Alex Harvey
Equinox Staff
The issue of free speech on college campuses has recently been raised at Keene State College. After a meeting between students, faculty and President Melinda Treadwell, the Office of the Provost at Keene State College has drafted a new mission statement on hate speech and free expression. The preliminary statement, written by Associate Vice President of Institutional Equity and Diversity Dottie Morris, was sent to members of the KSC community in an email. She does not want this to be a solo effort; she wants students to participate in this conversation about free expression and hate speech by giving their feedback on the mission statement that was sent out.
“We started this work 20 months ago where I wanted us to make sure we put forth a value statement as a public liberal arts college about calling difficult dialogue,” Treadwell said. “This is about truly welcoming a diverse dialogue on campus with lots of different opinions regardless of religion, race, ethnicity.”
The new mission statement says: “At Keene State College, the free exchange of diverse perspectives, ideas and experiences is encouraged when discussing important social, personal and political issues. It is essential to co-create spaces that support the expression of these views and allows members to assemble with others to promote a worthy cause, while also maintaining an environment that respects the dignity of all people. Belonging, compassion and mutual respect are foundational values at Keene State College. To that end, any language that denigrates or dehumanizes another person or groups of people is open to critique, rebuttal by members within the community and an assessment of risk of harm to another person. The assessment will address any potential psychological, spiritual, mental or physical harm to another person.”
This comes after a student wore a sweatshirt that stated people should leave the country if they cannot speak English a few weeks ago. After the student was photographed and the picture was posted to Snapchat, controversy ensued. A meeting was called between Treadwell, students and faculty. Students and faculty shared their experiences with racial insensitivity on campus, prompting KSC to adopt a new mission statement. An Equinox article covering the initial event also discussed hate speech directed at LGBT people, saying that some LGBT students feel unsafe in their own rooms.
Director of Strategic Communications and Community Relations Kelly Ricaurte said she believes that college is a time in a student’s life when they must be exposed to new people and ideas in order for them to have the opportunity to learn and grow. Without these new experiences, the students’ opportunities in college are stifled.
“It’s important to have free exchange and diverse perspectives…Dr. Morris has created this statement and is seeking input into that, so I’m hopeful that’s the start of a bigger conversation, so that students will feel comfortable expressing themselves and their points of view, while also listening to others,” said Ricaurte.
Ricaurte said while she does not know what the next step will be for the college going forward, she believes that the new mission statement is a good step in order to establish an understanding on campus of what the school’s policy toward free expression and hate speech is.
“It’s a good step to establish an understanding across the board of what free speech is for us on campus, so that we can understand what that means, so that students can do that in a way that’s safe, effectual and open,” said Ricaurte.“Dottie Morris has done a great job of starting that conversation for us and the students in our community to be involved in that conversation.”
Treadwell said that the college has some active steps planned for the future to ensure that the value statement lives up to what it promises.
“I had a meeting with students three weeks ago before we sent it out and there was a petition where students are asking me to declare requirements for education for us to understand cultural perspectives and to think about the long trajectory for learning that could happen here,” Treadwell said. “From this there will likely be integration into courses that will be part of our seminar series, part of our first-year experience and how we live our curriculum. We’re looking at changing training and education programs for faculty and staff and having required orientation and subsequent year training.”
According to Treadwell, a refined value statement will be out for the college before winter break that will be linked to the college’s policies.
Alex Harvey can be contacted at
aharvey@kscequinox.com.
