Tom Benoit
News Editor
On July 17, a video was posted on Instagram depicting three seemingly intoxicated men using racially charged language and saying racial slurs. One of the men referenced the George Floyd case – calling Floyd’s neck “weak” and using other vulgar language to talk about the incident.
The Instagram user who posted the video tagged the three men in the video, one of whom was a Keene State College student. The now former KSC student did not respond to The Equinox’s requests for comment.
According to KSC President Melinda Treadwell, the video was recorded in the student’s home state of Connecticut. “We are conducting our own outreach, and we’re taking this very seriously.” Treadwell said the college is actively investigating the incident since a KSC student was tagged in the video.
Treadwell also said of the video, “I think the most important thing for me to say is what you would probably expect me to say, which is that the video is unacceptable and is not in alignment with our values in any way. In this case, we are working actively with all the authorities involved in this.” Treadwell also called the video disappointing.
KSC Program Manager for Title IX Discrimination and Bias Jeffrey Maher is also investigating the video.
“Part of my role involves policy development training, complaint resolution, as it relates to incidents of sexual misconduct of the car community or discriminatory acts or bias related events that occur,” Maher said.
Initially, Maher said he “wouldn’t characterize the video one way or another.” Maher continued, “except to say that the school obviously became aware of it, it was shared through social media platforms, and we had an interest in learning more about the circumstances and context on the video.”
Maher later clarified that asking to characterize the video is a tricky question. Maher continued, saying that a bias incident is when there is conduct of speech that is unconsciously or consciously biased or prejudiced towards a group.
Because of this, Maher said he would “accurately characterize [the video] as a biased incident.”
Maher later added in an email, “The College is aware of a video circulating where speech is used that stands in stark contrast to the values that KSC holds around inclusion and belonging. Bias can manifest through conduct, speech or other expression where an individual or group is targeted because of a personal characteristic. Bias is a human condition and may reflect both conscious or unconscious prejudices. This video can accurately be characterized as a bias-related event.”
On September 1, President Treadwell told The Equinox that the student is no longer enrolled at KSC at the time. She explained that the college is working with the student to communicate expectations, and the case is still in review. The college is working on being clear about their expectations should the student decide to return to KSC.
Tom Benoit can be contacted at
news@kscequinox.com
