Kenneth Whitten joins the UMass Dartmouth Corsair Athletic Hall of Fame posthumously after passing away unexpectedly in July of 2001. The records will show that Ken Whitten was an assistant ice hockey coach with John Rolli for the last 17 seasons and an employee in the UMass Dartmouth Athletic Department's equipment room for more than 10 years. Whitten had also served as an ice hockey coach at Bristol County Regional Agricultural High School before joining the then SMU ice hockey program back in the early 1980's. He worked in several capacities for Facilities Management, Inc, the company that runs the Hetland Arena in New Bedford.

But Whitten's contributions to the student-athletes, the coaches and the Athletic Department as a whole went much further than what the records show. He was a friend to every Corsair ice hockey player for the last 17 seasons and one of the quiet people behind the scenes who has helped UMass Dartmouth ice hockey become on of the most successful Division III programs in New England. Following his death, a memorial fund was established in his memory to benefit the ice hockey program at UMass Dartmouth.