Carle Hall has seen a rise of destruction of property incidences over the course of the fall 2022 semester.
The Equinox received a copy of the campus safety logs from the spring 2022 semester and the fall 2022 semester.
The Equinox found that “Carle Hall” appeared a total of 137 times out of 1,390 total logs in the 139-page document. In comparison to the spring 2022 campus safety log, “Carle Hall” appeared 79 times out of 650 total logs in a 65-page document.
Other dorms, such as the Living and Learning Commons (LLC), showed up in the search 70 times in the fall of 2022 and 48 times in the spring of 2022. Huntress appeared 22 times in the fall and 27 times in the spring.
Mentions of “Destruction Property,” as it is listed on the logs, showed up 21 times total for Carle Hall out of 32 mentions total.
Christopher Buckley, director of campus safety and compliance, described that the most notable incidents surround exit signs and other signs in the building. He also mentioned there were other isolated incidents, including damages to the walls and the bathrooms.
“We are doing our best to combat vandalism,” said Buckley.
Buckley said that he can attribute some of the recent spike in vandalism to reduced COVID-19 restrictions, but he is not entirely certain on the matter. This is mainly because of the COVID-19 restrictions having been lifted from having no or limited guests to now having guests, as well as students letting off steam from being under COVID-19 restrictions.
Buckley said he could not compare what the situation was pre-COVID-19, as he said much of his time at Keene State was during the pandemic.
In addition, Katherine Potts, assistant director of community living, sent out an email to Carle Hall residents on Jan. 24. The email stated, at the time of transmission, that nine exit signs had been broken within the past weekend. There were “dozens” of bathroom signs that were taken down as well.
“Each floor will be individually fined. Additional fines may be possible through the Fire Department as this is a life safety concern and has significant repercussions,” the email stated.
The email also stated that if it is to continue, students may be moved regardless of involvement.
Parents were also notified through the Keene State College Parents and Family Facebook group, moderated by Casey Justice, director of transitions and community living. The post referenced the email that was sent out by Potts.
Justice asked in the post that parents “have conversations with [their] students about what is going on.”
First-year and resident of Carle Robbie Maciorowski said he is not often in Carle and he usually spends a lot of his time in the Owls Nest buildings instead. He described the Carle experience as being “very noisy,” especially on weekends. During the day, it isn’t that bothersome, but at night it can be when he is going to sleep, said Maciorowski.
Maciorowski recalled that during the first few weeks at Carle, all the billboards and cork boards were being torn down.
Regarding the issued fines that residents will be paying, Maciorowski said, “It’s so ignorant to everybody else in the building that are paying to live here…and you’re tearing down everything. I don’t really get the mindset behind that.”
He continued, “Every floor is being fined for these people’s mistakes, not even mistakes, they are doing it on purpose, ya know.”
“I think it is really unfair that people who had nothing to do with it are being fined,” he added.
Sean McCusker, another resident of Carle, said that it is “a little hectic” living in Carle. Referring to the exit signs being damaged, McCusker said, “I really don’t like it, honestly, it’s just stupid. It’s childish and ridiculous.”
He noted that there have been issues with the bathrooms as well. “People have been trashing it, I don’t know. I can’t even use the showers anymore, well sometimes,” he said. He added that the school is usually quick to fix it.
There was also an increased presence of Campus Safety around Carle Hall through what is called “directed patrol” during the fall 2022 semester. Buckley described directed patrol as patrolling areas that had previously called for service.
He said it is also a part of outreach “to go and interact with students in a positive way,” Buckley said.
Timothy Bruns can be contacted at
tbruns@kscequinox.com
