WVU Student Spotlight

Mackenzie is sitting on rocks. She is smiling at the camera with her head titled to the side.

Mackenzie Freeman

By Leah Thomas

Mackenzie Freeman is a senior double majoring in psychology and criminology from Point Pleasant, WV. She has expressed a research interest in violence abroad and intimate partner violence as she began to work with the Research Center on Violence and Dr. Walter DeKeseredy for the past two years. She loves the hands-on experience that she gets with the Center, along with collecting data for our research. Additionally, Mackenzie works with an organization called “Casa for Kids” which is a court-based organization that advocates for children by looking at records and conducting research on the foster system.

Mackenzie advises her undergraduate peers in this field to contact their professors and ask them how to be more involved. She was initially introduced to Dr. DeKeseredy by emailing all the professors in her department to see if she could help. In an interview, Mackenzie says that her passion for this work came from her small hometown where many would not discuss or address gender-based violence or neglect. She hopes to advocate for all those suffering from domestic violence and unfair treatment so that they may never feel overlooked by their community again.