BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Marley Hartnett-Cody, a recent Bethlehem Area grad with a passion for social justice, is headed to Princeton University in the fall to study public policy.
Hartnett-Cody, 17, hopes to pursue a career in either government or diplomacy. She enjoys learning about the environment, women’s rights and racial justice issues.
“Hopefully, in the future, I can help find solutions for some of these issues we’re facing,” said Hartnett-Cody, who graduated earlier this month.
“Hopefully, in the future, I can help find solutions for some of these issues we’re facing.”Marley Hartnett-Cody, 2024 Liberty High School graduate
During her time at Liberty High School, Hartnett-Cody was involved in many extracurricular activities, including the feminist union.
As a member of the club, she and other students collected menstrual products and stocked Liberty’s bathrooms with pads and tampons. They also regularly met to discuss current events, such as the international conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.
“It was just a cool way to talk about issues relating to gender gaps and disparities, and then also talking about global issues that we’re all facing,” Hartnett-Cody said of the club.
The recent grad also said social media helped her learn more about current events and social justice issues.
“I feel like social media is so much a part of being a teenager now, which isn’t necessarily a great thing, but in this case it definitely opened my eyes to things I wasn’t paying attention to as much,” Hartnett-Cody said.
Hartnett-Cody learned about police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement on Instagram, as well as the overturning of Roe V. Wade, a 2022 Supreme Court decision that revoked the previous constitutional right to have an abortion, she said.
Through a science class she took her senior year, Hartnett-Cody also became more passionate about environmentalism, including topics like global warming, renewable energy and sustainable agriculture.
Hartnett-Cody grew up discussing social issues with her family, too.
Her mother Mary Hartnett, who is an elementary teacher in Bethlehem Area School District, said Hartnett-Cody often talks with her about equity issues and personal identity.
“We’ve had a lot of discussions on what it’s like for her to be growing up as a Black woman,” Hartnett said. “My kids [are] biracial. I’m a white woman. They have a totally different experience than I do, so there’s always been an open conversation about that.”
Hartnett added her daughter is “very passionate” and “very open-minded” about topics.
At Liberty, Hartnett-Cody was also involved in the golf team, which was the focus of her college essay.
Hartnett-Cody reflected on being a female student of color on the golf team, which was largely male and white.
During her freshman year, Hartnett-Cody’s teammates would often discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and national politics, and she would hear from students who had different opinions from her, she said.
“It was cool in that I got to experience different outlooks, different perspectives, and then I could learn how to interact with people who might not share the same ideals as me,” she said.
Theater and choir were another big part of Hartnett-Cody’s high school experience.
In total, she was in eight theatrical productions, including Liberty’s 2023 fall play, “Radium Girls,” in which she played one of the lead characters who died of radium poisoning. As a senior, Hartnett-Cody was the school’s theater leader, acting as a liaison between cast members and directors.
Laura Mainiero, a Liberty English teacher and theater director, said Hartnett-Cody takes a detail-oriented approach to acting and asked good questions about stage movement and line delivery.
Mainiero said she wasn’t surprised when she found out Hartnett-Cody got into the Ivy League school.
“She’s just the most empathetic, bright and also very humble student,” she said.
