Keene State’s Class of 2026 was celebrated at this year’s Red and White Night, an annual semi-formal prom for the senior class that gives attendees a chance to come together and celebrate the years they have spent at KSC before they graduate in the spring.
As the name implies, seniors arrived at the Zorn Dining Commons on Friday, Nov. 21, in red and white semi-formal attire for the event, paying homage to KSC’s color scheme. The dining hall, which traditionally hosts Red and White Night, was transformed to fit the role with red and white decorations, a bar providing free drinks upstairs and music on behalf of WKNH.
As for food offerings, KSC Dining provided a charcuterie spread of various crackers, cheeses, meats, peppers and olives placed on top of a counter separated by a plastic film. At another station, cake pop desserts and miniature cupcakes were offered, and a live taffy balloon station.
The event is planned each year by the senior class student government. This year, KSC Class of 2026 President Charlie Baxter and Class of 2026 Vice President Lexi Barrett led the preparation process.
“There has been a collective effort as an e-board that took a lot of work,” said Baxter. “[We] have put in a lot of time and a lot of our senior dues into planning this and putting this whole event together.”
“There’s been so many people that have helped us along the way outside of the e-board as well, like different organizations,” Barrett added. “We need officers, we need people to help put on the event, and they’ve also been very helpful.”
Though Red and White Night typically functions the same each year, this year’s event was given a new addition of a theme, which was “Under the Stars.”
“We’re switching it up a little bit, we’re adding a theme to it,” Baxter explained. “That way, food and decorations have something all together to hang on with.”
Baxter described Red and White Night’s purpose as a celebration of the senior class during their last year at KSC.
“It’s a night where everyone can come together, celebrate our final year at Keene State and celebrate what the next step is for us, the preparation of graduation and then whatever life holds for us after that,” Baxter said.
Both seniors said Red and White Night was a special moment for them in their senior year, especially after having been involved in planning the event.
“Red and White Night is the senior event that everyone talks about,” Barrett said. “Now to be able to go, not only as a senior, but also having a hand in planning it and the decorations, the theme, just being able to put our own thoughts into it is just so fun and I’m so excited for it.”
Baxter added that for him, this event has been “four years coming” as someone who has volunteered for Red and White Night in previous years.
“I’ve seen the amount of effort and the amount of stress behind the scenes that goes into it,” Baxter said. “Now that we’re the ones doing it, actually seeing everything coming together and seeing the last two and a half, three months of work culminate into something tangible is really refreshing and it’s very exciting to actually see it happening.”
Barrett said she was most excited to spend time with her friends during the night and to see what her fellow seniors thought about the event that she had been planning. Baxter said he was excited about bringing the class of 2026 together as a community.
“We’ve been here for the last four years, we came in on the coattails of COVID and we went through the final masking procedures together, and we’ve been through it all,” said Baxter. “The ups and downs of the school, the loss of Melinda, we’re all united in that, and having a community night where we can come together and reconnect with friends that maybe we haven’t seen since we lived with them in Carle Hall or Huntress, to have that true physical sense of community is what I’m most excited for.”
Senior Gabriel Morse attended Red and White Night and said it was his first time attending an event with his graduating class.
“I haven’t really done many things as a senior class, so this is actually weirdly my first event where it’s just seniors. It’s a weird combination of first and last and I don’t really know what to expect,” said Morse.
“Dancing should be fun,” he added. “I’m curious what alcohol they actually have. I don’t exactly know who is putting it on, so I’m like, ‘DC alcohol?’ We’ll see how it goes.”
Seniors Camden Noury and Averion Glynn attended the event together and said they were excited to celebrate with their classmates.
“I can’t wait to get in there and have a good time, couple drinks, have a good dance,” said Noury.
“It’s feeling very bittersweet being a senior,” Glynn added. “It’s really exciting to be celebrating these last moments but oh my god, how did we get here?”
Justin Dearborn can be reached at
jdearborn@kscequinox.com
