It goes without saying that Keene State College has gained a reputation as a party school. As proved during the 2014 Pumpkin Fest, parties at this college can get completely out of hand. The question has been raised: is KSC capable of partying responsibly?
The Equinox would like to say, yes — this weekend as whole proved that our college can have a good time without having things get too out of control. Of course, there were some minor exceptions, with some students getting too intoxicated or other various instances of misbehavior. However, compared to Pumpkin Fest, the overall atmosphere on the campus was much more relaxed.
As soon as the weather reaches warmer temperatures, students love to gather together in yards of students’ houses for something referred to as a “darty.” In other terms, these are day parties. This year, students gathered at various houses in yards, where everyone stood around together.
From what most of us heard and saw, the atmosphere was very under control. There were no bottles being thrown, no music that was insanely loud, no overcrowding with people spilling out into nearby streets. Overall, the parties were pretty tame. On one street police officers were even throwing a football with partiers, both showing one another respect.
Partying in college is inevitable. No matter what school you go to, no matter what decade it is, college students are going to want to party. It would be out of the question to assume that the entire weekend would be completely silent.
But by the same token, we understand that as students, we should be holding each other accountable to party in a way that is respectful and under control. We understand that there is more to Keene than just the college. There is a community full of families and businesses that we as students need to consider and keep in mind when trying to have a good time.
This weekend there were cops that monitored a party at Proctor Court. The officers stood in the yard with the students,
Bethany Ricciardi / mANAGING eXECUTIVE EDITOR
watching the party and making sure no one was getting too rowdy and that the crowd size was under control. From how it appeared to us, the students and police were able to be at peace with each other. Clearly, KSC has shown itself to be irresponsible when it comes to partying and being respectful of the community and public property. But this weekend proved differently.
That irresponsibility was the past, and we believe the student body would like to leave those kinds of behaviors behind them. This is not to say that some students didn’t get out of hand.
There will always be a select few who go too far, get too intoxicated and end up doing something immature.
But we believe these few students should not be representative of our entire school as a whole. They should not be the face of KSC. Speaking for this past weekend alone, we believe the behavior of the students was not anything concerning or too wild. As a whole, we would like to attempt to rebuild our reputation as a college. We acknowledge that partying is going to happen no matter how many rules are set in place, but we should seek ways to party without getting police officers involved.
From our experiences with the police officers in Keene, they do not enjoy getting the students in trouble. They are not out to get us, yet they also need to act professional and do their duty of enforcing the law and ensuring the safety of the overall community.
The picture next to this editorial was taken at the Day of Clarity, which was put on by Greek Life. The event promoted not relying on drugs or alcohol to have a good time and focused on being yourself.
This event is an example of KSC students having fun without drugs or alcohol present. This weekend certainly involved drinking, but, for the most part, everything was under control and kept respectful.
The Equinox is hopeful that we can maintain this responsible behavior during weekends to come. We would like to encourage both having a good time while at the same time, keeping it respectful, to ensure happiness for all.
