Hello! I’m Sarah Bathke, a journalist and communicator based in Eugene, Oregon. I hail from Colorado, where I grew up in the sunshine and snow, watching the 10 PM news with my parents when I was in middle school. As I watched the stories of my community on TV, I developed my own desire to tell the stories of the communities I wasn’t seeing, including my own queer community.

I dove into advocacy work at the ripe age of 13 as a member of a youth advisory council for the state, and actively pursued political and civic engagement and education. This fervor for social change took me to the University of Oregon, where I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with a minor in Korean in June 2025.

As an undergraduate, I worked for the university’s Government and Community Relations team, still pursuing advocacy and change, but this time focused on higher education and enabled by the skills I was learning in my classes. My strategic communications work took my to the Oregon State Capitol in Salem and to the picket lines on my own campus, supporting the undergraduate student worker’s union while on strike.

My journalistic work fuels me, every conversation another piece in understanding and sharing the world with itself. From my entertainment industry interviews with alternative pop stars like Ricky Montgomery to the stories of alumni friend groups that have lasted 50 years, I pursue the deeper, human story of community, connection, and growth that we all seek.

In my work, whether journalistic or strategic, you will find one common link: community. I’m driven by my love of people, politics, and pop culture, pushing for a more informed public and a better, more connected tomorrow through my communications work.

To contact me about writing opportunities, please email me at sarah.bathke5@gmail.com.