A History of Student Activities, 1974-1977
Compiled by Tim Shary
1974
Jan 26
During a stakeout of the campus exactly six weeks after the last rape, Amherst Police Officer David Jankowski arrests Michael Collins of Granby, CT; Collins is charged with numerous crimes, including kidnapping, as he had just picked up another student. [Climax: February 12, 1974]
Jan 29
Michael Collins sends letters to the rape victims, revealing that he is 37, married with two teenage children, and a compulsive gambler from an alcoholic family; he does not confess to the rapes, but pleas that his family's hardships be considered. [Climax: February 12, 1974]
Feb 8
Kenneth Garfield, a third-year student, files his nomination papers to become a candidate on the Amherst Board of Selectmen, the first Hampshire student to run for local political office.[Climax: February 12, 1974]
Feb 14
Student and Chairperson of C.O.C.D. David Kaplan signs an agreement titled the "Memorandum of Understanding" which establishes a food service operation in the Prescott House tavern, to be run by the Saga Food Service. [Community Council Misc.: 74S-ZO1]
Feb 26
With the first original class scheduled to graduate in June, Academic Council passes a motion to have student transcripts list all non-Divisional activities in the same category, including academic classes, house courses, and student-generated activities.[Climax: March 5, 1974]
Feb 26
Files in the President's Office, including the report on the Dakin House fires, are found missing after a student reports that confidential documents have been mysteriously showing up in his mailbox.[Climax: March 5, 1974]
Feb 27
At least five more students report that confidential documents from the President's Office have been either mailed to them or left under their doors, while copies of the documents begin to appear elsewhere on campus, posted on bulletin boards. [Climax: March 5, 1974]
Feb 28
Another raffle of marijuana is held by students, this time in the dining commons, but
only for two ounces; the 850 tickets sold are enough to fund a party for the event in addition to paying for the marijuana and leaving a percentage for Financial Aid. [Climax: March 5, 1974]
Mar 2
Charles Longsworth and Vice President Bob Birney bring Amherst Police detectives to campus to investigate the theft of the confidential files; afterward, no more copies of the files are posted.[Climax: March 5, 1974]
Mar 2
An aerosol can explodes when left on a hot burner in the Dakin K-2 lounge; another is found about to explode three days later. [Climax: March 5, 1974]
Mar 7
A skirt hanging in the Dakin K-2 bathroom is set on fire; vials of dangerous chemicals are found in a stall in the same bathroom the next day; officials are not sure if the incidents are related, or if it is the work of the arsonist from the fall term. [Climax: March 12, 1974]
Mar 12
A fire marshall for the state of Massachusetts condemns the third floor of the Johnson library as a fire and health hazard; art students, who had been creating and storing their work on the floor, are ordered to remove their items. [Climax: March 19, 1974]
Mar 19
First-year students Scott Blau and Dick Sclove have announced that they are candidates for election to membership in the Town Meeting of Amherst. [Climax: March 19, 1974]
Apr 9
Ken Garfield is defeated by two incumbents in the election for Amherst Board of Selectmen, but Scott Blau and Dick Sclove are elected to the Town Meeting.[Climax: April 16, 1974]
Apr 10
A luxury Peter Pan Bus is stuck in the Greenwich House driveway for over an hour after the driver delivers a student to her mod and finds he is unable to back out of the area; students with flashlights rally to help the driver make an 11-point turn. [Climax: April 16, 1974]
Apr 25
267 members of the community vote in a referendum to approve the Code of Rights which Community Council
has been working on for two years; 164 votes are cast against it, and Council announces that further modifications will be made. [Climax: April 30, 1974]
Apr 25
Community Council approves a "phase-out" plan to ban all new pets from campus effective for the fall semster, 1974; the move comes after numerous attempts to control the pet population problem.[Community Council Minutes: April 25, 1974]
May 1
An estimated 60% of the students on the meal plan refrain from eating at Saga in '-. support of a nation-wide fast for Oxfam programs raising money for the drought- stricken regions of sub-Sahara Africa.[Climax: May 7, 1974]
May 2
Over 3OO students sign a petition requesting that "Mademoiselle" Magazine not be allowed to do a story on Hampshire; the story, along with a fashion lay-out featuring Hampshire women, was to be part of a series including UMass and Mount Holyoke College.[Climax: May 21, 1974]
