Recently deceased and KSC alumnus Kenny Hadley regularly brought the idea of “treat yo self,” to any conversation. Whether you were referring to buying a new coat or switching your major, Hadley would always prompt you to put your happiness first.

Hadley graduated from KSC in 2015, where he majored in communications and minored in theatre. After graduation, he shortly found his passion working at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, in their post-anesthesia care unit.

Born six weeks premature, Hadley was diagnosed with Biliary Atresia, a childhood disease of the liver, and at 15-months-old, he had a liver transplant at Boston Children’s Hospital.

In late July of this year, Hadley was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS–a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord, according to the ALS Association website), and on Oct. 7, he died in his parent’s home.

Hadley was described as upbeat, positive and was known for living life to the fullest. Because of these qualities, many of his friends from KSC were unaware of his diagnosis. Hadley only told a small circle of friends because he did not want anyone to “feel bad for him.”

KSC alumna of the class of 2015 Chelsea Harris was one of the friends who knew of Hadley’s ALS, and said she had known Hadley since her first year in college. She found out in early August and said she was initially shocked and confused.

“From what I knew about ALS, I knew that the outcome wasn’t good, so that led me to doing research on the disease and trying to figure out what I could do as a friend and how could I be an advocate for him in the situation,” Harris said. ”I think the initial shock led me to figure out what I could do.”

The ALS website also noted that ALS typically develops in people between the ages of 40 to 70. During recent years, there has been more scientific understanding regarding the physiology of the disease, but there is still no cure.

Even though Harris was not able to physically be with Hadley for the few months he had ALS, she said they texted, called and Snapchatted at least once a week. A large group of Hadley’s closest friends were planning on visiting him the weekend he died, but his life partner Jason Scala let the group know earlier that week to come sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, no one in that group was able to see him one last time before his death.

For some students, Hadley’s death was a complete surprise. KSC senior Jenna Barton said she met Hadley during her first year at KSC in the KSC Admissions Office, where Hadley was a tour guide. Barton became a tour guide as a first year, and she said Hadley was a mentor for her.

She was not aware of his ALS diagnosis, and said she found out through the flood of Facebook posts honoring his memory.

Barton hadn’t seen Hadley in person in almost two years, and when she saw the posts, she said her “jaw dropped to the floor.” While his death was sudden, Barton said she finds it helpful that Hadley made such a significant impact in his 24 years of life.

KSC alumna of the class of 2016 Bridgette Normandin said she knew Hadley through a variety of outlets. She originally met him through the KSC Admissions Office, but also knew him through working at the L.P. Young Student Center and being involved with Student Government and Alternative Break.

Normandin knew of Hadley’s diagnosis, and found out he died through a phone call from her college roommate. During the funeral service for Hadley on Sunday, Oct. 15, Normandin said there was an overwhelming number of people from KSC. “He was one of the greatest people I have ever met in my life, so it is a shame that it had to happen, but I know that he is looking out for all of us,” Normandin said.

Hadley was progressively involved during his time at KSC, and met most of his closest friends through several different outlets.

The Alternative Break program, for example, was how he met KSC alumna of the class of 2017 Jessica Baker.

Baker said her and Hadley went to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee for their Alternative Break trip, where Hadley was one of her trip leaders. She added they hung out constantly after coming back to KSC.

Similar to Harris, Baker said she researched ALS as soon as she became aware of his diagnosis. She added if there was anything positive to take from his death, it was that it brought her closer to other members of her Alternative Break group that she had lost touch with. “Kenny would have loved that,” Baker said.

After his death, Baker and her other Alternative Break friends reflected on their own lives, and she said they have decided to figure out what they can do to improve. “The disease just hit him, and it really puts into perspective that the little things don’t matter and you shouldn’t stress about them. It’s more important to have fun and do everything and not say no to opportunities because they can change your life,” Baker said.

Hadley not only influenced Baker to change her major at KSC, but also has affected her choices beyond. Baker is currently enrolled in graduate school for child life, and she said Hadley heavily influenced her decision to pursue another degree. She said without him, she wouldn’t have believed in herself enough to attend.

“[Hadley] lived life better than anyone I know, and it’s comforting to know that he lived his life so hard; he did everything and he was happy and always tried to put a smile on other people’s faces, and I think that really that’s what you can do and take from this experience,” Baker said.

Baker, as well as other KSC alumni, wanted to honor Hadley’s memory.

In Hadley’s obituary, it stated in “lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Boston Children’s Hospital Liver Transplant Program or to the ALS Research Foundation–Boston.” This sparked the idea for a fundraising campaign created by KSC Director of Transitions and Parent Programs Casey Justice.

