Every two years Hampshire alums have the opportunity to elect an alum to The Board of Trustees of Hampshire College, for a four-year term. Trustees are critical to the success and development of the College. Candidates must:

• Demonstrate a strong affinity with the College
• Articulate the effect the College has made on their life
• Show a history of continuous connection to the College
• Have experience of other board and/or community leadership

Voting is open until April 22. The elected candidate will be proposed to the board of trustees in May.

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CANDIDATES:

William Null 72F

Melissa Rothstein 89F

Daniel Gregor 93F

Discuss the reason for your interest in Hampshire's Board of Trustees:

• William Null 72F: Hampshire has been an important part of my life for 4 decades, since Fall 1972. My wife, Lauren Thaler 75S and son, Evan Thaler-Null 08F also attended Hampshire. I have a strong affinity for the importance of the school as a teaching and learning environment that spurs creativity and challenges each of us to think about the world around us. Similarly, I understand that Hampshire should play a meaningful role both in the educational world and in society-at-large. I am an attorney practicing in White Plains, New York and have served as a Board member and Officer/President of several not-for-profit boards since I believe it is important to give back to the community and not simply live and work in it. I am a member of the Alumni Advisory Committee and have been involved with admissions interviews and alumni relations. It would be an honor to serve as a Trustee and to continue to build a productive and creative Hampshire community.
    
• Melissa Rothstein 89F: I am interested in strengthening my connection to Hampshire and applying my professional skills – particularly in law, nonprofit management, and fundraising – to benefit the College and to provide me with the experience of serving as a Trustee for an institution to which I have a strong, and lengthy, connection.
    
• Daniel Gregor 93F: I dearly love Hampshire, and want to do whatever I can to support it. I believe strongly that perspective from my Hampshire decade (the 90s) is an important and not well represented presence on the Board of Trustees, and that the 90s alumni body represents an insufficiently tapped source of engagement and support for the College. My life, work, finances, and other board/volunteer commitments are now at a great place where I can fully commit to a four year term as an Alumni Trustee. While a student at Hampshire, I was heavily involved with community governance, including serving as a committee representative to the Board of Trustees Finance, Admissions, and CHOIR (Committee at Hampshire On Investment Responsibility) Committees. I served on the School of Natural Science, and on Community Council (including as FiCom Chair, Parliamentarian, and COCD chair).

Describe your affinity with Hampshire College and articulate the effect Hampshire has made on your life:

• William Null 72F: At Hampshire, I learned that pursuing knowledge is an individual's responsibility and constructively participating in one's community is an obligation. Hampshire enabled me to gain confidence in my ability to gather information, process it and strategize how to implement a plan. I attribute Hampshire's approach to learning as a key component in my ability to think creatively as a lawyer/counselor and manager. I have been serving in a management role at my law firm for about 20 years and have served in leadership roles on many volunteer boards. Through Hampshire, I learned how to evaluate facts and opinion, question assumptions and consider alternative rationales. These skills have served me well in my personal and professional life.
   
• Melissa Rothstein 89F: I am very proud to be a Hampshire alum. Several classmates remain among my closest friends (now 20 years later) and my education and career remain guided by my experiences at Hampshire. I took a relatively traditional undergraduate path, studying sociology and psychology, but I actively engaged both disciplines as I developed my Divisions II and III. I later pursued a dual degree in law and social work (JD/MSW), during which I helped develop Columbia University’s curriculum for this program and subsequently served as an adjunct professor at Columbia’s School of Social Work, teaching a law for social workers class based predominantly on my experience creating the dual degree program. My ability and comfort in forging this path came directly from my experience as a Hampshire student developing my own curriculum. My career since then has consistently relied upon the overlap between social work and law, building on my dual education that began as a Hampshire student.
   
• Daniel Gregor 93F: Simply put, Hampshire made me who I am. Hampshire showed me a whole intellectual and social world outside of Sacramento, where I grew up. Hampshire introduced me to social justice struggles. Hampshire nurtured my involvement with governance and community engagement. Hampshire radicalized me. Hampshire took the raw materials present in me, and made me a passionate, engaged, active, and excited organizer, activist, attorney, outdoorsperson, human being, and so much more. I fly the Hampshire flag at every opportunity: at least once a month, and sometimes multiple times a week, I tell someone, or a group, that Hampshire made me who I am. This regularly comes out in the activism and social justice work that I do. I've had scores of airplane conversations with seatmates about Hampshire, at least a few of which I know had resulted in prospective students applying. I have remained active with Hampshire, and am very excited by the opportunity to be even more active and involved.

