Following the 2024 general election, Keene State College has made an effort to facilitate community-based discussions on campus where students and faculty alike are encouraged to share ideas and talk about their feelings.
Two separate discussions were held on Friday, Nov. 8 and Friday, Nov. 15 in the L.P. Young Student Center’s Mountain View Room and Madison Street Lounge.
Assistant Director of Transitions Michael Brown and Associate Professor of Film Jiwon Ahn organized the discussions, in conjunction with Associate Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Dottie Morris.
The first discussion on Nov. 8 was a casual, open dialogue. The second discussion on Nov. 15 took a more structured approach, featuring a faculty panel and prepared discussion topics. Without counting student members of The Equinox, the second discussion was only attended by faculty members, despite both events being open to all members of the KSC community.
Ahn said the discussions were inspired by the 2016 general election, when an emotionally charged political climate highlighted the need for KSC to offer spaces to discuss the election as a community.
“We want to provide a space for our community to discuss the intense feelings that can come with this kind of thing, and we want this to be an opportunity to talk together,” said Ahn.
Ahn encouraged taking a compassionate approach to addressing political division.
“Inviting students to think about all these different perspectives and opinions, and doing so from a compassionate position is all we can do at this point,” said Ahn.
Brown echoed Ahn’s support for a compassionate approach to political division.
“We really have to come at this from a place of support and loving each other,” said Brown.
“For a lot of people, how they voted came down to their feelings about one specific issue, rather than a big-picture approach. We all still have to co-exist and live on this Earth together, and that goes ten-fold on this small campus community,” added Brown.
Brown continued to speak on the importance of appreciating a shared sense of humanity on campus.
“Whenever I ask what being a Keene State Owl means to you, the biggest answer I often get is being part of a supportive, inclusive community. We have such a special community built on support, empathy and being there for one another. We need to protect that fundamental part of our community, and let that light continue to shine on campus,” said Brown.
The Mason Library’s Access Services Manager Jeff Kazin attended the discussion and said it is important to resist the urge to lash out at hateful and unproductive comments.
“Being positive and being the light in the face of darkness means not taking the bait when people get nasty. I’m not going to tell you it’s easy, but we need to continue to be positive and not sink to that level of hostility,” said Kazin.
“Don’t let that nastiness change who you are as a person,” added Kazin.
Associate Professor and Head of Special Collections and Archives Rodney Obien mentioned the importance of fostering civic literacy in students.
“Learning how the government works and bringing students into that process is so important, and we can’t assume everybody has a solid grip on how something like a bill becomes a law,” said Obien.
Ryan Pacheco can be contacted at
rpacheco@kscequinox.com
