A Flag Raising Ceremony was held on November 15 with a reception following afterward in the Lantern Dining Room in the student center.
The flags represented in the afternoon were Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Liberia, Uruguay and Zimbabwe.
This is the third year this event has taken place. This event stretches back to different iterations and forms over time and occurs every year in November, according to TRIO advisor Adam Keese.
“The importance of the flag raising event is that it allows our campus to look at the different cultures and identify identities that are here and give our students a chance to celebrate their own identity and share that with a greater community,” Keese said. “It creates a cultural richness and in general it’s just an important event because we are able to celebrate things ourselves as a community we didn’t know.”
One of the people representing the Brazil flag was junior Aloisio Costa.
“I feel pretty good. I definitely feel I was proud to be up there and it was a fun experience and something I wanted to do since I first got here,” Costa said. “I would always miss it so I’m glad that I got to do it now.”
Coordinator of Global Education Lisa Johnson said, “It’s a unique opportunity and strictly related to why they are not here to just study but they are more than Keene State students, they represent something while speaking today.”
Nina Zienkiewicz, student development program assistant for the Office of Student Diversity, Belonging and Equity, stated, “I was really moved by [Costa’s] story about Brazil … I just liked how touched I was by it.”
Senior Kayla Wilson attended the ceremony and said, “I think it’s unique because it proves that Keene State has a lot of diversity and I was interested in learning about everyone else and their country.”
Tamy Jacques can be contacted at
tjacques@kscequinox.com
