Hampshire Community Launches Relief Fund for Employees

After Hampshire College announced on April 14 that it would permanently close following the fall 2026 semester, Hampshire faculty, staff, and alumni have begun organizing relief efforts to support Hampshire employees facing job loss.

One of the primary initiatives, called the Help Hampshire Workers Emergency Relief Fund, was founded by Hampshire faculty and staff a week after news of the college’s closure. It aims to provide financial assistance to affected faculty and staff, helping them meet immediate needs such as housing, healthcare, and other basic living expenses.

The fund comes in response to the expected loss of approximately 250 faculty and staff positions, many of which will end without severance pay. For many employees, the sudden closure has created both financial uncertainty and a lack of clear next steps.

While most employees are expected to lose their positions, a small group of faculty and staff will remain at the college temporarily. In a press release published on April 21, Hampshire College Professor of Anthropology, Literary Arts, and African Studies Nathalie Arnold Koenings said that “the administration envisages that only a slender crew will stay on through December 2026 to support senior students completing thesis projects.”

As details about the closure have emerged, faculty and staff have raised concerns about the financial strain caused by the lack of severance pay. In the same press release, Koenings said that “the creditors are too many, we are told, and there is nothing left for us,” referring to the college’s explanation for why severance pay is not being provided.

Organizers say the relief fund was assembled rapidly in response to the urgency of the situation.

“This effort came together quickly because it had to. People are losing their jobs with very little notice and no safety net. Our goal is to get support to colleagues as quickly as possible,” said Lorenzo Conte, Gallery Director at Hampshire, in the press release.

In addition to providing direct financial assistance, organizers say the initiative is also working to support affected employees in other ways, including gathering employment leads, connecting workers with professional services, and coordinating other community-based support networks.

However, many faculty members face additional challenges in securing new employment. Since the academic hiring cycle for the upcoming year has already mostly concluded, displaced professors have limited opportunities to find positions in the near future, further increasing the urgency of relief efforts.

Support efforts have been driven in large part by Hampshire alumni and members of the broader community. Hampshire alumnus Joey Carey ’02F emphasized the importance of collective action in this period of uncertainty.

“I know firsthand the importance of Hampshire’s approach to higher education and how the wider community supports one another in times of crisis,” Carey said in the press release. “Now it’s our turn to support the staff and faculty who made Hampshire College so unique. The need is urgent, and the time to act is now.”

These relief efforts are unfolding alongside public demonstrations calling attention to the impact of the closure on the Hampshire community. On April 23, Hampshire students, faculty, and staff gathered on the Amherst Town Green to protest the lack of severance pay and called on other institutions within the Five College Consortium to provide additional support for displaced Hampshire students and employees.

Speakers at the protest expressed frustration with how the closure is being handled, while also emphasizing the important role Hampshire has played in shaping their lives, both academically and personally.

A similar sentiment was also expressed by Assistant Director of Accessibility Resources and Services at Hampshire Griffin Leistinger, who wrote  in the press release that “staff and faculty are [at Hampshire] because we believe in fighting for the ideals of what Hampshire has always strived for.” He added that Hampshire was also a “refuge, a room the world had little room for” to many faculty and staff. 

Leaders at several institutions within the Five College Consortium have acknowledged the challenges facing Hampshire faculty, staff, and students. In an email following the closure announcement on April 14, President Michael Elliott noted that Amherst College would seek to provide support for those affected.

“In the coming weeks and months, Amherst will be working to assist our colleagues at Hampshire as they begin the difficult process of winding down operations,” Elliott wrote. “I encourage those of us with direct connections to Hampshire to offer support wherever we can, recognizing that this is an uncertain and challenging time.”

Similarly, in a message to the University of Massachusetts Amherst community on April 14, Chancellor Javier Reyes outlined steps the university is taking in response to the closure, particularly for Hampshire students. Reyes noted that UMass Amherst will “waive application fees” for Hampshire students seeking to transfer and has also “agreed to serve as the custodian of Hampshire’s student records.”

While relief efforts are underway, many details remain uncertain, including how donations will be distributed to Hampshire faculty and staff, whose contracts are expected to end on June 16, and how many employees the fund will ultimately be able to assist.

However, despite these challenges, many in the Hampshire community say the college’s mission will live on through the people it supported, even as the institution prepares to close. In an April 21 statement, the college noted that “Hampshire College may be closing, but the people who built it, cared for it, and sustained its students are still here.”