The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has awarded Keene State
College the 2015 Community Engagement Classification.
According to KSC’s website, there are only four higher education institutions in New Hampshire to have ever won the award and KSC is the only college or university to receive the honor this year.
Philip Bergeron / Graphic Design Editor
According to the foundation’s website, the group, “is committed to developing networks of ideas, individuals, and institutions to advance teaching and learning. We join together scholars, practitioners, and designers in new ways to solve problems of educational practice. Toward this end, we work to integrate the discipline of improvement science into education with the goal of building the field’s capacity to improve.”
Even with the negative stigma tied to KSC after the riots surrounding Pumpkin Fest, students still proved to help the community in many ways. KSC fits the Carnegie Foundation’s goals for community engagement by having overwhelming
turnouts in community service projects on and off campus.
Yearly events such as Relay for Life and the Barefoot Walk allow students to help raise money for causes and help those less fortunate than themselves.
In a statement last week KSC President Anne Huot said, “Every year, our students provide the community with 75,000
volunteer hours, which is valued at $1.7 million.”
Alternative Spring Break is another way KSC students and faculty have contributed to
the well-being of others. Sophomore Ellery Murray accompanied the group last year when they rehabilitated houses
in Cleveland, Ohio. Murray thought about giving back to the community before even coming to college.
“When I was a sophomore in high school I saw MTV’s spring break coverage, where people were in Florida partying. Then they showed the other side of it where students went to do rehab work and help communities. You don’t really see that a lot so I thought ‘wow, I want to do that type of stuff when I get to college’,” Murray said.
Sure enough, KSC had similar programs for Murray to immerse herself in. In March, she and her alternative spring break group will head down to Florida to help with farm workers’ rights awareness.
“I’m getting into nursing so I want to give back. I’m all about helping others,” Murray said.
Skyler Frazer can be contacted at sfrazer@keene-equinox.com