May 18
President Longsworth announces, at the first regional press conference since 1970, that Hampshire has been accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, two weeks before commencement.[Climax: May 21, 1974]
May 21
The Hampshire frisbee team, in a "flurry of games over a three week period [has] established itself as undisputed New England champ"; the matches include one of the highest-scoring contests on record, a 36-35 tie-breaker against Tufts University. [Climax: May 21, 1974]
Aug 25
The Pre-College Wilderness Program offers the first pre-college trips to entering students.[Climax: September 25, 1975]
Sep 1
Thorpe House, just north of Bob Stiles House on West Street, is opened to eight students, becoming the sixth "house" on campus; it was bought from and named after its owner, Paul Thorpe.[Climax: February 27, 1976]
Sep 24
Division IV, the student snack bar in Emily Dickinson Hall, has closed to due a lack of space and profit; attention shifts to the new Prescott Tavern to provide the same services.[Climax: September 24, 1974]
Sep 24
A controversy forms when it is learned that over the summer certain members of the administration censored and revised the Student Handbook edited by Director of Governance Daphne Reed and student Jennifer Gunn, due to its "informality and casualness".[Climax: September 24, 1974]
Oct 8
Student Kenneth Garfield, in a report for Climax, reveals that the Academic Council has failed to meet quorum (usually 50 to 60) in three of their past six meetings, citing numerous problems with the Council as a whole.[Climax: October 8, 1974]
Oct 10
Third-year student Mimi Shanley is Saga Food Service's one millionth customer at the dining commons; she is rewarded with a special free dinner, a booklet of meal tickets, and a three-year old bottle of Chateau Cantemere. [Climax: October 15, 1974]
Oct 24
Michael Collins is convicted in Northampton Superior Court for raping two Hampshire women in 1973; after an unsuccessful plea of criminal insanity, he is sentenced to 9-12 years for rape, narcotics, and assault offenses. [Climax: November 12, 1974]
Nov 6
First-year students Gordon Helman and Candy Beardsley organize a petition to protest the expected tuition increase of $500 for next year. [Climax: November 12, 1974]
Nov 21
After numerous problems with enforcing the pet "phase-out", Community Council bans all pets from campus beginning in September, 1975; this ban will then be informally lifted over the years following. [Community Council Minutes: November 21, 1974]
Nov 23
Students organize a "Town Meeting" to discuss the financial aid reductions and tuition increases that the administration has said are forthcoming. [Climax: December 10, 1974]
Dec 5
In the first attempt by the college to expel a student, the Judicial Board rules that third-year student Harry Bates was denied due process in facing charges of theft, thereby nullifying the decision; the Dakin House Judicial Board is to decide the case.[Climax: December 10, 1974]
Dec 10
Students have formed the "Hampshire Students Collective" to mobilize ideas on the financial aid crisis; by mid-December their number has risen to over 100, and their mandate grows to gain student involvement in the decision-making process at Hampshire.[Climax: December 10 and 17, 1974]
Dec 14
The Board of Trustees adjourns during a meeting when 120 students march to Blair Hall with demands to hold an open meeting with the trustees to discuss Financial Aid; 15 students are allowed to attend for 45 minutes until trustees declare coercion. [Climax: December 17, 1974]
1975
Jan 2
Franklin Patterson, founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, publicly announces his resignation from the Board; he states that he had planned to resign before the controversial December meeting, in order to take care of "other responsibilities".[Climax: January 14, 1975]
Jan 5
First-year students Jacquey Barber and Sarah Helyar begin an experiment in which they affix patches over their eyes to become blind for three and two weeks respectively; Climax prints excerpts from Barber's journal written during the amazing ordeal. [Climax: January 21, 1975]
Jan 10
Due to a lack of communication over the winter break, students receive phone bills which warn that they have seven days to pay or their phones will be disconnected. [Climax: January 21, 1975]
Jan 14
A random cycles survey of students finds that 22% are unhappy with their experience ~ at Hampshire, compared to 15% for the previous year; nearly a third feel that their "House experience is lacking".[Climax: January 14, 1975]
Jan 15
New Chairman of the Board of Trustees John Kendall holds an open meeting in the library for three hours to talk with students; with only one public announcement posted for the meeting, most of the 20-30 students who do attend find him evasive. [Climax: January 21, 1975]r
