Last weekend there was a large amount of pressure placed on Keene State College. News stations interviewed students walking to class about the upcoming festival and what students thought of the “no guest rule”. After all the rules and threats had been placed most people I knew didn’t want to celebrate Halloween at all because of fear of getting in trouble regardless if they had plans to drink or not. In certain dorm buildings the school seemed to be on lock down and RAs would check people’s IDs and even if you had your ID they’d ask “who do you know who lives here”. A few friends also had campus police come into their rooms without knocking and many people were stopped and searched walking down the street on Friday and Saturday night. I had never seen that level of security here before. The whole weekend it felt like we were being punished for something that hadn’t happened yet and wasn’t going to happen. I understand their level of security and why it was necessary.
And then the Pumpkin Festival happened Sunday morning without a hitch. It was rainy and the only people there were families and children with very few students.
I saw this hanging up around campus this weekend. I thought it brought a new perspective and side to the whole conflict.
Hello Erin,
This is so intense. That is a lot of security for something that did not happen yet. They are trying to make sure evryone is safe, but those searches seemed to make it worst. I hope you got to enjoy, and I think this will be a really great addition to your project!