Letter from Community Standards
Dear Keuka College Students,
I am so excited to welcome you to the Keuka College community as you start and continue this journey in pursuit of your degree and dreams. This is a special place, which many Keukonians before you have called home. You now embark on your very own journey to find and foster that sense of community and belonging. The Student Handbook helps us learn how to navigate developing this community and how to start building connections with one another.
As our Vice President for Student Development, Dr. Heather Maldonado, shared, the Student Handbook provides a comprehensive listing of institutional and residential policies that denote the College’s expectations of our community members. These are the standards and expectations that we hold ourselves and each other accountable to.
This past academic year, 2021-2022, brought us many opportunities and challenges. One of the opportunities that returned to us was Alternative Spring Break, which is an interfaith, service-oriented trip that is led currently by Eric Detar and myself. Over the course of the trip, we introduce and reflect on the concept of “the six words of service.” Each day on Alternative Spring Break, we focus on one of the questions of service: the who, the what, the where, the when, the why, and the how of serving, and pair that with an associated word of the day. We propose the question and give out the word of the day in the morning as we prepare ourselves to serve. I think this concept correlates beautifully with our campus’ community standards. Everything we bring and carry with us; how we act, talk, hold ourselves is illuminated in that first and lasting impression to those we are serving and interacting with. Our behavior is a reflection of ourselves, but we do not have to let that define us, if we choose to pause, reflect, and engage. We are constantly responsible to and for others, so care of others and self-care are equally as important. It is okay to help others, if that assistance is asked and wanted. It is also okay to ask help for yourself and to learn how to ask for that support. What you do as a student, those long hours in and outside of the classroom, living on campus, learning how to be an exemplary citizen of this world… it matters and is worth it.
There will always be long days, long hours. Situations that frustrate and upset you. At times, things you just cannot control will go awry. I challenge you to pause for a moment. Take a deep breath. Look around you. Let your body experience what it is feeling and use that to grow and motivate yourself. I also know that you will have days that exhilarate you, bring you immense joy, and a deep sense of pride.
Becoming our neighbor was an invitation to you to join this community. Believing in this community is the work that we will do together this year. If you have any questions about this Student Handbook or our Student Code of Community Standards, please feel free to reach out to me. Our goal is for these shared standards to be easily accessible and for there to be transparency in what we do, how we do it, and why we do it.
All my best to you as you embark on your journey this academic year,
Timothy White
Director of Community Standards & Student Intervention