Justice started the campaign with Beeze Tees for Hadley, and the profits go to ALS research. Each t-shirt is $15 and has Hadley’s infamous saying “Treat Yo Self” on the front. It also has an ALS ribbon and reads “KH forever in our hearts.”

They set a “small goal of 50 shirts,” according to Justice, and they have currently raised over half of that. Justice said the purpose is to make sure his spirit doesn’t dwindle, and for the shirt to bring reassurance for those in mourning that he is still with them.

Normandin added that once the fundraiser is over, she knows Hadley’s memory will still carry on. She said she wants to create a yearly event in remembrance of Hadley because of the impact he had on the Keene community. Hadley would have turned 25 on Nov. 9, and a group of KSC alumni are planning a celebration in his memory in Keene.

The link for the fundraiser can be found on Hadley’s Facebook page or at https://khadley.secure-decoration.com

Olivia Belanger can be contacted at obelanger@kscequinox.com

Two students affiliated with Keene State College died during separate occasions over the past two weeks. Former student of the class of 2017 William Boynton was found dead on Oct. 14, in the White Mountains region of New Hampshire.
According to Boynton’s obituary, he “passed on his own accord.”
On Oct. 22, KSC senior Blake ‘Ko’ Powell was found dead in his apartment at The Mills of Keene. The Keene Police Department said the official cause of death has not been released. Because Powell’s body was found in his apartment, The Mills’ management team has been reaching out to tenants.
An email to KSC faculty and staff was sent this morning from KSC Interim President Melinda Treadwell about Powell, offering her “deepest condolences” and making people aware of the Counseling Center and other services on campus. The same email was sent to students this afternoon.

Olivia Belanger can be contacted at obelanger@kscequinox.com

United States Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos recently announced the Department of Education (DOE) is rescinding its Obama-era “guidance” on sexual harassment.

DeVos said the new guidance is giving colleges and universities “more freedom to balance the rights of accused students with the need to crack down on serious misconduct.” In trying to get colleges to take sexual assault more seriously, the argument within higher education has risen regarding whether the Obama administration had created a system that treated the accused unfairly.

Two standard sets of guidelines are being revoked in order to move forward with DeVos’ plan. The Dear Colleague Letter on Sexual Violence (DCL) dated April 4, 2011 and the Questions and Answers on Title IX Sexual Violence dated April 29, 2014 have officially been withdrawn. A statement released by the DOE stated the two documents were removed because they “ignored notice and comment requirements, created a system that lacked basic elements of due process and failed to ensure fundamental fairness.”

DeVos added the “era of rule by letter is over,” and the DOE is currently working on a new Title IX regulation that “better serves students and the schools.”

The DCL was originally issued by the Office for Civil Rights to explain the requirements of Title IX cover sexual violence and to remind institutions of their responsibilities to take immediate and effective steps to respond to sexual violence. Under the Obama administration’s archived website, it is stated the DCL provides guidance on the “unique concerns that arise in sexual violence cases,” as well as listing the Title IX requirements related to sexual violence, such as the requirement to publish a policy against sex discrimination, designate a Title IX coordinator and adopt and publish grievance procedures.

DeVos has released an interim Q&A for schools to investigate and adjudicate allegations of sexual misconduct under federal law until a permanent regulation has been put in place that explains DOE’s current expectations of institutions.

“This interim guidance will help schools as they work to combat sexual misconduct and will treat all students fairly,” said DeVos. “Schools must continue to confront these horrific crimes and behaviors head-on. There will be no more sweeping under the rug. But the process also must be fair and impartial, giving everyone more confidence in its outcomes.”

The hot-button concern for Keene State College is whether DeVos’ plans will change how the campus handles acts of sexual violence.

KSC Title IX Coordinator Jeff Maher insists this new guidance will not have a large effect on campus. He said the guidance that was released by DeVos consists of mostly efforts KSC has been implementing already.

“If a student is accused of sexual assault, we refer to that person as the responding party, not as the accused student…not any sort of language that could be evaluating,” Maher said. “I would meet with that student with a letter that says the college has received a complaint, this is when we received it, this is what the complaint is, these are your rights and let’s schedule a time for us to talk. That’s what we’ve always done here, but it appears as though some other schools haven’t, which would be the reason for the change.”

