Keuka College

Beautiful campus on the lake. One of the best colleges in upstate new york. The finger lakes region is so beautiful.

Beautiful campus, even in not-so-nice weather days. With Keuka Lake at its doorstep, it doesn't get much better.

Nice scenery but the dorms could really use some updating. Small class sizes are a big plus too. Update dorms and the college would be perfect.

I attend. It’s ight.

College is supposed to be one of the best times of our lives, we are constantly reminded to enjoy our time here, and are told there are resources if we are not happy. The current predicament however is that many of us do try to seek help for the issues we may face on campus but are met with little to no assistance. Yes, we have tutors, we have a health and counseling office, and all of the required necessities a college has to provide, but what students don’t have is a real voice.nI have personally served on student senate and have seen exactly what “being a student leader” here at keuka really means. Being a student leader requires you to not talk bad about the college, to keep secrets, and to only serve as an image of student government. In reality the student senate only decides what student clubs, organizations, and events get funded and I wouldn’t even go so far as to say decide. During my year term as a senate member we only refused money maybe twice and said yes to the many other requests. We did not get to make any important decisions, we only served as place holders for the formality of senate meetings.nSo therefore, if the student government doesn’t actually get a say, and the rest of the students don’t have a voice, what can we actually do? I thought on this question for awhile before deciding to write this paper with many of my peers, and I came to the conclusion that all we can do is hold the college accountable. Now if this is currently being read by whoever it is that’s in charge of covering stuff up, goodluck silencing all of us, you can’t cover up this one.nKeuka College seems to care far more about its image than its students. For instance, last year students got in trouble for talking bad about the college on twitter when freedom of speech allows us to talk about what we don’t like and what we want changed. Just as a few examples, the college has kept the buzz about a sexual assault committed by a campus safety officer, multiple other cases of sexual assault, numerous drug and alcohal scandals, the issue with insects, the food poisoning cases from the Geiser, a student suicide, and much more under wraps out of fear of ruining their image.nOn top of all of these issues, and the main reason we decided to write this, many students are here on a 4-year academic scholarship that many don’t realize (until it’s too late) requires students to stay here for all four years or they have to pay back every cent. This means that many of us can't decide if we want to transfer, and we are therefore stuck here unable to live off campus and forced to get worthless parking passes and meal plans that make us sick.nThe saddest part is that they cover all of this up strategically by hiring mentors for incoming students that are required not to discuss any of these issues and advertising the college as a safe and great place to attend. This means freshman are kept in the dark till they pay their deposits and arrive to find out just how unsafe the campus is, how bad the food is, and the numerous other issues. This has created a cycle of trapping students here paying a ridiculous amount of money for a less than quality experience.