In the Student Athlete Handbook under Section D, now known as the “sexual misconduct; discriminatory harassment; and amorous relationship policy,” the following statement is made:
“Keene State College is committed to creating and maintaining a community in which students, faculty, and staff can work together in an environment free of all forms of harassment, exploitation, violence, and intimidation.”
This may seem like a common statement for all colleges and universities to include in a Student Code of Conduct Handbook, but Keene State College recently added it to a separate Student Athlete Handbook, which is given to all athletes at the beginning of the year.
The idea to add the section came from the Athletic Department—more specifically Director of Athletics John Ratliff and Associate Director of Athletics Rob Colbert, who according to KSC President Anne Huot, were the driving forces behind the policy change.
Although President Huot did not initiate the idea for the policy change, she did approve it.
Huot said the administration has been undergoing the investigation of Eugene “Gino” Vallante, a former member of the KSC athletic community, knowing that KSC was going to enter another academic year; the students would be back and the investigation wasn’t going to conclude for another three to four weeks.
Huot continued, and said the administration wanted to take some steps to reinforce a better environment for the students. “In case of the athletes, it’s the environment you live, learn and compete in. So it’s just good practice to be really clear and if you look at the Student Athlete Handbook, you’ll see that they made it very prominent so athletes know what their options are [and] where they go if they have a concern,” Huot said.
However, the handbook doesn’t read as clearly as it should.
For example, under the section “Reporting Possible Violations and the Silent Witness Program,” there is a list of contacts for intake officers to speak to if an athlete has been a victim or suspects any suspicious behavior.
The list of contacts are as follows:
“Chief Officer for Diversity and Multiculturalism”
“Director of Human Resources”
“Associate Vice President for Student Affairs/Dean of Students”
“Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs”
“Associate Vice President for Finance”
“Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs”
“Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs”
“Fitness Center Manager”
“Director of Recreational Sports”
For example, would an athlete contact the Associate Vice President for Finance?
Another element missing from the handbook is direct-contact information.
Listed phone numbers and emails would eliminate athletes having to do the research on who and how to contact someone when an issue arises.
Omissions from this list are the KSC Counseling Center, Campus Safety and Keene Police. If a serious incident has occurred, these people should be the first to know.
Besides the steps to make revisions regarding sexual misconduct, all coaches were also required to attend one of three seminars on sexual harassment.
When asked which coaches attended the meeting Huot responded, “They all attended.” When asked if there had been any issues if coaches had not attended Huot said, “ Oh, sure, the meeting was mandatory,” stressing the serious actions the college was taking to enforce the new policy.
“We’ve done lots of training over the summer with the coaches; we did training with the athletes. We even sent some of the folks involved in various investigations to training and the reason for that is to ensure we are doing all the things we should be doing any time a student brings a concern forward. We are taking the appropriate steps to protect you [KSC students], the employees, and do the right kind of investigation,” Huot said.
Huot said, “We have a great athletic program. An absolutely terrific athletic program. I am a huge Owl fan. I get myself out to as many games, meets and competitions as I can. I don’t want you to draw a line between particular investigations and whether or not we have a good athletic department. Our coaches are very, very concerned with your welfare and I think largely do a great job.”
Kendall Pope can be contacted at kpope@keene-equinox.com