KSC Interim President Dr. Melinda Treadwell echoed Maher and said the campus has been demonstrating best practice in regards to sexual assault. She said her biggest concern revolves not around policy, but rather the communication effort between the administration and those who experience sexual assault. “My hope is that victims won’t feel they shouldn’t come forward, so I think our communication effort has to be Keene State has long been adhering to a best practice; you must feel your concerns will be respected and report any situation,” Treadwell said.

However, KSC Department Chair of Women’s and Gender Studies Dr. Patricia Pedroza Gonzalez said she feels the new guidance from DeVos will further discourage students from coming forward and reporting. Pedroza Gonzalez added the current regulations are already arduous and somewhat unclear, which will make it harder for students to be aware of the appropriate steps to take regarding sexual assault.

“…people are already intimidated, it’s already complicated, and now it seems that schools will no longer be obligated [to handle sexual violence], which is something we need to understand. Are we really aware of what the current policy is anyway? Everybody should be aware of it because it [sexual violence] could happen to anyone. If we aren’t even aware of the current policy, how can we be aware of the changes?” Pedroza Gonzalez said.

There is no “happy ending with this,” according to Pedroza Gonzalez, because she said the institutions can now rid themselves of responsibility. Accusations of sexual assault, sexual harassment or rape can damage the institution’s reputation, she said, and in such competitive times in higher education, she said she is “not surprised” colleges and universities would want more freedom from the previous regulations.

“If we already know this is happening and it doesn’t work, now [with the new guidance] we will not have anything that pushes us to keep improving. It feels that many steps, many rights, are going backwards,” Pedroza Gonzalez said.

To counteract this fear of moving backwards, KSC Associate Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity Dr. Dottie Morris said KSC has a strong education program regarding sexual violence and prevention and that generates more confidence in the system put in place on campus.

KSC has been tackling issues of sexual violence for much longer than other similar-sized institutions, according to Maher, and have employed a sexual violence prevention coordinator for “close to 15 years,” long before the DCL made its debut in 2011.

While Pedroza Gonzalez said she knows KSC makes efforts to combat sexual violence, she wants a clearer policy. She added she wants KSC’s current policies, as well as any changes being made to it under the Trump administration, to be clearly stated somewhere publicly for administration, faculty, staff and students to be able to reference. A suggestion she had was on the college’s website under Title IX.

Maher said he does his best to become involved on campus in hopes to make the policy clear and make members of the community comfortable with him. “…students don’t have to report to a nameless administrator. If I can get students to see me as Jeff as opposed to Mr. Maher, the Title IX Coordinator, than that ultimately helps to encourage reporting,” Maher said.

Maher said supporting students is the first and most important step in any sexual violence situation. Morris added to this, saying the primary concern is about caring for the students and making sure they are safe.

“I think the whole idea around community and community rebuilding is that when you have a culture of any type of violence, it’s that it has an impact on all of us. It doesn’t just have an impact on the person who is the victim, but it has an impact on everyone who might witness it or know that person and the same way for the person carrying it out,” Morris said. “There are definitely things in the culture that reinforces that it is an okay behavior, and so it is up to us as a community to try and shift that paradigm. It’s not just the relationship between two people; it’s between all of us and how we speak to each other, talk to each other and interact with each other.”

Olivia Belanger can be contacted at obelanger@kscequinox.com

KSC Interim President Melinda Treadwell hosted a campus-wide meeting on Friday, Sept. 15 to discuss the current financial status of Keene State College.

All departments were acting without a budget until that Friday meeting because Treadwell wanted the KSC budget to meet the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) Board of Trustees approved number first. “My responsibility to this campus, to the chancellor, to the University System is that we would close a 2.4 million dollar budget deficit before we loaded the budgets,” Treadwell said. “I did not want to load a budget and then come back and ask for more cuts, and the target this year is a $2.4 million deficit for Keene State.”

With the budgets now fully loaded, Treadwell said the campus is currently sitting on a $2.4 million budget deficit, which occurs when expenditures exceed revenue. Her goal from here forward, Treadwell added, is to eliminate the deficit this academic year. 

Treadwell introduced three phases the college will undergo to make this happen.

Phase One

According to Treadwell, phase one is the “adapt” phase. “We’re adapting to this information, we’re taking the hard efforts to manage our budgets more aggressively, to hold focus on the things we have to prioritize and to make some critical investments that will help us be stable and move forward and lastly…what can we do perhaps to enhance some revenue in this fiscal cycle?” Treadwell said.

The administration is eliminating funding for vacant positions and restructuring the administrative structure that reports directly to Treadwell and the President’s Cabinet. Treadwell said her office is “netting about 3.8 million dollars in savings this fiscal year and in recurring costs in the next fiscal year.”

