- Mailing Address
-
893 West St
Amherst, Massachusetts 01002 - Phone
- (413) 549-4600
- Email address
- admissions@hampshire.edu
- Website
- https://www.hampshire.edu/
- School Information
- "Hampshire opened in 1970, created when presidents of four distinguished New England colleges sought a home for bold, influential—even radical—ideas in higher education. "The Result: At Hampshire, your education focuses on personalized, independent work, close collaboration with faculty, and hands-on experience through study abroad, short-term field studies, internships, volunteer work, advanced independent projects, and much more. Advancing through three levels, or Divisions, students explore freely and widely across Hampshire's five interdisciplinary Schools. To graduate, every student, with faculty advice and guidance, devises an individual program in which he or she attempts to ask, and answer, a question perhaps never before posed. There is no other undergraduate college that approaches learning this way. "Five College Consortium: Beyond Hampshire's own substantial academic resources, students draw on those of Amherst, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which together form the Five College Consortium. Arguably, no other college in America offers students so much freedom—or so much support." The college enrolls over 740 students, has a student-faculty ratio of 13:1, and offers only one degree, Bachelor of Arts. (Source: https://www.hampshire.edu/discover-hampshire/discover-hampshire-college) (Source: https://www.hampshire.edu/discover-hampshire/hampshire-at-a-glance)
- General Information
- In response to the BLM protests in 2020, Hampshire College is launching its antiracist "plan of action". The first part of the plan was the creation of the "Inventory of Anti-Racist Education, Actions, and Support Systems", which "compiles a list of concrete steps that staff and faculty across campus are currently taking or planning to implement during this academic year." No mandatory Critical Race Training sessions are yet required of students. However, see developments below:
Actions Taken
- Admissions Policies
-
-
On March 9, 2023, Hampshire College News announced that it would "offer admission to all New College of Florida students and to match their current cost of tuition." According to the article, the admissions offer was "in response to the continuing attacks on New College of Florida intended to limit intellectual exploration, turn back progress toward inclusion, and curtail open discussion of race, injustice, and histories of oppression."
-
On June 29, 2023, Hampshire College issued a statement in response to the Supreme Court's ruling on affirmative action which reads in part as follows: "While affirmative action alone is not nearly enough to interrupt the perpetuation of systemic racial oppression, it at least recognizes that race shapes opportunity and outcomes in an endemically segregated society...The majority’s decision willfully ignores the persistent legacy of white supremacy and the ongoing reproduction of racial dominance that continues to this day...The elimination of one tool — race-conscious admissions — does not prevent us from imagining and implementing other strategies to counter racialized practices that marginalize students of color."
-
The admissions staff at Hampshire "demonstrates" its commitment to diversity through the "[a]ctive recruitment of talented students from underrepresented communities, especially underrepresented racial and ethnic groups."
-
- Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
-
-
Hampshire's Division for Justice, Equity, and Antiracism "equips students, staff, and faculty to question, challenge, and change existing cultures, structures, practices, and systems so as to redistribute power equitably." The division provides several anti-racism education programs including the "Peer Facilitator Program" which "works with students, staff, and faculty to support the collective development of anti-oppression education within first-year academic programming and the wider campus community."
-
The Division of Justice, Equity, and Antiracism provides "professional development to faculty and staff in antiracist pedagogy, socially committed research and creative activity, and equitable leadership." The division also "equips them to co-create an actively anti-oppressive professional and academic environment."
-
Hampshire admissions staff participate in "campus-wide diversity initiatives and workshops that increase staff and faculty competence in the areas of diversity and multiculturalism."
-
- Curriculum Changes and Requirements
-
-
Hampshire has instituted a "Race and Power" requirement as part of its Division II core curriculum. The college states that it is "committed to the principle that a liberal arts education should include a serious engagement with race and power."
-
Every student at Hampshire College "must" complete the "multiple cultural perspectives academic requirement" which is under the direction of the special presidential assistant for diversity and multicultural education in collaboration with the dean of faculty. The curriculum includes the study of "non-western perspectives," "race in the United States," and "knowledge and power."
-
- Political Actions and Support for Anti-Racism
-
-
The College hosted a panel discussion, “Becoming an Anti-Racist Institution: Knowledge, Action, and Commitment" as part of their Community Orientation Day in August 2021.
-
The In/Justice Learning Collaborative invited first-year students and faculty to the "Whiteness" seminar "Whiteness," led by Susana Loza and Roosbelinda Cardenas.
-
- Program and Research Funding
-
-
The James Baldwin Scholars Program at Hampshire College awards scholarships to applicants who "show academic promise, exhibit strong leadership within their communities, and display a commitment to social justice and equity." The program also "seeks students from communities historically underrepresented in higher education and who are typically first-generation college students."
-
- Resources
-
-
Hampshire College is launching its antiracist "plan of action".
-
The first part of the antiracist action plan was the creation of the "Inventory of Anti-Racist Education, Actions, and Support Systems", which "compiles a list of concrete steps that staff and faculty across campus are currently taking or planning to implement during this academic year."
-
In 2008, the President of the college released a statement on "Action Against Racism," which constituted the beginning of the college's anti-racist initiatives.
-
Hampshire provides a list of "paid internship programs and resources specifically for students of color."
-
The Hampshire College "Fall 2023 Course Descriptions" list several courses which discuss and/or teach Critical Race Theory including: "Deviant Bodies," "Critical Theories & Justice," and "Medicine and Power."
-
Professor Susana Loza "teaches cultural studies, critical race theory, film and media studies, popular music, feminist theory, and ethnic studies."
-
Hampshire College provides a list of external "paid internship programs and resources specifically for students of color."
-
- Symbolic Actions
-
-
Regarding its "Inventory of Anti-Racist Education," the college has stated the following: "As an institution committed to social justice, Hampshire insists that Black Lives Matter and aspires to be an anti-racist institution. While these commitments are real, we also recognize that our pursuit of these ideals consistently falls short and that we, especially those of us who are white, must do more and work harder to actively dismantle the structures that perpetuate institutional racism and advantage the privileged."
-