As part of the annual Etiquette Dinner, Keene State students engaged in a four course meal, intended to teach proper manners expected at formal dinner events. The event was open to all of campus, though reservations were necessary ahead of time due to limited seating.
The event, which took place Wednesday, March 29, was sponsored by Student Involvement, Aspire and Career Services. Junior and Class of 2024 Student Representative James Ronning described why he wanted to go to the event.
“I think it’s beneficial to have the skills to have a formal dinner with your future bosses and future employers and be able to carry yourself professionally in that setting, and knowing what to do so that not only can you demonstrate proficiency for yourself, but show your potential employer that you have the skills to function in their work environment,” Ronning said.
Fellow junior and Student Body Vice President Brooke Richards had similar motives for attending the event. “I personally went into the event looking to get proper dinner etiquette during it, like place utensils, conversation starters and just general norms that are supposed to be used around the dinner table. When you’re talking with potential hires or employers and how to respond or react to them,” she said.
The Director of Student Involvement Jessica Gagne Cloutier said the event was hosted annually until 2018, when the program was temporarily suspended. However, the team decided to bring it back this year. “There were a number of us: Career Services, Aspire, our office, that were kind of chit-chatting last year and over the summer and were like, ‘You know, together we could bring this back.’ And so the tradition was really reborn because we have a nice collaboration because it’s an event that takes lots of resources to put on.”
Those in attendance checked in at the door and were seated at one of the 12 tables in the Mabel Brown Room. Once seated, attendees talked and made introductions with the six other people at their table.
As the event began, presenter Denis Brown went over some of the basic rules of etiquette, such as where your knives and forks should be placed on your plate, and how they can signify whether or not you want your server to take your plate away. Other rules of etiquette that were mentioned were to always eat with a napkin on your lap, to never have your elbows on the table, do not talk with food in your mouth and to avoid ordering alcohol unless the host encourages you to do so, among others.
During the event, attendees were served a four course meal courtesy of Chartwells. The first course consisted of soup, the second course of a salad, the third course was chicken, but there were other options for those with specific dietary needs, and the fourth course was dessert, which was cheesecake.
Cloutier said the event is designed for upperclassmen as they prepare to enter their professional careers beyond KSC. “We’re looking at students who are moving to find internships and moving out into the job market and may be having interviews, maybe cocktail hours, maybe even moving into that space where your friends start to get married and you’re going to fancier events.”
She continued, “The goal is really to target those students and make sure they have the opportunity to learn some of the etiquette, some of the courtesies, and professionalism for some of those events where it’s a little more elevated and you may have to really be on your A-game to make a first impression.”
When asked if she found the event to be beneficial, Richards stated, “I definitely think I took away important factors. Something [Brown] expressed was the conversation about alcohol at dinner with employers and he let out some really good standards and norms. Following what the employer wants to do, but also realizing that there is a standard, so always maintaining being professional. Something that was highly stressed was that you are there for the job, you’re not there for the food, you’re not there for the dinner, you’re there to get to know the employer.”
Zach Murphy can be contacted at
zmurphy@kscequinox.com