The restructuring, according to Treadwell, as well as a reduction in supplies and services, has allowed the administration to identify seven and a half million dollars in order to get to the 2.4 million dollar deficit KSC is at now.

Throughout her speech, Treadwell repeated that these transitions needed to be done for the financial health of the campus. “I recognize that we’ve done this before, we’ve come after supply budgets, travel budgets, things like that. I recognize the stress of doing this, but it had to be done. The only way to do this otherwise would be for me to eliminate jobs. We may need to go there, but we’re only going to go there through conversations as a community,” Treadwell said.

Phase Two 

The most involved phase, phase two, has a goal to stabilize the campus between now and February of 2018, according to Treadwell. The budget for fiscal year 2018 (FY18) needs to be balanced with consideration of how to get beyond the 2.4 million dollar deficit and ideally in a place where our margin is reinstated, Treadwell said.

“My commitment is that we will stabilize to a balanced FY19 [fiscal year 2019] budget, and that includes some organizational structure change…and then some very intensive efforts to look at recruitment yield and retention for students,” Treadwell said.

To achieve this, Treadwell said she has reached out to fellow school systems within the University System of New Hampshire to find tools that can be brought to KSC that are working already in the area.

“I am working aggressively with Granite [State College], Plymouth [State University] and [the University of New Hampshire] to look at costs that we could leverage, things that are already in our system, things that are already within other campuses, are there ways to use that to offset costs we might incur. So we’re looking at collaboration across the system…,” Treadwell said.

She added she is looking at more outsourcing opportunities and KSC’s partnerships to create long-term planning on campus. “We will be looking specifically at partnerships, we’ve already started talking with Granite State College about some programs that, from our perspective, our high-quality programs, but we could serve a broader demographic if we had a new way to deliver them with some online or hyper-delivery,” Treadwell said. “We could do that ourselves, but Granite State [College] does it all the time, so can they help us get programs online and help us with marketing those programs, but it’s our curriculum, our faculty, reaching a broader demographic to enhance revenue.”

The most vital component presented in phase two is a new enrollment strategy, which will be announced later this week, according to Treadwell. For this strategy to be successful, Treadwell said she wants engagement from across the campus. To do so, Treadwell and the President’s Cabinet will be creating two separate disappearing task forces for faculty, staff and students to become a part of.

The goal of these task forces is to declare the right size of enrollment for KSC by Nov. 1. “So I want this task force to declare for us all, what is the right size target for Keene State today and in the next three to five years. I would like some specific tactical actions that will impact FY19. What I mean by that, what is the marketing collaborative? What are the outreach efforts we are going to make? Who are our target populations?” Treadwell said. “So the first work of this group is to identify some specific things that will happen, and then what are some enhancers of collaboration that will make a difference for the student experience to attract them or to retain them immediately.”

By Nov. 15, Treadwell added, she would like to revisit the Committee on Alignment of Vision and Structure (CAVS) report to consider the academic integrity of the institution and the vision for the academic work of this campus and its students. The CAVS report, first addressed in the fall of 2016, evaluates the current structure of the three schools at KSC (School of Arts and Humanities, School of Sciences and Social Sciences and the School of Professional and Graduate Studies).

“…there wasn’t expectation of a financial exigency or a financial target or the need to do this based on financial pressures…so for me not to ask you to reconsider that study in the face on a financial pressure would be a dishonest moment at this time in our history,” Treadwell said.

However, Treadwell said these conversations need to be campus-wide, and will not be productive otherwise. “I was not willing to make those choices at this moment because we haven’t talked about it. But we need to contain at least another 2.4 million in expenses, so we’ve got to engage in that discussion,” Treadwell said. “No one will be surprised, and this is where I’m asking you to hold steady with me. I’m not anticipating hundreds and hundreds of riffs and lots of layoffs, but we are going to have to look at rightsizing for our enrollment reality and that’s part of why we have to do this by February, so that we can effect the budget for FY19 and move forward on healthy footing.”

Phase Three

Additionally, phase two and phase three work hand-in-hand. Phase three focuses on the academic restructuring components of the planning. “I’ll be dividing the cabinet members up to have leadership in different ways on those committees and I’ll be participating as well because this is our most important work: vitality. The work that is going on this year, discussions this year I expect will define our niche. As I said in one of my opening meetings, the greatest vulnerability for an institution of higher education is to forget who it is and try to become something it isn’t,” Treadwell said.

