To the Keene State College Campus Community:

Keene State College clearly states its commitment to diversity in its official documents - its statement of mission, campus values, and planning - but is this commitment evident in day-to-day interactions between people on campus? This was the question considered by the Campus Commission on Diversity and Multiculturalism, which was established in the 1999-2000 school year to actively promote a campus environment in which differences between people are recognized, understood, and accepted in all areas of community life. Recently, the Commission noted what appeared to be an atmosphere of increased polarization and a decrease in mutual respect and civil conversation about differences. Incidents of racial, ethnic and gender harassment including graffiti, verbal slurs, and threats have been reported. To assist in its evaluation, the Commission invited Stephen Wessler, the Executive Director for the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence, to campus to conduct focus groups on the campus climate and to get a better look at student, staff and faculty perspectives.

Mr. Wessler conducted 9 focus groups with a total of 56 students, staff and faculty. The five focus groups with students were structured as follows: a group of male and female students, a group of female students, a group of male and female athletes, and two groups of students of color. Two focus groups were conducted with college staff and two were with faculty.

The Commission received the report from the focus groups at the end of last semester. Members of the Commission and President Giles-Gee and her cabinet are reviewing the report. We are working to identify the barriers to civil conversation on campus and to develop strategies to increase the level of comfort and reduce the number of students, faculty and staff whose experiences working, living and studying on campus are adversely affected by bias, stereotypes or harassment. Whether such actions are the result of ignorance or overt hatred and prejudice, they undermine our efforts to create an atmosphere of trust, civility, and respect that is so fundamental to our mission as an educational institution.

A link to the website is below.

Mr. Wessler will be on campus to meet with the Administration, the Commission and the campus community in late March. As soon as dates and times are confirmed, notice will be put on MyKSC and sent to faculty and staff.

The Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence develops and implements anti-bias and violence prevention training and dialogue programs in schools, colleges, non-profits, agencies and communities.

Sincerely,
The Co-Chairs of the Campus Commission for Diversity and Multiculturalism
Susan Theberge
Janaki Tschannerl
Carrie Eldridge
Candice Wiggum

The President's Cabinet reviewed the Wessler Report at its meeting of February 20, 2006, and prepared the following statement:

We are appalled at the kinds of behaviors and attitudes expressed in this report by members of the College community. It is our responsibility to insure that every individual on campus is treated with dignity and respect, and many of the statements in this report are in direct conflict with our values and our mission as an educational institution. We will work with the Commission to learn about the pervasiveness of this conduct and to use the report to actively engage the campus in discussions to address its findings. The report provides an opportunity for the campus to look deeply into the meaning of our commitment to creating a campus environment which embraces diversity and the free exchange of ideas and information.

In addition to President Giles-Gee, members of the President's Cabinet include: Gordon Leverse, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs; Corinne Kowpak, Vice President for Student Affairs; Jay Kahn, Vice President for Finance and Planning; Kim Harkness, Interim Director of Human Resources; Michael Matros, Director of College Relations; Judy Kalich, Director of Institutional Advancement; Julie Dickson, Executive Assistant to the President; and Ann Gagnon, Assistant to the President.

To read the report, faculty and staff should click on the following link (site registration may be required):

http://www.keene.edu/dc/ksconly/campus_climate.cfm

Current Keene State students can read the document by logging on to their MyKSC accounts, where the document will be posted as an internal announcement titled "Summary of Campus Climate Focus Groups".