Nearly ten years ago, on Sunday, January 23, 2005, a former New England College basketball player emailed NEC Athletic Director Lori Runksmeier, former NEC Interim President John Stevens — and Keene State College Director of Athletics John Ratliff. In the email obtained by The Equinox, the subject line read, “Gino Vallante.”
As written, the nine-year-old email states, “…I am disgusted and outraged that Gino Vallante is again allowed to be involved in college athletics…Perhaps I need to remind people of the mental anguish he put current and former members of the NEC men’s basketball team through. For many of us, our “experience” with Gino was one of the worst times of our lifes….”
The Equinox cannot confirm that this email was ever opened or read by Ratliff.
Because this email was either never read or never acted upon, nine years later, Vallante has been fired from KSC on allegations of sexual misconduct and what KSC students have said reveals that they too were the subject of inappropriate sexual behaviors initiated by Vallante.
Then in March 2014, 8 days following KSC’s action to fire Vallante, N.H. Governor Maggie Hassan wrote to Todd Leach, chancellor to the University System of New Hampshire. In a letter obtained by The Equinox, she encouraged the university system to examine policy in response to, “troubling allegation of sexual misconduct by an employee who held a position of trust with the school.”
A screenshot of the Silent Witness web page on the Keene State College Campus Safety website.
According to KSC Media Relations Manager Kelly Ricaurte, evidence from KSC’s internal investigation is still under review by the McLane Law Firm.
Ricaurte stated in an email, “The firm’s findings will determine Keene State’s next steps.”
Ricaurte also indicated McLane Law Firm’s separate review of policies at all four USNH schools is still underway — and KSC President Anne Huot indicated there is room for improvement.
At KSC, students are asking for answers.
SOME KSC STUDENTS STILL IN “DARK WATERS”
KSC Student Body Vice President and Night Owl Cafe Team Leader, Jackie Efraimson, worked with Vallante in the NOC when Vallante managed the NOC and was program coordinator for the student center. Efraimson said since her former boss Vallante was fired in March, “We’re on our own. We have been.” Efraimson said she and other NOC employees heard of their boss’s firing second-hand through a message posted on Facebook.
Efraimson said, “We were very disappointed that when the news was released, that we — the employees who were so close to him — found out through Facebook, through the college Facebook. It broke my heart.”
Eight weeks later, Efraimson said NOC students are still left in the dark.
“When he [Vallante] went on leave, we were all kind of thrown into dark water,” Efraimson said. She said she and other NOC employees met with a counselor from the KSC Counseling Center — not because the administration promoted the use of these services, but because the students asked for counsel themselves.
Efraimson said, “It’s been us — we are on our own. To the best of my knowledge, we have not been contacted by the administration of Keene State. We haven’t heard from President Huot, [Dean of Students] Gail Zimmerman — we haven’t heard from anyone…We’re hanging in there…They [college administration] need to do what they say they’re going to do.”
In his time at KSC, Vallante also founded a separately contracted company called Fast Break Broadcasting.
Mike Miezejeski, a KSC freshman who worked with Vallante for Fast Break Broadcasting, said he has not been contacted by any college administration regarding the firing of his former boss, Vallante. Former Fast Break intern and KSC alumnus Lukas Sisco also confirmed he has yet to hear from anyone at the college.
Though over a month has passed and some students have made attempts to move on from the incident, Keene State College President Anne Huot stated the college continues to make efforts to contact and stay in touch with students who may have been affected by not only Vallante’s termination, but by Vallante’s alleged misconduct.
Huot particularly noted administration did contact student workers. “There was active reach-out to the NOC that we initiated,” Huot said.
Huot also stated college administration has been in touch with members of the KSC Men’s Basketball team, who Vallante worked with officially and unofficially since he was hired 2005. Despite repeated contacts to 14 players, no current KSC Men’s Basketball players responded to The Equinox for comment by press time.
Huot said administration has followed up with student phone calls which originate through the Silent Witness line, a program through KSC Campus Safety that is designed for “reporting crimes/incidents and/or serious policy violations which may affect the health, safety or welfare of the Keene State College Community,” as stated online on the Keene State College Campus Safety page.
The president noted her definition of “reaching out” and stated, “When I say we’ve reached out — I’m not talking one contact. I’m talking multiple contacts, multiple attempts to reach people.” Huot said, “We have followed up with every student that’s come forward through the silent witness line…all of those that have come in — every student that was named by the New England College people who made the initial allegation have all been followed up with.” The president added the administration also followed up with each student named in articles published in The Equinox on April 3, 2014.
