A Weekend of Celebration: Hampshire’s 55th Anniversary and Family & Friends

Hampshire was bustling during the weekend of October 17–19, as more than 500 visitors came to campus. Guests attended open houses, lectures, panels, screenings, parties, and reunions. Along with the campus community, everyone celebrated the College’s 55 years of innovative, unconventional, and progressive higher education.    
     
Family and friends reunited with their students and got an inside look at their academic lives via open classes and conversations about study abroad, career preparation, and internships. Student clubs held a “bat watch” and a movie screening. The Hampshire College Farm hosted its annual Farm Fest, replete with hayrides, fabric dying with faculty members Jenny VanWyk and Michelle Trujillo, Hampshire-grown popcorn, cider doughnuts, and music.     
     
Open houses and tours took place at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment, the Center for Design, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, the Harold F. Johnson Library, and the Lebrón-Wiggins-Pran Cultural Center. Presentations featured a conversation on reproductive justice with Professor Emerita of Philosophy Marlene Gerber-Fried, Prisca Afantchao S23, Desta Cantave 15F, and Brooke Huguley 17F; book talks by former faculty members Carollee Bengelsdorf and Aaron Berman 70F as well as alum Sarah Towle 80F; and performances of the play All the Angels by current student Ryan Nivus F23. 

As we celebrate 55 years of this amazing place, as we look ahead to our future together, I urge us all to remain connected, to be brave, and to find joy.

President Jennifer Chrisler

There was an opening reception for alum Sara Smith 90F and their installation Sugar Maple Glacial Lake Station in the Art Gallery. Alums Greg Katsoulis 87F, Fadia Nordtveit 03F, and Michael O’Neill 98F held screenings, conversations, and performances. A talent share and open mic was hosted by Christopher J. Williams 04F.    
     
There was a screening of Hunting Yellow Pigs, a new documentary about the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics program, a student-led bike ride into downtown Amherst, and a collaborative performance from the Hampshire Dance Program featuring more than 20 community participants who developed and staged a show in just one day.  
    
Attendees celebrated together at a 5K costumed fun run and walk; a craft-beer tasting with Dick Cantwell 74F, of Elysian Brewery, and Paul Sayler 83F of Zero Gravity Brewing; and a DJ dance under the solar canopy. The lives of former faculty members, staff, and alums were honored at various remembrances. Graduates were able to reconnect and ring the Div-Free bell.     
     
One of the highlights was a lively panel discussion, “Urgent and Unbounded: The Role of Liberal Arts Education in an Age of Rising Authoritarianism,” featuring filmmaker and historian Ken Burns 71F, Al expert and scientist Gary Marcus 86F, and president of the American Association of Colleges & Universities Lynn Pasquerella P08.     
     
At the Saturday community dinner, newly appointed Hampshire College President Jennifer Chrisler addressed the crowd with a big smile, saying, “As we celebrate 55 years of this amazing place, as we look ahead to our future together, I urge us all to remain connected, to be brave, and to find joy.” The energy, the history, the excitement about the future, and, yes, the joy were all on full display throughout the weekend. Thank you to all our visitors and to everyone who helped make the celebration such a success.    
     
> View photos from the weekend here.