Hampshire College

Biography
Ralph J. Hexter is in his fifth year as the fifth president of Hampshire College, a role he regards as the culmination of a career dedicated to higher education and the liberal arts, both as professor of classics and comparative literature and as a college and university administrator. After earning degrees at Harvard, Oxford (Corpus Christi College), and Yale, he taught for a decade in Yale's Classics Department before moving to the University of Colorado at Boulder, where, as Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature, his primary administrative assignment was to direct the graduate program in comparative literature. In 1995 he joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, again as Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature. With unexpected rapidity he took up posts as chair of Comparative Literature, Dean of Arts and Humanities, and Executive Dean of the College of Letters and Science, the last two concurrently. Author of several books and many articles, primarily on ancient and medieval literature, President Hexter continues to teach, lecture, and publish on the reception of classical Greek and Roman literature from the Middle Ages to modern times.

A Mission-Driven Presidency
President Hexter observes that what drew him to Hampshire College is its mission and history of innovation—an institution that challenges highly motivated students to "become the entrepreneurs of their own education." In his view, "when one thinks that Hampshire College admitted its first students in 1970, its tremendous strengths and remarkable track record are nothing short of phenomenal. Its place as a member of Five Colleges, Inc., is certainly a signal advantage, but even more important are its unique pedagogy, to which a remarkable faculty is dedicated; bright, articulate, passionate, and creative students; and a universe of brilliant and successful alumni who are engaged in a breathtaking range of endeavors."

Since his arrival President Hexter has dedicated himself to enabling the College to fulfill its mission more fully and more effectively in the twenty-first century. Midway through his first year, he launched the College into a multi-step revisioning exercise: "Making of a College 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2." Partnering with a reenergized and expanding Board of Trustees, in which for the first time in the College's history alumni play the leading role, he not only drew the second comprehensive campaign in the College's history to conclusion but completed funding for its first major building project in many years. Opened and dedicated in late spring 2009, the expanded and renovated Jerome Liebling Center represents the first step in needed facilities renewal. Although it will take a few months to learn the final status of our application for LEEDS gold certification, we believe we have a sufficient number of points to achieve this level and are cautiously optimistic that we will achieve our goal.

A Comprehensive Commitment to Excellence
The opening of the Liebling Center reflects not only the generosity of many donors and Hampshire's longstanding signature excellence in film, photography, and video, but the new levels of professionalism and execution-oriented performance the President has brought to the administration. Among new, or newly assigned, professional staff at Hampshire are the Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean of the Faculty, Vice President for Finance and Administration/Treasurer, Dean of Student Services, Dean of Enrollment and Assessment, Special Presidential Assistant for Diversity and Multicultural Education, Chief Advancement Officer, Associate Vice President for Human Resources, Director of Facilities and Grounds, Director of Public Safety (jointly with Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges), Director of Advancement Services, and Ombudsperson. A search for a new chief of communications and marketing will begin soon. The President believes that the College can only thrive when experienced professionals perform as a team with shared vision and values. He especially appreciates and encourages those staff and administrators who pursue continuing education; several have recently earned degrees, including B.A.s and at least one M.B.A. Honoring the vision and values that sustained Hampshire through its first thirty-five years, the president has set about to reaffirm and reformulate them to inspire the next generation of students.

Successfully completing in 2008 the self-study and peer review that led to the College's continuing accreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc. (NEASC), the president has taken the lead to incorporate the new institutional self-knowledge and wise recommendations from the accreditors into the ongoing discussions of the "Making of a College 2" series. This year will see the launch of formal strategic planning as well as governance review at multiple levels, both key recommendations of NEASC. President Hexter has also established taskforces to address student engagement and satisfaction both in the academic arena and in student life; these and other committees are moving from review to implementation with an eye to student success and improved student retention. In 2008 he put in place an Anti-Racism Administrative Action Plan and a Diversity Committee engaged in monitoring progress towards this important commitment. Building on our first efforts involving formal intergroup dialogues in the spring of 2009, the Special Presidential Assistant for Diversity and Multicultural Education will increase the opportunity for the community to learn more productive communication styles. Hampshire helped to organize and will participate in the “Day of Dialogue” across the Five Colleges on October 27. The President is particularly proud of the progress we have made on Green Hampshire. The Environmental Committee continues guiding our work in this area as we strive to realize ever-more-demanding commitments to reduce our carbon footprint. The President has allocated funds that will significantly expand the College's support of faculty research and creative activity, and, through a generous grant of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, laid the groundwork for a deeper integration of the study of languages other than English into courses and individual projects of both faculty and students, assisted by the Mellon-funded World Language Enrichment and Acquisition officer.

A Forward-Looking Approach to the Liberal Arts
Also essential to Hampshire College and its watchwords non satis scire--"to know is not enough"--is a broad and critically informed commitment to social justice and progressive causes, at home and abroad. As the President has described it, everyone at Hampshire College--faculty, staff, students, alumni--strives to make a difference "in the world," an intention that extends the meaning and impact of a traditional liberal arts education. President Hexter himself has, in his various campus addresses, letters to the community, opinion pieces, and other communications, connected contemporary dilemmas with some of the issues thinkers and writers have taken up over the centuries: for example, freedom and responsibility. Responsibility to remake the world is a key element in the call for a redefinition of the mission of a liberal arts education that has emerged from the "Making of a College 2" series. President Hexter addresses these and other issues in his biweekly blog. Many of the president's papers and speeches can be accessed on the speeches and writings page.

A Member of the Amherst Community
President Hexter and his husband Manfred Kollmeier share the view of the Holyoke range from Hampshire’s beautiful official presidential residence in south Amherst with their three horses. President Hexter and Mr. Kollmeier married in Massachusetts in 2007, although later this year they will celebrate thirty years of partnership. (President Hexter has reflected on Why Marriage Matters, contrasting Massachusetts and several other states with California, where the couple also maintain a home.) President Hexter serves on the Board of Trustees of the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, the Executive Committee of AICUM (Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts), and the President's Council of Project Pericles. He has also been appointed or elected to other boards and committees, among them the Board of Advisors of the Center for Free Inquiry at Hanover College, Phi Beta Kappa's Council Nominating Committee, the Professional Matters Committee of the American Philological Association, and the Advisory Board of the Virgilian Encyclopedia. This year he serves as Chair of the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee for Massachusetts and New Jersey and Co-Chair of the United Way of Hampshire County’s annual campaign.