Letter to HampRiseUp from President Nelson: February 18, 2019

Dear Hamp Rise Up:


This letter is an updated draft from the one shared with you on Tuesday, February 12.

I have shared updates with the community detailing the progress we have made on a number of issues, many of which you described in your two letters of demands, dated February 7 and February 16, and expanded on during the fishbowl meeting held on Thursday, February 7, and in conversations with you in Cole 116 on Tuesday, February 12 and Friday, February 15.

The release of these community statements and the engagement with members of Hamp Rise Up and numerous other campus groups and committees indicate good faith and progress in addressing the core principles of the Coalition, including:

• We have dissolved non‐disclosure agreements. We are now using less‐encompassing confidentiality agreements covering two specific content areas, and nothing more, that cannot be deliberated in the public sphere: some information about potential strategic partners and sensitive financial data. 

• The Options Committee, comprised of some members of the Crisis Committee and the Visioning Task Force, has been established. This committee will be involved in all aspects of the partnership process, including the consideration and selection of potential partners and the development of an approach to maintain Hampshire’s independence. Two students are on this newly formed committee. 

• We have heard and share your concerns around race, power, and privilege, and have added a principle to the core guiding principles for partnership considerations that addresses this concern. The Options Committee deliberations around partnerships will include a commitment to our long‐standing values of inclusion, equity, and justice. 

• We have had conversations with the Board and the chair of the Governance Committee and will continue to take steps to evaluate and share details and membership of the College's governing bodies, including stated roles and an assessment of adequate representation. This work is ongoing. 

• We have committed to creating an ongoing process that involves staff, faculty, and students in assessing and identifying the essential services, resources, and programs that will complement student needs between now and when a partnership is fully realized or when Hampshire secures a sustainable independence. 

• We will confirm with those faculty and faculty entities that have requested access to financial data that the statement published on February 12 regarding budget development is sound. 

• We commit to meeting with you to better understand your needs for a dedicated and accessible student gathering space that supports the sense of community fostered during the sit‐ins. 

• We commit to finding a regular time to share a community meal together. 

• We acknowledge that there is a vacuum of trust between administrators and students, and are committed to building trust by following through on the stated commitments and those that evolve during our work together.


Our work on behalf of your stated principles will not cease once you leave the space that you have been sitting in. Frankly, with so much at stake during these extraordinary times at this extraordinary college, it is inconceivable for us not to have been witness to the longest student occupation in the College’s history. I would be disappointed if you were not fighting for the College.


For the sake of our shared interest and capacity to work toward a thriving future for the Hampshire community, we hope that you are able to acknowledge that we have addressed your core principles and are committed to a conscious and deliberate focus on transparency, shared governance, and overall equity. It is critical that those in our midst who want to forge a path toward a constructive process identify themselves and engage with us.


With respect,

Mim