Keene State College takes up a huge area of the city of Keene, however, the KSC community does not represent the entire city of Keene as a whole. It is only right to be respectful of the whole community, and not all community members feel that college students abide by that.
In November, controversy arose between the Keene Sentinel and KSC administrators. The Keene Sentinel wrote an editorial about the KSC incidents after the Red Sox World Series win.
In the editorial, the paper’s staff stated, “It’s disappointing how predictable the college’s student population has become in its inconsideration toward others.”
Andrew Robinson, vice president of student affairs, was quoted saying fortunately, the events were contained to campus unlike some in the past. The Sentinel text responded, “Really? This is the best the college can do—express relief that things weren’t worse?”
Emma Contic / Graphic Design Editor
However, even though the Sentinel was completely disappointed and said that the downtown community members should not have to fear their wonderful community, they did say that the city of Keene is lucky to have a neighbor such as KSC.
“It contributes jobs, other financial contributions and many hours of volunteer service. It’s raised the cultural, philosophical and intellectual level of the region,” the editorial stated.
Another Sentinel editorial was written a little over a week later on the video footage people captured during Pumpkin Fest. The editorial said the top result found when searching Keene Pumpkin Fest on outlets such as Vine and YouTube was footage of a massive party on the edge of KSC. The party was unrelated to the festival, but the editorial stated college students have been using this festival as an excuse for drunken partying for years.
Senior Kim Lynch said Pumpkin Fest celebrations are definitely challenging for the college neighbors. She said she lives in a house behind two bars, so Lynch and her roommate’s cars have been “messed with” during past festivals.
“Kids have tried to get in them, we think someone tried to pee in my roommate’s car, but she stopped them and now we always lock our cars,” Lynch said.
The Sentinel editorial said Let It Shine, Pumpkin Fest’s organizers since 2011, had been accepting to the rowdiness surrounding the event and that this is an issue that needs to be addressed. The editorial continued and stated that in a news release issued after Pumpkin Fest on Oct. 25, Let It Shine would hold a Face-Off-Forum where community members could share their opinions. The editorial stated, “We guess Let It Shine will tell the community what it decided when the time comes.”
The Sentinel editorial indicated the forum should be opened and should certainly include parts like Cheshire TV, the city council, police and, “especially, Keene State College.”
The Sentinel staff wrote, “After several years of escalating arrest numbers and with the college and city gaining a national reputation as a place to party, the discussion needs to be held.”
Lynch admitted that students can sometimes be hard to deal with. “Some kids don’t have class until two or four [p.m.] and don’t have responsibilities, so they can drink every night. I know my friends go out Monday’s and Tuesday’s around town and it’s probably obnoxious,” Lynch said.
KSC President, Anne E. Huot, responded to the editorials in an letter to the Keene Sentinel. She titled it “Taking unruly acts seriously, by Anne E. Huot.”
In an earlier interview with The Equinox, the president explained why she felt the need to publicly express KSC’s position.
“They [Sentinel staff] published stories that they felt were of interest and important to the readers. I don’t want to criticize The Sentinel for publishing the facts that they gathered. I do think that the initial story reflected facts that were exaggerated,” Huot said.
Huot stated she disagreed with the statement that, “the college does nothing to influence the behaviors of our students.”
She went on, “We do a lot to pre-plan for big events and so the notion that the college wasn’t doing anything or not doing enough, I really disagree with. That was one motivating factor [for writing the letter].”
Huot said she also wanted to clarify that is not the entire KSC student population that behaves unaccordingly during some events.
“I wanted to make it clear that painting a broad brush for all our students is not fair. I don’t agree with it,” Huot noted in the interview.
“These actions also do not represent the greater student body,” Huot wrote in her letter.
She said another reason to submit the letter was, “to say to people that we do take things seriously and we are going to do something.”
Huot said that KSC and the Keene Police Department were prepared for the mischievous students and had extra Campus Safety officers on campus that night as well.
She is concerned about the students safety and health while they participate in this risky behavior and wants to be clear that she took these disruptions very seriously.
Huot wrote that the college has some reliable leads and are trying to find and identify the students who caused damage during the incident after the Red Sox win.
“Once identified, these individuals will be held accountable within the student code of conduct, and they may face criminal charges. I made it clear to students in a message that the behavior exhibited last Wednesday night does not have a place at our institution for learning and personal growth,” Huot wrote.
Bethany Ricciardi can be contated at bricciardi@keene-equinox.com