On Wednesday, Sept. 16, the Office of Student Involvement hosted its 5th annual Campus Night Out on Appian Way.
This event featured 20 agencies that promoted their services and connected with the college community.
According to an email statement sent out by Assistant Director of Campus Safety, Jessica Trombley, “Campus Night Out promotes relationships between public safety agencies, community organizations, and Keene State to help make our campus and city a better place to live, learn, and work.” Trombley also said, “Campus Safety aims to ensure that the students we serve have an enjoyable time at college while remaining safe and aware of the different services in the community, laws, ordinances, and college policies.”
Campus Safety and Keene Fire Department apparatus were on-hand for the event, not to raise the alarm, but to help out and give resources. “Please don’t be alarmed by the presence of the First Responder Agency vehicles, as they are part of the event,” Jessica Trombley stated in an email.
Director of Campus Safety Chris Buckley gave some insight on why this event is important to not only Keene State College, but the Keene community. “This event is important because it brings folks from our community to campus and students have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the resources that are available,” Buckley said.
Not only were there resources featured, but the event also had giveaways, equipment, games and food.
Students were able to try out the Under the Influence Tricycle Obstacle Course. This obstacle course provided students with an interactive educational attraction that was designed to demonstrate the dangerous realities of impaired driving. Students rode low to the ground while wearing specialized goggles to simulate the loss of balance and coordination caused by a specific Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC).
Some local businesses present at the event included Tropical Smoothie Cafe and Sunrise Nutrition. Tropical Smoothie Cafe was very popular among attendees and had a wheel to spin for prizes. The line had students waiting for up to 10 minutes just for a smoothie.
Students were informed about the free items that were being provided at this event and took advantage of them quickly. Some students expressed that the event was accessible and easy to get to.
“I decided to come to this event because it was really accessible, being on Appian Way and there was a lot of free stuff,” said sophomore Rana McCloat.
Emails sent out to the student body by Campus Safety made it very clear that they wanted students to know about the event and wanted them to attend so they could get their hands on free stuff and resources.
“I got a bunch of emails about it and then my friend called me and I was like ‘Well there is free stuff, might as well go,’” said junior Brianna Hodgman.
Senior Allison Kenyon expressed how she stumbled upon the event after making a trip to the gym and decided to make it a hangout. “I didn’t know this was going on, but I walked out of the gym and I thought it was cool, so I called my two friends and said there is something going on and we started walking around.”
Arianna Young can be contacted at
ayoung@kscequinox.com
