I’ve been following the unfolding news about Hampshire College. Thirty eight years ago, I applied early decision to Smith College.
What I most recall from that potent moment of hope and fear was the knowledge that even if Smith wasn’t a perfect fit for me, the Five College Consortium would be the larger educational ecosystem — to use Greg Prince’s word in a Feb. 23 guest column in the Gazette — within which my learning would take place.
I was captivated by the strategic largess demonstrated by UMass and the three private liberal arts colleges in forming Hampshire so higher education could stretch beyond what was available within their institutions, and then building out the Four College Consortium to include Hampshire (and make it the Five College Consortium).
It was this promise of such a broad pedagogical playing field from a land grant university, to traditional liberal arts colleges, to higher education innovations at Hampshire that ultimately made Smith a reasonable possibility for me.
It is the echo of that promise that prompts my curiosity about Hampshire’s current situation. I’ve been surprised that Smith, Mount Holyoke, Amherst, UMass and the Five College Consortium have been so quiet. I can’t let go of the thought that these institutions spawned Hampshire, and, with the Five College Consortium (and the work of many), cared for Hampshire as one might a younger sibling.
I wonder, “In what ways have the four schools and the Consortium benefited from Hampshire’s existence these past 50 years? And, if we were to tally those benefits, what might we include?”
I want to ask the three colleges and the consortium: “Is there something you can contribute in this moment in the life of not only Hampshire, but the five college ecosystem, and current and future students? And, what further innovation can you help to spur and support?”
Alexandra Risley Schroeder
Northampton