Complaining about living expenses is a tale as old as time, as are many Keene State College traditions.
In fact, in 1971, The Monadnock (The Equinox’s former name), reported that there would be a $100 increase in rent for on-campus room rentals.
This was meant to be so that money could be raised for the principal on Carle Hall.
In addition, there were married student dorms at this time that would also see this same increase, according to the article by The Monadnock.
This same year, on April 7, The Social Council announced the plans for spring weekend.
The spring weekend plans for that year were kicked off by a carnival on the Saturday of spring weekend during the afternoon and a concert that evening by the rock group “The Youngbloods.”
Also on that Saturday was a ribbon cutting ceremony with the former mayor of Keene that would close off traffic down Appian Way for that day.
Closing off Appian Way meant that different student groups were able to set up booths and have different contests. These contests consisted of balloon shaving, egg catching, wishing wells and dart throwing.
The prizes for these contests were provided by local Keene businesses and all of the proceeds from the booth were donated to Hotline in Keene.
The paper reported that the highlight of the weekend would be the concert, where students could purchase tickets for two dollars.
Also in this weekend would be a dance for KSC students and a bike race, as well as the “Chalk Talk,” which is still tradition at KSC.
While much has changed since 1971 on KSC’s campus, one long-standing tradition is the spring concert and different weekends that have been dubbed by most students on campus as “Spring Weekend”.
These weekends generally consist of the Chalk Talk, the carnival, the spring concert, Solar Fest and several other activities put on by different student groups on campus.
A new tradition that the senior class of 2017 began this spring is the masquerade ball in lieu of a class trip.
This is meant to be a more inclusive event so that more students can participate and spend more time with their friends and classmates.
As KSC has evolved, so has its traditions, while still keeping some of the same festivities alive.
Mary Curtin can be contacted at mcurtin@kscequinox.com