She added that in order for our campus to attract potential students, we at KSC need to know who we are as an institution. “[We need to] know who our students are and get them here and keep them here because we are offering them an incredible experience. We have to develop our value proposition,” Treadwell said. “What is it that Keene State does so importantly and there’s a lot of detail but I need two or three sentences, we all need two or three sentences that we can say to potential students and their parents. Maybe it’s about employability, it’s about habits of mind that allow you to work and live a really rich experience. That’s what we’re offering, but we need something that we can lean on and we need to decide what our structure investment priorities are going to be.”

Commitments 

Treadwell concluded with commitments she has to the institution as we move forward this year.

“I promise you that I will try to enhance communication with this campus and I’ll continue to do everything I can to keep you informed and to listen so that all voices and creative ideas are out there, they’re being sought and they’re being heard,” Treadwell said. “As we are doing this hard work this year as a team, you will not have things happening that you don’t know about and that you’re surprised about; that’s my commitment. If you’re being surprised, I need to know about it because I’m expecting the leadership of this campus to represent the integrity of this institution, the integrity of that team.”

Treadwell continued to emphasize on moving forward rather than continuing to dwell on the past. “I didn’t come here to keep looking back; I am frustrated [and] we need to look forward. And community matters, let’s not forget that as a group please… I ask you to bring your best selves, your best creative selves and to bring an open spirit of collaboration as we try to go through this,” Treadwell said. “Help hold this community together and help bring the future back to Keene State that is a positive rewarding experience for all of us and our students…thank you for bringing me here and giving me the chance to work with you.”

Olivia Belanger can be contacted at obelanger@kscequinox.com

Emma Hamilton can be contacted at ehamilton@kscequinox.com

With a vacancy in the Keene State College Music Department, Dr. Christina Wright-Ivanova has taken on the role of assistant professor of music and the coordinator of piano/collaborative piano.

Wright-Ivanova has performed as a chamber musician throughout the U.S.A., Australia, Europe, Canada, China and South America, appearing in recital with many established artists, according to her website.

Previously a professor of doctoral and graduate students at several universities, Wright-Ivanova said working as a tenured-track professor with undergraduate students was a good next step in her academic career. She added it was also an opportunity to build on the program at KSC, help bring high-level musicians to campus and provide opportunities for her to play and collaborate on an international level.

“What I really always wanted was to have a job at a liberal arts institution and have the opportunity and craft young minds that are eager to learn about liberal arts from the most traditional sense of word — music and art coming together in a very interdisciplinary way,” Wright-Ivanova said.  

Doctoral and graduate students tend to know exactly where they want to be, according to Wright-Ivanova, and it gave her less of an opportunity to guide them towards their end goal.

“[Doctoral and graduate students] have been crafted already, but with an undergraduate mind, you can really open them up to anything and it’s really ripe for learning, so I was really excited about this age group,” Wright-Ivanova said.

KSC senior and music education major Matthew McGinnis is one of Wright-Ivanova’s vocal coach students. McGinnis said he was able to perform a piece, his primary instrument being voice, with each of the three finalists for the position, but Wright-Ivanova stood out for him. “For me, personally…she offered so much guidance,” McGinnis said.

Music Department Chair and Associate Professor of Music Dr. Heather Gilligan echoed McGinnis and said Wright-Ivanova was “among the favorites from the beginning,” starting with the paper application process.

“I think she rose to the top of the pile in the paper-vetting process,” Gilligan said. “When she came to campus, she blew everyone away. She had a great interview, she had a great performance, we had a lot of great feedback from students saying ‘please hire her,’ so we hoped that she would say yes.”

KSC sophomore and piano performance major Kirsten Becker said the transition to Wright-Ivanova was smooth.

“I wasn’t excited to hear that my old professor was leaving, but she [Wright-Ivanova] is such a bubbly person and she’s already inspiring me, so I am very excited to work with her,” Becker said.

Knowing of Wright-Ivanova’s international musical experience, Becker said she is intrigued to learn from her.

“I want to learn how to become a better accompanist and performer, and since she has worked with opera before, I am excited to see what she has to say about that,” Becker said.

Associate Professor of Music and Coordinator of the Music Education Program Dr. Sandra Howard said, similar to Becker, she hopes Wright-Ivanova will bring what she has learned internationally inside the classroom.

“I hope she feels she can bring her own voice to the department and craft the collaborative piano aspect in a way that still keeps the same high bar, but maybe she can shape it in a way that suits the trends that are going on in the nation,” Howard said. “So really just continuing to elevate, we’re in nice shape now, but it’s nice to have a professor who will come in and raise the bar even more.”

