Dining at a professional dinner takes quite a number of manners and skills for those transitioning into the world of professionalism.
The coordinator of Fraternity and Sorority life and Student Leadership at Keene State College Brandon Mathieu said part of the Etiquette Dinner’s goal is to introduce students to things that they do not normally think of as important.
“Someone might think that the Etiquette Dinner is just about the food or navigating the dinner table, and I think it is really important to educate folks that there is a lot more etiquette beyond just dining,” Mathieu said.
The executive director of the Career Center at Tufts University, Gregory Victory, conducted a workshop on dining etiquette for KSC students.
Student Involvement at Keene State College held its 10th annual Etiquette Dinner on Sunday, April 8, in the L.P. Young Student Center.
Mathieu said having this particular program is important for students because it contributes to the student’s leadership development in their professional life.
“This one program is an opportunity to introduce students to a variety of leadership development skills around dining etiquette, business etiquette and professionalism,” Mathieu said. “It is really open to any students to explore to either personal or career journey after college.” Two seniors, Maggie McNamara and Alexandra Bebar shared their experience from the Etiquette Dinner.
Women and gender studies major with an early childhood education minor McNamara said she learned about a lot of aspects of eating at a table that she had never actually thought about before. “I grew up with the pretty solid understanding of what table manners were, but here is a lot more depth with everything,” McNamara said.
Dual major in elementary education and sociology Bebar said not getting exposed to dining etiquette can be a disadvantage because it prepares students for business etiquette in the future. “Getting a job is so crucial and first impression is very important, and this information is very useful in making a first good impression,” Bebar said.
Mathieu said the Etiquette Dinner is open to students of any year in all kinds of study fields. “We try to track as many student as we can across campus to come to this event just to expose themselves to something new maybe they have not done before,” Mathieu said.
Mathieu said he enjoys organizing a leadership program like Etiquette Dinner. “We are very fortunate to have Gregory come the last couple of years to facilitate the program, and I am very looking forward to whatever years just to seeing students attend, leave something out of it,” Mathieu said.
Mathieu said what he wants students to take away from this event is to remember there is always an opportunity. “It just doesn’t stop at a program like this and there is always opportunities to continue to grow, continue to educate and become better,” Mathieu said.
Priya Chhetri can be contacted at pchhetri@kscequinox.com