Jan 21
Harry Bates has been placed on one year's suspension, for his alleged involvment in numerous thefts, after a hearing by the Dakin House Judicial Board. [Climax: January 21, 1975]
Jan 28
Hampshire holds its first January Commencement; 35 graduates are awarded degrees in the ceremony held at the dining commons. [Climax: February 11, 1975]
Feb 9
A vandal described as "heavy-set and mean looking" romps through floors in each Merrill building using his bare hands to pulverize virtually anything breakable that he can find; he is later apprehended, but authorities only state he is not a student. [Climax: February 11, 1975]
Feb 12
Trustees Charles Merrill, Mabel Smythe, Elting Morrison, Thomas Mendenhall, and President Longsworth meet with students in two informal gatherings and at a Student Collective forum to discuss unresolved issues in governance and finance. [Climax: February 18, 1975]
Feb 12
The three Hampshire members of the Five-College Student Coordinating Board resign from their posts, citing dissatisfaction with Student Coordinating Board in elections and funding; other board members call the resignations "melodramatic". [Climax: February 25, 1975]
Feb 22
Students Byron Coley and Mark Jay fall from the third floor fire escape of the Prescott Tavern during drunken "horseplay", both landing on the concrete below and sustaining multiple injuries.[Climax: February 25, 1975]
Feb 25
Members of the Student Collective, working with a handful of Trustees, produce a proposal for a campus-wide work program in which everyone would work, without pay, a set number of hours each week, so that money saved could be used toward financial aid.[Climax: February 25, 1975]
Feb 26
Andrew Rucks, a third-year student, is administratively withdrawn from the school due to failure to pay past fees; Rucks, a Third World student, claims that racism and discrimination are involved, while administrators say the cause is only economical. [Climax: March 4, 1975]
Feb 27
Debate continues between the Five-College Student Coordinating Board and Hampshire representatives as Community Council and the resigned members begin an investigation into the board's alleged misuse of funds, freezing funding until further notice.[Climax: March 4, 1975]
Mar 1
A ban on all types of smoking at "certain indoor group meetings" on campus goes into effect, after being approved by Community Council; the new rule allows for smoking at meetings when all present are smokers, and recommends "smoke breaks" when not. [Community Council Minutes: February 14, 1975]
Mar 4
Allen Torrey, Amherst's Town Manager for the past 21 years, has accepted appointment as Treasurer of the college. [Climax: March 4, 1975]
Mar 4
Student Scott Blau has opened and operates "Bookie Blau's Exchange" out of a Merrill dorm room, offering a variety of books, including class texts, for exchange or low cost; the Uroboros bookstore in the library had recently prohibited browsing. [Climax: March 4, 1975]
Mar 6
Over 100 students stage a demonstration to protest what they feel are racist policies responsible for the withdrawal of Andrew Rucks; after lengthy negotiations, administrators and members of the Third World and Student Collectives reach a compromise. [Climax: March 11, 1975]
Mar 6
Hours after an agreement is announced in the Andrew Rucks case, Rucks is confronted by three female Third World students in the RCC who allegedly taunt him verbally and physically until he forcefully has to separate himself from them in order to leave.[Climax: March 11, 1975]
Mar 7
Andrew Rucks is arraigned on assault and battery charges filed by student Julie Walker, one of the three women involved in the previous night's altercation; Rucks is informed later that day that he is again barred from campus. [Climax: March 11, 1975]
Mar 10
Andrew Rucks is reinstated as a student after further negotiations between members of the Third World and Student Collectives and the administration; the collectives claim their efforts resulted in Rucks's readmission, which the administration denies. [Climax: March 18, 1975]
Mar 15
The Board of Trustees approves a $7.5 million budget for the 1975-76 academic year, despite being presented with a petition signed by over 800 students asking them to delay the final decision for a month to allow for more student involvement. [Climax: March 18, 1975]
Mar 18
Second-year student Melanie Shorin is producing a new television interview program for Intran called "Hampshire Issues"; along with student Biff Price, she has produced the regularly scheduled college news program on Intran for the past two semesters. [Climax: March 18, 1975]
Apr 8