As the coordinator of piano/collaborative piano, Wright-Ivanova said she has big plans for the piano program.

“I want to build on the predecessor here [Piano Coordinator and Professor Maura Glennon], and she built a piano program, the foundations of which are very strong, but I would like to bring this program into the 21st century in terms of…being a renaissance musician, being able to do many different things at a high level,” Wright-Ivanova said. “It takes a lot of dedication and realizing that the music is changing in the world, it’s always changing, and you have to be adaptable and flexible as young artists. So I want to bring it to an international level, I think it can be that.”

Olivia Belanger can be contacted at obelanger@kscequinox.com

Keene State College will be having a new accompanist sitting at the piano bench this year. Dr. Christina Wright-Ivanova has taken on the role as assistant professor of music and the coordinator of piano/collaborative piano when the positioned opened up last spring.

Wright-Ivanova has performed as a chamber musician throughout the U.S.A., Australia, Europe, Canada, China and South America, appearing in recital with many established artists, according to her website.

Previously a professor of doctoral and graduate students at several universities, Wright-Ivanova said she wanted a change in pace.

Angelique Inchierca / Eqionox Staff

“What I really always wanted was to have a job at a liberal arts institution and have the opportunity and craft young minds that are eager to learn about liberal arts from the most traditional sense of word — music and art coming together in a very interdisciplinary way,” Wright-Ivanova said.

Doctoral and graduate students tend to know exactly where they want to be, according to Wright-Ivanova, and it gave her less of an opportunity to guide them towards their end goal.

“[Doctoral and graduate students] have been crafted already, but with an undergraduate mind, you can really open them up to anything and it’s really ripe for learning, so I was really excited about this age group,” Wright-Ivanova said.

KSC senior and music education major Matthew McGinnis is one of Wright-Ivanova’s students, as well as being a part of the selection committee that brought her to KSC. Once the applications were narrowed down to three finalists, all department faculty and students were able to evaluate the candidates.

McGinnis said he was able to perform a piece, his primary instrument being voice, with each of the finalists for the position, but Wright-Ivanova stood out for him.

“For me, personally…she offered so much guidance,” McGinnis said.

“I did a piece that’s in French, and she’s from Canada, so it was super convenient and she was able to help a lot with diction which was cool. I feel that with pianists a lot of the time, at least from what I have experienced at the school, the norm for them is to not interject, but it’s kind of cool that she was able to add in her two cents.”

Music Department Chair and Associate Professor of Music Dr. Heather Gilligan echoed McGinnis and said Wright-Ivanova was “among the favorites from the beginning,” starting with the paper application process.

“I think she rose to the top of the pile in the paper-vetting process,” Gilligan said.

“When she came to campus, she blew everyone away. She had a great interview, she had a great performance, we had a lot of great feedback from students saying ‘please hire her,’ so we hoped that she would say yes.”

Now as McGinnis’ instructor, Wright-Ivanova is “the most professional person” McGinnis said he has ever met.

“She’s always so on top of her game all the time whenever I talk to her and she’s really prompt to respond to e-mails, but she’s also really supportive at the same time which I appreciate,” McGinnis said.

KSC sophomore and piano performance major Kirsten Becker said the transition to Wright-Ivanova was smooth.

“I wasn’t excited to hear that my old professor was leaving, but [Wright-Ivanova] is such a bubbly person and she’s already inspiring me, so I am very excited to work with her,” Becker said.

Knowing of Wright-Ivanova’s international musical experience, Becker said she is intrigued to learn from her.

“I want to learn how to become a better accompanist and performer, and since she has worked with opera before, I am excited to see what she has to say about that,” Becker said.

Associate Professor of Music and Coordinator of the Music Education Program Dr. Sandra Howard said, similar to Becker, she hopes Wright-Ivanova will bring what she has learned internationally inside the classroom.

“I hope she feels she can bring her own voice to the department and craft the collaborative piano aspect in a way that still keeps the same high bar, but maybe she can shape it in a way that suits the trends that are going on in the nation,” Howard said.

“So really just continuing to elevate, we’re in nice shape now, but it’s nice to have a professor who will come in and raise the bar even more.”

As the Coordinator of Piano/Collaborative Piano, Wright-Ivanova said she has big plans for the piano program.

“I want to build on the predecessor here, and she built a piano program, the foundations of which are very strong, but I would like to bring this program into the 21st century in terms of…being a renaissance musician, being able to do many different things at a high level,” Wright-Ivanova said.