Taylor James “TJ” Neville, a KSC student featured in two stories of the April 3, 2014 edition of The Equinox confirmed that he has heard from the college administration since then.
RESOURCES ARE WAITING FOR STUDENTS
As for current KSC students, KSC Dean of Students Gail Zimmerman reminded them of resources available at the college.
Zimmerman mentioned a “host of resources,” specifically the Counseling Center and health and wellness center. Zimmerman stated these “avenues of support are there no matter what the situation is,” and these options, “certainly are there for a situation such as what is occurring with the Vallante investigation.”
Zimmerman stated college officials follow protocol in a situation such as the Vallante investigation.
According to Media Relations Manager Kelly Ricaurte, such “protocol” is a procedure where, “Keene State officials have worked to identify specific groups of students and individuals who may have been affected by the case surrounding Gino Vallante….This is an internal practice that is followed.”
Further explaining the protocol, Director of Human Resources Kim Harkness stated in an email that “‘usual protocol’ is that when folks are identified as having been subject to inappropriate behaviors, we want them to know what resources are available to them for support.”
Harkness continued, “usually there are efforts made to ‘check in’ with the individuals or to provide updates if appropriate. The check ins are more often to assure that while the process is underway we want to be sure that a target is not then also subjected to retaliation. But the check-ins can also be a way to assure folks that support is available.”
LASTING EFFECTS
Eight years after some NEC students played basketball with Vallante as their head coach, an email was sent to KSC coach Colbert. In an email dated May 19, 2011, Nick Lowery wrote to Colbert and said years later, he and his teammates remain affected by their interaction with Vallante in 2000. “My teammates and I have gotten together and 9 years later we are still disturbed by this and feel it is time we let you know about it.”
Another former NEC player whose name is withheld at his request, stated to The Equinox that he too was subjected to Vallante’s alleged misconduct in 2000. He, along with Lowery, also contacted Colbert and KSC Director of Athletics John Ratliff in 2011, in an attempt to warn KSC of Vallante’s past actions so other players would not experience what, to this day, he said is still difficult for him to talk about.
The former NEC player has urged KSC administration to “constantly reinforce” to students that help is there if they need it. He said KSC needs to do more than just inform students of what is provided to them on campus and said, “They [college administration] need to tell them that there is help available and encourage them to get help — and follow up and follow up and follow up.”
The former NEC player said it is not enough for the administration to only let students know there are resources available.
“Throwing it out there once — saying, ‘Oh, you know, if anyone wants to talk to anybody…’ and that’s it? That’s not good enough. This is something that takes time for people to come to grips with. Everything that this man [Vallante] was capable of…he certainly took a huge mental toll on a lot of people. It took a long time for me to get over this.” He added, “Keene State, if they want to do the right thing, they need to follow up, they need to ‘follow up’ with people on the program, anyone who admits, even graduates. Follow up and make sure they are getting the help that they need,” he urged, “Even if they don’t want it at first. They need it. They’ll need it eventually, if they went through what this man has put many people through.”
Nicco DeMasco, a 2013 KSC graduate who played basketball at KSC, stated he has not heard from the college regarding the firing of Vallante. DeMasco said Vallante initiated conversations similar to the sexually explicit conversations KSC students shared. DeMasco said while he played basketball for KSC, the Vallante situation was “laughed off,” DeMasco said, “We just kind of dealt with our problems in-house. He affected a couple people.”
DeMasco said of the college administration, “They don’t actively pursue students…They should seek out all the players. They need to make up for the stuff they need to do — [be] more proactive than reactive.”
With the investigation on-going, president Huot said she thinks the college will learn from the experience.
Huot indicated the college may make improvements to ensure that all, “faculty and staff know what their avenues are for reporting, for what their avenues are for helping our students and what their avenues are for following up.”
The president said, “I think that we will learn from this experience about ways in which policies are interpreted. I think that in that learning we will be able to continue to make them better, continue to improve them…” Huot emphasized that her primary care in this situation is for the security of KSC students and promised the college will continue to reach out to students.
In Governor Hassan’s letter to Chancellor Leach, Hassan stated, “I also encourage the University System to take further, appropriate steps to ensure the safety and well-being of all students, faculty and staff who work and study on your campuses.”
Huot similarly stated her attention is on the “security of our students” and said she has “….been personally engaged since the minute this came to my attention.”
For President Huot, “I’ve really stayed on top of where we are and I do feel that we’ve reached out. But we can’t force a student to want to come and talk to us. That doesn’t mean that you stop reaching out, it just means that you continue to try and we have and we will.”
Julie Conlon can be contacted at jconlon@keene-equinox.com