Discuss the history of your connection to the College and experience of other board and/or community leadership:

• William Null 72F: I have been conducting student interviews for nearly two decades and have remained close to the College. My son's experience at Hampshire and that of his friends renewed my understanding of the school - its strengths and challenges - and provided an opportunity to speak with people in leadership about issues of concern. As noted elsewhere, I have served on the boards of, and in executive capacities for not-for-profit organizations. As an attorney for clients engaged in business in the Hudson Valley region, I am comfortable working with others in government, on municipal boards and otherwise involved in the community. As Managing Partner of my law firm, I understand issues affecting business, management and policy. Participation on the Hampshire Board would enable me to work with the administration, faculty, staff, alums and students toward a future that constructively carries forward and advances Hampshire's educational mission.
   
• Melissa Rothstein 89F: I have been involved in the Hampshire Alumni Admissions Program for a number of years, interviewing prospective students, and have consistently donated to the Hampshire Fund. As part of my job responsibilities, I have worked closely with the Boards of the Equal Rights Center and Just Detention International, where I engaged Board members on fundraising, policy, branding, and Board recruitment issues. In addition to engaging the community through my professional work, I have been a leader in the community through various volunteer activities. Building on my active community service as a Hampshire student, I served as a VISTA volunteer shortly after graduation and I try to consistently contribute to the community. Prior to joining the ERC staff in 2011, I was a volunteer civil rights tester. I have also served on the admissions committee of my cooperative apartment, and last year became a CASA volunteer to assist a child aging out of the DC foster care system.
   
• Daniel Gregor 93F: Active member of the Alumni Advisory Group, and chair the Communications Subcommittee. Organized and moderated a panel for the 2012 Div IV. Actively participated in the Hampshire 40th Anniversary event. Have been a Hampshire Alumni Admissions Program volunteer continuously since shortly after my graduation in 1997. Previously a “Class Agent” for 93F. 2010-12: Director, Metropolis North Residential Condo Assoc., Atlanta, GA. Board President 2011-12, Secretary 2010-11. 498 unit condo with ~1.7 million dollar annual operating budget, and nearly 3 million dollar capital reserve budget. 2011-12: Director, Metropolis Master Condo Assoc (governs commercial and retail spaces.) 1998-present: National Lawyers Guild (NLG). Two terms on national board, including as National Vice President, 2007-09. Help plan the NLG Convention, our most important annual fundraising event, and plenaries, highest governing body of the NLG. Served on boards of two NLG chapters, Massachusetts & Los Angeles.

Please submit a short bio including work and volunteer history:

• William Null 72F: Hampshire College, B.A. January 1977; Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, J.D., June 1980; Cuddy & Feder LLP, White Plains, NY - Managing Partner, 1999 to date; Partner, 1990 to date; Associate, 1985 through 1989; Kraver & Martin, Associate, 1983 to 1985; Null & Null P.C., Associate, 1980 to 1983. Volunteer service: White Plains Hospital Center, Board member, 2002 to date; Gilda's Club Westchester, President, 2010- 2012, Board member, 2001 to date; Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Westchester Chapter, 1998-2003, President 2004-2006, Board member 2004 to 2010; The White Plains Bridge of Friendship Foundation, Board member, 1994 to date. My law practice focuses on zoning and land-use work for larger scale developments. I have represented institutional, corporate and municipal clients involving a range of projects from senior housing, college campuses, health care facilities, offices, residential and retail uses.
   
• Melissa Rothstein 89F: I am the Deputy Director of the Equal Rights Center, where I plan, implement and supervise all aspects of the day-to-day operations. Prior to joining the ERC, I was the Senior Program Director at Just Detention International, where I oversaw all of the organization's east coast activities. Before then, I was a Senior Staff Attorney and Director of Social Work at the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York, where I established the first known social work program focused on assisting prisoners prepare for reentry after lengthy felony sentences. I also served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work, and a law clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. My volunteer experience has included serving as a VISTA Volunteer, civil rights tester, CASA volunteer, and admissions committee member.
   
• Daniel Gregor 93F: In addition to the volunteer and board history detailed above, I am an attorney, activist, and organizer. My legal work is primarily in resistance and protest law. I regularly teach and present at conferences, including in legal ethics, bicycle advocacy, and movement lawyering. I graduated from Hampshire in 1997 (Div II in experiential education, Div III in environmental history.) I have a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law (2001). I teach workshops to social justice activists, giving them skills for defending themselves pro se in criminal cases. I'm no longer a currently certified EMT, a training I first received while at Hampshire, and which allowed me to run as an EMT with Hampshire EMS. I am still an active “street medic” (medical support for protests and mass gatherings) and a street medic trainer. I love to volunteer, travel, ride bikes, and do civic activism and bicycle advocacy in my spare time.

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If you have any questions, please contact Alumni and Family Relations at 413.559.6638 or alumni@hampshire.edu.