Hampshire Welcomes Creative, Socially Minded, Ambitious Incoming Fall Class

The fall 2025 class of 168 new students brings Hampshire’s total projected enrollment for the academic year to 750, an increase from 2022’s enrollment of about 500. In total, this cohort represents nine countries — Armenia, Australia, Cape Verde, China, India, Pakistan, Tanzania, the United States, and the United Kingdom. New students speak American Sign Language, Arabic, Armenian, Cantonese, French, English, German, Hindi, Igbo, Italian, Jamaican Creole English, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Mandarin, Nepali, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, and Urdu.

They range in age from 16 to 65! At least 46 of them are first-generation college students, and 30 percent identify as of color. More than half of the incoming class identifies as queer, and many are neurodivergent.

The group’s most popular academic interest is psychology, followed by studio/visual arts; film, video, and photography; game design and development; music; sociology; animation and digital art; writing and creative writing; gender, feminist, and queer studies; environmental studies and sustainability; and language, linguistics, and translation studies. Quite a few students were in math clubs in high school.

The students are in a lot of bands and play a host of instruments: guitar, bass, drums, piano, clarinet, trumpet, fiddle, violin, cello, and saxophone. There are lots of singers, along with audio engineers, Celtic and ballet dancers, ceramicists, crafters, sewists, fiber artists, jewelry makers, collagers, illustrators, and photographers. Many of them have been involved in theater in some way — as actors, directors, costumers, stage managers, lighting techs, sound operators, and set designers.  

They are poets, memoirists, essayists, playwrights, and zine publishers. One student’s writing was read at the United Nations headquarters in New Delhi; another served as a delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Womanhood; another created, staged, filmed, and edited a one-woman show based on an interview with Toni Morrison.

Extracurricular activities have included debate team, National Honor Society, table top gaming, DJing at a community radio station, Key Club, Model UN, Thespian Troupe, and Girl Scouts. The incoming students are passionate about Indigenous rights, the environment, food security, diversity, ethics, and politics — several have already held positions in student government. Dungeons and Dragons seems to be everyone’s favorite game.  
Some have already participated in internships. One is a certified EMT. Another founded a summit to address gun violence. One student has a personal library of more than 400 vinyl records. Another boasts a collection of some 600 Pez dispensers.

Several people play sports, including volleyball, martial arts, boxing, archery, skiing, power lifting, skateboarding, track, fencing, and wrestling. A number have hiked portions of the Appalachian Trail. There’s a park ranger in the group, someone who’s certified in wilderness first aid, and an expert in outdoor survival skills.

Many students volunteer — at the Special Olympics and a rural Chinese school; as gardeners and farmers; on political campaigns and at museums; as fundraisers and conservationists; as science tutors, mentors, and counselors-in-training; at an animal refuge; at churches and synagogues; for a therapeutic horseback riding program; as a poll worker; and as a junior firefighter.

One student helped restore monuments at a historically Black cemetery. Another was a mentor and facilitator for the Ubuntu Arts Council. One is part of a coalition removing trash from rivers and managing invasive species. Still another co-leads educational programs on raptors. One student founded a company that assists amputees in getting mobility aids. Others work for estate sales, on an organic flower farm, and as a sound engineer for a New York radio station.

We can’t wait to see what passions they’ll explore, what new interests they’ll discover, and the projects they’ll create.