Students got the opportunity to show off their colors by raising the flag of the country that represents them.
The annual flag raising ceremony was held in the flag room of the student center Nov. 15. The event was attended by students and faculty from across the college. The “flag room” in the L.P. Young Student Center is where students and staff can view representation of different homelands, cultures and ethnicities from different students at Keene State. New flags get raised and added every year through this event.
The flags of The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nepal, Portugal and Sweden were represented and raised this year.
Both international students and students born in the U.S. were there to represent their ethnicities coming together for this annual event.
Flags were hung up in windows of the student center so
The students who spoke could show attendees what their flag looks like, represents and means to them.
All of the student speakers shared the meaning of what the imagery and color choice of their flags meant.
For example, “The color black represents the people, the strength and the stubbornness of our people,” international Bahamian student and sophomore Sean Collie said. “The aquamarine represents the blue ocean, we have some of the clearest waters… yellow represents the sun and the climate.”
“I believe I am the first Bahamian student at Keene State and I am very proud to represent my country with our flag,” Collie said.
Speakers were seen taking pictures with these flags after the event and were all given their own flag to take home with them to represent their countries.
Senior Andrew Capello represented Portugal. Although he was born in the U.S., he still represented his Portuguese heritage and ethnicity by raising the flag.
“I rarely get a chance to celebrate my Portuguese heritage… it’s great to get a chance to not only celebrate it but display it proudly,” Capello said.
In addition to Capello and Collie, junior Isaac Tshibal presented the flag of DR Congo, sophomore Rokeya Sarah presented the flag of Bangladesh, and first-year Nisha Paudel presented the flag of Nepal. A student representing Sweden was not able to attend the ceremony, but the flag was raised nevertheless.
Several campus community members were in attendance at the event, with some sharing the meaning that the flag raising holds to them.
Director of Student Involvement Jessica Gagne Cloutier said, “Providing the students with a platform, to be able to share within our community what being here means, their stories, their cultures and their flag. That helps me learn and grow and reminds me why this work is important… It’s really about giving folks the space to share who they are with all of us.”
Staff who hold the event want more students to join every year, according to Cloutier.
Gagne Cloutier helped to put this event on another year.
KSC President Melinda Treadwell was also in attendance.
When asked how she feels to see students represent themselves at this event, Treadwell said, “I think it reinforces, for me, the diversity that we may not know exists sometimes when we’re on campus. We don’t celebrate it in these formal processes… Every time I hear a student talk about their flag, and the pride that they feel, it just makes me feel like we are creating a community here that matters… I’m just happy, I’m proud and I’m honored to be able to witness them and to see them tell their story.”
Ava Pittman can be contacted at
apittman@kscequinox.com
