I was sad to read about the closing of Hampshire College, an innovative and inspiring institution for the thousands of students who attended the college over its 56-year run.
The many factors that went into this unfortunate decision to close are well documented (financial hardship due to dwindling enrollment topping the list), but I wonder if one option that had been floated a few years back might have kept Hampshire College on the map.
In 2019, President Miriam Nelson attempted to address the financial hole Hampshire was in (that she inherited when she stepped in as the seventh president of the college) by exploring a possible merger with UMass-Amherst. The Hampshire community, led by a strong, activist student body that organized the longest-ever college sit-in at the president’s office, voiced a resounding “No” to this option.
It’s water under the bridge, but it’s interesting to consider what a Hampshire College-UMass merger might have looked like had the Hampshire community been open to hearing more about the idea.
Julie Akeret
Leeds