates and coaches over the years. Interim Head Coach, Soroya Hudson, described Malone as a supportive athlete and a leader on the team.
“He is a very focused and driven athlete that doesn’t shy away from a challenge,” Hudson said in an email. Hudson said she is excited to work with him in the future and knows that Malone understands the concept of hard work and dedication.
Malone has been busy in the short time he has been at Saint Rose, but has proven to be an asset. He stressed that time goes by fast and that you need to appreciate everything you have and live each day at a time.
Malone is thankful that Saint Rose has given him the opportunity to flourish and grow into the leader he is today.