Hampshire students Jane Fleishman, Fred Landes, Terence Tierney, and Bill Price, all members of the PCP (Progressive Candidates Pool), are defeated in an election for membership to the Amherst Town Meeting. [Climax: April 15, 1975]
Apr 9
Northampton District Court orders the case against Andrew Rucks, charged with assault and battery, "continued without finding on Not Guilty plea." [Climax: April 15, 1975]
Apr 15
The Hampshire Student Collective prints a paid eight-page supplement to Climax, detailing the history, activities, and plans of the group. [Climax: April 15, 1975]
May 2
First-year student Wesley Takahashi falls from the roof of Dakin D while fencing with another student; after landing on the grass below, he is transported to a local hospital and diagnosed with a spinal fracture.[Climax: May 6, 1975]
May 6
23 parents of students have submitted a petition to President Longsworth urging the administration to force faculty to complete student evaluations more "promptly and completely".[Climax: May 6, 1975]
May 8
Community Council approves the second set of guidelines for community living, the Bill of Rights.[Community Council Minutes: May 8, 1975]
May 9
Students associated with the Hampshire Chapter of the National Committee to Re- Open the Rosenberg Case stage a demonstration in front of Northampton District Court to protest the withholding of files on the 1950's conspiracy case. [Climax: May 13, 1975]
May 10
Director of Financial Aid John Taylor organizes an auction of donated goods to support financial aid; Amherst Chief of Police Donald Maia is the caller for the auction held in the library quad, which raises almost $1,000.[Climax: May 13, 1975]
Sep 1
Mark Stephenson (F71) is the first Hampshire graduate to return as a professor, taking over John Reid's duties in Geology while Reid goes on sabbatical. [Climax: October 9, 1975]
Sep 15
The trial of the "Tennessee Two", students Terry Tierney and Bob Russell, facing charges of possession of marijuana with intent to sell, takes place in Louden County, Tennessee; the drug charges are dropped when Russell pleads guilty to reckless driving.[Climax: September 25, 1975]
Sep 22
First-year student Cindy Moriarty suffers a heart attack while swimming in the RCC pool; student lifeguards Kathryn Wetzel and Judy Hoffman rescue her, then student Ellen Sawislak and RCC staff administer CPR, saving Moriarty's life. [Climax: October 1, 1975]
Sep 25
Students have reported over $5,000 in possessions that were stolen from storage areas over the summer.[Climax: September 25, 1975]
Sep 27
A record 23% of the student population votes in elections for representatives to the Academic Council and College Council.[Climax: October 1, 1975]
Oct 1
Fourth-year student Roger Mellen has organized the installation of a microwave transmitter atop the library [that is, he took advantage of the installation] to begin broadcasting a weekly television news show to the surrounding Amherst area via cable.[Climax: October 1, 1975]
Oct 9
After the protests by Hampshire students, the Five-College Student Coordinating Board has voted to allow member schools to elect their own representatives to the board instead of being selected by the board itself; this was Hampshire's main demand.[Climax: October 9, 1975]
Oct 11
Professors Lestor Mazor and Stan Warner, along with a number of students, open a used bookstore in the basement of a Victorian house in Amherst called "Underground- A Collective Bookshop".[Climax: October 15, 1975]
Oct 14
Carpentry teacher Ken MacGregor is confronted by a group of women from the Whole Woman's Center who charge him with sexually assaulting a first-year student while out on a date the Saturday before; MacGregor denies any misbehavior. [Climax: October 30, 1975]
Oct 15
The Admissions Office reports that new student applicants are "not as idealistic or independent" as previous applicants, and are less concerned with "the experimental and independent study aspect", yet applications are up, with women outnumbering men three to two. [Climax: October 15, 1975]
Oct 17
Students and staff are confused when Fall Colloquy opens with surprisingly few students in attendance; the theme of this year's colloquy, Revolutionary Consciousness, brings a number of planned events which are lessened by a mass migration from campus.[Climax: October 30, 1975]
Nov 6
The Academic Council has been abolished for the creation of the College Senate, which has a smaller membership but the same purpose and jurisdiction. [Climax: November 6, 1975]
Nov 6
Students Anne Ellsworth, Tom Paterson, Shelly Buber, Kitze McCormick, and Rosie Branson have formed the Tomboy Club, a group dedicated to being absolutely apolitical and against "anyone wearing ideological blinders". [Climax: November 6, 1975]
Nov 13
