Hampshire Next Looks to Future

On Wednesday, Oct. 28, Hampshire Next, a group working to preserve Hampshire College’s educational vision as the college prepares to close, hosted a virtual discussion titled “Building the Plane While Flying It: Hampshire, Then and Next.” The panel brought together three figures involved in Hampshire College’s founding — John Roosevelt Boettiger ’60, David Matz, and Ken Rosenthal ’60 — who reflected on Hampshire’s early years, the ideas behind its unconventional approach to education, and the challenges it faced along the way. 

In May, Hampshire College’s Board of Trustees announced its decision to permanently close the institution at the end of the fall semester, following years of financial difficulties, enrollment challenges, and unsuccessful attempts to refinance its debt. Students have since had to make arrangements to finish their degrees, whether at Hampshire or elsewhere, while faculty and staff face unemployment.

In response, Hampshire Next emerged as a coalition of alumni, students, faculty, staff, and community members seeking to purchase the college’s campus and establish a new educational community. The group, which operates independently of the college, is seeking to purchase the property and turn it into what it calls an “educational village,” where different educational programs, institutions, and community initiatives could share the space. So far, Hampshire Next has received approximately $2 million in nonbinding pledges from supporters and is working toward its next goal of $3 million.

The panel on Wednesday was moderated by Lizzy Longsworth ’85, whose father, Chuck Longsworth, was Hampshire’s first employee and later served as its president. The three panelists recalled arriving at Hampshire when the college was still taking shape, with much of its curriculum, administration, and campus yet to be established.

“We were joining Hampshire College to help create a college when we were not yet 30 years old,” Rosenthal recalled, describing the independence and responsibility the college’s early staff were given despite their youth. Matz, who joined Hampshire after serving in the Peace Corps, remembered being drawn to the opportunity to help build a college that was willing to do things differently.

But the panelists also acknowledged the difficulties that came with those ambitions. Rosenthal described traveling to Washington, D.C. to secure federal funding and working through the accreditation process as the college prepared to open. Hampshire’s heavy reliance on tuition and rising administrative costs were major financial challenges, made worse by declining support from federal grants and foundations. Making Hampshire affordable had been one of the founders’ original goals, he said, but it was one that the college never fully achieved.

Toward the end of the discussion, the three speakers were asked what advice they would give those working to carry Hampshire’s vision forward. “Hampshire, at the beginning, worked really hard to not be the same as other colleges,” Matz said. “It really was a dissatisfaction with other things that we all knew.” He encouraged those involved in Hampshire Next to approach their efforts with that same willingness to challenge conventional ideas about higher education, rather than simply recreating the original college. Meanwhile, Rosenthal stressed on the persistence that building an institution requires: “Be willing to work hard, be willing to accept rejection and keep on trying.”

For Hampshire Next, the challenge is to carry forward the college’s original ambitions without repeating the financial struggles that contributed to its closure. Reflecting on what Hampshire has meant to generations of students and faculty, Boettiger offered a broader perspective on the college’s legacy.

“It's as if we've been wandering around like some guys with a sack of seeds,” he said. “There was a creativity, a nourishment, that continues to bear fruit.”