“It takes a lot of dedication and realizing that the music is changing in the world, it’s always changing, and you have to be adaptable and flexible as young artists. So I want to bring it to an international level, I think it can be that.”

Olivia Belanger can be contacted at obelanger@kscequinox.com

Education majors at Keene State College are able to choose between several educator preparation programs during their time on campus.

The Regional School Leadership Consortium (RSLC) is the newest initiative, geared towards leadership, which offers memberships to school districts throughout southwestern New Hampshire, according to the organization’s newsletter.

RSLC is a collaboration with district administration to provide professional learning opportunities to southwest New Hampshire educators, such as future employment as a principal or a teacher leader.

Assistant Dean and Professor of Education Stephen Bigaj said his primary role has been building partnerships like these.

Bigaj said most of the other programs put into place at KSC are for students within the elementary education major, but RSLC is for any student interested in preschool through 12th grade.

“We have four school districts engaged in working with us to develop leadership capacity for teacher leaders and principal leaders across the Monadnock region. We have MOU for four districts to work with us on curriculum development, professional development, recruiting for our graduate program and leadership and curriculum instruction master’s degree,” Bigaj said.

The idea for this program, Bigaj said, stemmed from a local superintendent telling him there were not enough principal leaders coming out of the education programs in the area to fill vacant jobs.

After going through a “pilot program” between KSC and Contoocook Valley Regional School, Bigaj said they made the first steps towards getting a full-time program started.

“We got our heads together and we wrote a Title 2A grant, and one component of that grant was for the leadership consortium development and our thought was after this really successful pilot project…we developed a student committee of interested school districts to form a consortium,” Bigaj said.

Currently, the program is in the process of recruiting candidates across the region to be principal leaders, Bigaj said. For those interested in RSLC, contact Bigaj at sbigaj@keene.edu.

Olivia Belanger can be contacted at obelanger@kscequinox.com

Former President of Keene State College Anne E. Huot has decided to withdraw her application from Castleton University, as of Thursday morning, according to an e-mail received by Castleton University students on Friday.

The e-mail, sent by the university’s chancellor, stated, “Thursday afternoon Dr. Anne Huot notified me that an unexpected family event has arisen requiring her to withdraw from the presidential search.”

Castleton University, located in Castleton, Vermont, is currently searching for a new president to take over after current President Dave Wolk steps down in December. Wolk announced earlier this year he would be stepping down after 16 years at the university, the Keene Sentinel reported.

Huot was one of the four finalists for the presidency, according to the university’s website. The other finalists include Founding Principal at Northeastern University Toronto Campus John LaBrie, Senior Vice President and Provost of Mansfield (Pa.) University Steven Siconolfi and President of Central Penn College Karen Scolforo, according to the website.

On June 26, Huot announced her resignation as president of KSC, effective July 31 in an email to the campus. Her reasoning was both personal and professional in the email. According to a news release from the University System of New Hampshire, Huot planned to take a year of unpaid leave and then return to KSC as a fulltime professor in the biology department.

Olivia Belanger can be contacted at obelanger@kscequinox.com

Inside the Zorn Dining Commons (DC) at Keene State College, students may have noticed a gallery of napkins along the bulletin boards. The napkins typically have hand-written suggestions on them from students to improve the dining experience during their time at KSC.

Some of these suggestions have been brought to life at the start of this semester. Lloyd’s Marketplace has undergone several renovations in an attempt to give healthier and quicker options before, in-between and after classes.

Photo illustration by Luke Stergiou / Senior Photographer

Retail Manager of Lloyd’s Marketplace Kristin Mattheson said some of the ideas that were implemented this year stemmed from reading the napkins posted within the DC . Some of these new options include a smoothie bar, a bistro sandwich station and an express lane.

“I started looking at food trends [last year] and then I also started doing my own experimentations, starting with smoothies,” Mattheson said. “Shortly after, I started really looking at the numbers of what I was selling and what I was not. I noticed the number of deli sandwiches started to go down quite a bit.”

On average, Mattheson said the deli was selling between 22 to 25 sandwiches per day. She added that on days they sold smoothies, they would sell upwards of 100, which sparked the idea of creating a designated smoothie section. “I decided, let’s get rid of the deli and put in smoothies because when I would have smoothies once a week, I would be getting great responses,” Mattheson said.

The new smoothie bar, “Smoothie Hooooo,” includes five different specialty flavors, as well as a build-your-own smoothie option and a chance to add protein powder or chia seeds. Mattheson said new equipment was purchased for this station to reach its full potential.

“I needed to buy the new cooler that has the big glass front so people can see what is inside there, as well as the industrial blenders,” Mattheson said.