Hampshire students have joined United Electrical workers on their picket lines in Holyoke to support the strike against Worthington Compressor, whose employees walked out on September 5, demanding higher wages. [Climax: November 13, 1975]
Nov 21
The Amherst Community Television News, which had been produced by Hampshire students for two months, airs its last show due to lack of student support. [Climax: November 20, 1975]
1976
Feb 13
A clandestine poll of women on campus asked to name the sexiest males on campus yields the following results: 1. President Charles Longsworth; 2. Director of Physical Plant Howard Paul; 3. Communications professor David Kerr. [Climax: February 13, 1976]
Feb 20
Fourth-year student Steve Rodoletz runs into conflicts as he makes efforts to begin a new coffee shop in the FPH lounge, which members of the faculty have been claiming as their lounge.[Climax: February 20, 1976]
Feb 20
Second-year student Michele Karotkin is the oldest student to enroll and live on campus; she is 34.[Climax: February 20, 1976]
Mar 6
Several students in the Merrill-Dakin quad report an incredibly bright, bluish-green elongated light that floats across the sky for ten seconds; throughout the night people from local towns also report the UFO, but no explanation is found. [Climax: March 12, 1976]
Apr 8
Students and staff including Robert Marquez, Vishnu Wood, Arthur Powell, Roberta Uno, and Celia Alvarez organize the first Third World Cultural Festival, held over four days and featuring entertainment, lectures, and workshops. [Community Council Misc.: 75F-Z32A]
Apr 9
Inspired by five dissatisfied Saga workers, a group of about 15 students have begun to take measures to form a legal union of student workers under the National Labor Relations Board.[Climax: April 9, 1976]
Apr 9
After being informed by Charles Longsworth that he will not be recommended for reappointment the next year, linguistics professor Bob Rardin announces his resignation in an emotional recording delivered to the editors of Climax. [Climax: April 9, 1976]
Apr 15
In a meeting of the Community Council Executive Committee, student member Douglas Peebles accuses Daphne Reed, the Coordinator of Governance and Council Secretary, of having loyalties to the administration which are subversive to student involvement.[Community Council Minutes: April 15, 1976]
Apr 16
Climax publishes a special Women's Week issue during the largest Women's Week held at Hampshire since its inception.[Climax: April 16, 1976]
Apr 16
Coordinator of Governance Daphne Reed threatens to resign as Secretary to Community Council if direct action is not taken to repremand Douglas Peebles for his actions at the Executive Committee meeting on April 15. [Community Council Misc.: 76S-Z18]
Apr 22
Finalists in the student trustee primary, Dave Gaynor, Geoff Foisie, and Mark Wittow announce their candidacy as a collective; Community Council votes unanimously to support their decision, which goes to student referendum on May 3. [Climax: April 29, 1976]
Apr 22
In an unprecedented motion, Community Council approves the censure of member Douglas Peebles, denying him the rights otherwise given to a Council member, for the rest of the semester, due to his actions in the April 15 Executive Committee meeting. [Community Council Minutes: April 22, 1976]
Apr 25
The National Ultimate Frisbee Championships begin in Amherst with colleges from all over the country represented; Hampshire takes second place to Rutgers, who wins in the finals. [Climax: April 29, 1976]
May 3
The first student video and film festival is broadcast on Intran over a week-long schedule.[Climax: April 29, 1976]
May 3
Students Byron Coley, Robert Carey, and Steven Mikulka are apprehended and placed in protective custody by Amherst Police who are called in after numerous attempts by house staff to quell a loud party in Merrill A-2. [Climax: May 21, 1976]
May 14
Climax publishes a special issue on the Third World, entitled "Diaspora". [Climax: May 14, 1976]
Aug 22
Student Sig Roos and film librarian Ruth Rae are arrested in an act of civil disobedience by occupying the site of the Seabrook nuclear plant with 177 other demonstrators; they are sentenced to 30 days in prison and a fine, which they appeal. [Climax: November 4, 1976]
Sep 10
Students Steve Lewis and Mark Wittow announce the first issue of The Undergraduate Journal of the Social Sciences and Arts, which will feature student work, is being published in October.[Community Council Misc.: 76F-ZO3]
Sep 25
Byron Coley begins a fight in the Merrill quad with student Ed Casey; Security responds but is unable to control Coley, who pushes away the guards and tries to hide in Merrill C; he and Casey are apprehended by Amherst Police within thirty minutes. [Climax: October 7, 1976]
