Hampshire College

Hampshire College is an "experimenting" private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education by four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (together with Hampshire they are known as the Five Colleges).

History

Though the college opened to students in 1970, its history dates to the immediate aftermath of World War II. The first "New College Plan" was drafted in 1958 by the presidents of the then-Four Colleges; it was revised several times as the serious planning for the College began in the 1960s. Many original ideas for non-traditional ways of arranging the College's curriculum, campus, and life were discarded along the way, but many new ideas generated during the planning process were not described in the original documents.

Related Topics:
1970 - World War II - 1958 - 1960s

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For several years in the early 1970s, directly after its founding, Hampshire College was the most selective undergraduate program in the United States. Its selectivity declined thereafter, but the school's applications increased in the late 1990s, making admissions more difficult. The College's selectivity in admissions is now comparable to that of many other small liberal arts colleges.

Related Topics:
1970s - 1990s

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The school has struggled with financial difficulties since its founding, and ceasing operations or folding into the University of Massachusetts Amherst were seriously considered at various points. Today the school is on more solid financial footing (though still without a sizable endowment), a condition often credited to the fundraising efforts of its most recent presidents, Adele Simmons and Gregory S. Prince, Jr.. The College has also distinguished itself recently with plans for the future including a "sustainable campus plan" and a "cultural village" through which organizations not directly affiliated with the school are located on its campus. Currently this "cultural village" includes the National Yiddish Book Center and the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

Related Topics:
University of Massachusetts Amherst - Adele Simmons - Gregory S. Prince, Jr. - National Yiddish Book Center - Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

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On April 1, 2004, Prince announced his retirement, effective at the end of the next academic year. On April 5, 2005, the Board of Trustees named Ralph Hexter, formerly a dean at University of California, Berkeley's College of Letters and Science, as the college's next president, effective August 1, 2005.

Related Topics:
April 1 - 2004 - April 5 - 2005 - Ralph Hexter - University of California, Berkeley - August 1

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Some of the most important founding documents of Hampshire College are collected in the book The Making of a College (MIT Press, 1967; ISBN 0262660059). The Making of a College is (as of 2003) out of print but available in electronic form from the Hampshire College Archives http://library.hampshire.edu/archives/makingcollege.html. A new edition is rumored to be in progress.

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Despite its small size and short history, Hampshire has made its own mark on pop culture and political activism. Its annual Halloween party, once legendary for its ubiquitous debauchery and hallucinogenic drugs, is said to have been profiled by Rolling Stone magazine. It was the first college in the nation to decide to divest from apartheid South Africa in 1979 (with the nearby University of Massachusetts Amherst rapidly coming second). In November 2001, a controversial all-community vote at Hampshire declared the school opposed to the recently-launched War on Terrorism, another national first which drew national media attention, including scathing reports from Rupert Murdoch's FOX News Channel and the New York Post ("Kooky College Condemns War"). Saturday Night Live had a regular sketch, "Jarrett's Room", starring Jimmy Fallon which purports to take place at Hampshire College but is grossly inaccurate, referring to non-existent buildings ("McGuin Hall") and featuring yearbooks, tests, seniors, fraternities, 3-person dorm rooms, and a football team, none of which have ever existed at the school.

Related Topics:
Halloween - Rolling Stone - South Africa - 1979 - University of Massachusetts Amherst - November - 2001 - War on Terrorism - Rupert Murdoch - FOX News Channel - New York Post - Saturday Night Live - Jimmy Fallon

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