Even without the deli to create your own sandwich, there are still sandwich options available. Inside the open-air coolers on the left side of the store are Simply To-Go fresh, pre-packaged sandwiches, as well as a new bistro sandwich station, Mattheson said.

Referring back to Lloyds’ sales, Mattheson said when she served a specialty “bistro or artisan-like sandwich” available, it would sell much better than the typical deli sandwich. With that trend in mind, “The Local Press” station was created. Similar to the smoothie bar, the bistro sandwich station has five different specialty options. However, there is not a build-your-own sandwich option.

The last change and fastest option is the new express lane, “Lloyd’s Express,” which replaced “Lloyd’s Oven” that consisted of Italian-style dishes. The menu consists of the most popular fried food items, according to Mattheson, along with pre-made breakfast sandwiches and made to order pastas and pizza.

“There’s items, such as chicken tenders, that students can’t get enough of,” Mattheson said. “People just want them, want them, want them, but they’d have to wait about seven minutes for them to cook. If I can stay ahead of the number of people who are coming through the door, people can just come right there and go without having to stand in line.”

Mattheson said she has heard nothing but positive feedback so far. KSC senior Kenadee Cadieux is among the students who are pleased with seeing change.

“I think the grab-and-go option is a huge selling point so that people won’t have to wait in line for 10-15 minutes for mozzarella sticks,” Cadieux said.

She added the smoothie bar is her favorite modification. “It’s nice to see our money being spent towards things like this,” Cadieux said. “I love smoothies and I’ve had two [of the specialty smoothies] already. My goal is to try the rest of them by next week.”

KSC junior Chris Garian said he thinks since the renovation has been made, the quality of the food is much better. “I think they made a lot of improvements and that show they do care about the quality of the food,” Garian said.

He added that while he is pleased with the changes, he would like to see other changes in the future.

Similar to Garian, Cadieux said there are some items she would like to see added to the menu.

“I think it’d be cool to have more flavors of iced coffee throughout the week instead of just two. I feel like iced coffee is something students get more than hot coffee, so I would love to see that,” Cadieux said.

There are still changes to the menu in the works, according to Mattheson. With the purchase of the industrial blenders for the smoothies was also the purchase of a juicer. Mattheson said one of their ideas is to have fresh orange juice pre-packaged in the open-air coolers within the next couple months, but there are logistics that have not been worked out yet.

“I think we are trying to ease into [juicing] because our staff members need to learn everything about making smoothies and to be efficient first before adding another thing,” Mattheson said.

Only one juicer was purchased, and because of this, Mattheson said she is not sure at the moment if she will be providing one specific type of juice each day or if she will have a variety to select from. She added she is wary of food allergies and wants to take the best approach possible.

There will also soon be warm, soft pretzels and a new drink at Bean and Bagel that has been implemented on other college campuses called a “razzbull” — a RedBull energy drink mixed with raspberry syrup — within the next few weeks. These items are readily available, but have simply not been added to the new menus yet, Mattheson said.

She added the current menus hung up are only temporary because of a new Food and Drug Administration regulation. “The FDA is requiring places to post calories,” Mattheson said. “We are currently finalizing the calorie counts with one of our nutrition interns so that we can have our permanent menus up as soon as we can.”

However, the signs do not have to contain the calorie count until May 2018, according to Mattheson.

She said she intends to be posting updates of the renovations on Lloyd’s Snapchat account, “Lloyds_BnB.”

Olivia Belanger can be contacted at obelanger@kscequinox.com

Former president of Keene State College Anne E. Huot has decided to jump into another administrative role, according to the Keene Sentinel. However, Huot intends to shift her place of employment outside of New Hampshire.

Castleton University, located in Castleton, Vermont, is currently on the search for a new president to take over after current President Dave Wolk steps down in December. Wolk announced earlier this year he would be stepping down after 16 years at the university, the Keene Sentinel reports.

Huot is one of the four finalists for the position, according to the university’s website. The other finalists include Founding Principal at Northeastern University Toronto Campus John LaBrie, Senior Vice President and Provost of Mansfield University in Pennsylvania Steven Siconolfi and President of Central Penn College Karen Scolforo, according to the website.

On June 26, Huot announced her resignation as president of KSC, effective July 31 in an e-mail to the campus. Her reasoning was both personal and professional in the e-mail. According to a news release from the University System of New Hampshire, Huot planned to take a year of unpaid leave and then return to KSC as a full-time professor in the biology department.

Olivia Belanger can be contacted at obelanger@kscequinox.com