Sep 26
Byron Coley is administratively withdrawn and put on medical leave status in a meeting with house staff concerning his previous actions; he is told he cannot return to Hampshire until he seeks counseling.[Climax: October 7, 1976]
Sep 29
Student Scott Haas is publishing the controversial but popular magazine, Subtle Good Humor.[Community Council Misc.: 76F-Z25]
Sep 30
A group of students called The Friends of Michael Cannon Committee has formed to support second-year student Cannon, who was declared ineligible for financial aid when he submitted his application too late; the group argues on extenuating circumstances.[Climax: September 30, 1976]
Sep 30
Charles Longsworth has announced his decision to resign as President effective June 30, 1977, in order to take over the Presidency of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.[Climax: September 30, 1976]
Oct 7
In response to the deepening crisis in Southern Africa, Hampshire students form a Five-College group called the Committee for the Liberation of Southern Africa, which has begun to conduct meetings and seminars. [Climax: October 7, 1976]
Oct 13
Treasurer Allen Torrey announces that the annual Halloween Party, which last year received national media attention, has been cancelled "because it is a menace to public safety"; when students organize a petition, he calls their actions "juvenile". [Climax: October 21, 1976]
Oct 14
Student reporter Peeper Koechl returns to former professor Bob Rardin's home for the second part of an interview, but he refuses to talk to her; she decides to abandon the idea for an article because he "is going through a bad time emotionally". [Climax: October 21, 1976]
Oct 15
Five students living in Prescott House are caught by a security guard who is tipped off to a toilet paper heist taking place in Dakin House; they are cornered and apprehended in a bathroom with 30 rolls of toilet paper in their possession. [Climax: October 21, 1976]
Oct 19
Students Suzanne Fogel and Paul Bockelman are elected to be members on the Presidential Search Committee.[Climax: November 4, 1976]
Oct 29
Third-year student Bill Bambrick, a resident of mod 44, dies of cancer at the age of 20, one day after leaving campus to return to his house in Natick. [Climax: November 4, 1976]
Oct 30
After a compromise is reached in negotiations between C.O.C.A. and Allen Torrey, the Halloween Party is held in the dining commons; the size of the crowd is limited by selling the tickets, $1 for Hampshire students, $2 for guests. [Climax: November 4, 1976]
Dec 2
The Presidential search process is discussed in the first all-community meeting
called by the College Council in two years; about 200 people attend. [Climax: December 9, 1976]
Dec 16
Protests ensue when Joel Meister, Prescott House Master and sociology professor, is denied reappointment for unclear reasons.[Climax: December 16, 1976]
1977
Jan 5
The new Atticus bookstore opens in the place of Uroboros on the first floor of the library center; operated by a national company, the store has security guards on staff and offers charge accounts. [Climax: February 10, 1977]
Feb 3
Candidates for Hampshire's new President are being brought to campus under restricted and cautious conditions; a few students are allowed to ask certain questions, but members of the Presidential Search Committee are "worried about leaks". [Climax: February 3, 1977]
Feb 3
Student and Chairperson of C.O.C.D. David Rath has entered negotiations with Allen Torrey to open a coffee house in the basement of the Red Barn. [Climax: February 3, 1977]
Feb 15
Members of the Committee for the Liberation of Southern Africa present Allen Torrey with demands that the college oppose and divest its investments in corporations that operate in South Africa. [Climax: February 24, 1977]
Feb 24
Statistics show that the attrition rate for students has risen to 40%, twice the national average for undergraduate schools. [Climax: February 24, 1977]
Mar 10
New England Telephone has reported that $3,257 in illicit long-distance phone calls were made by students from October to January due to a problem with the "toll restriction system," which students publicized among themselves until N.E.T. discovered the problem. [Climax: March 10, 1977]
Mar 10
Climax prints its annual Women's Issue during Women's Week, held March 6-12, and featuring a reading by feminist poet Marge Piercy. [Climax: March 10, 1977]
Apr 1 Hampshire has announced the appointment of its third President, Adele Simmons, currently Dean of Student Affairs at Princeton University. [Climax: April 1, 1977]
Apr 14
Charles Longsworth has vetoed the idea of having an open microphone available at commencement so that each graduate may speak for one minute; he claims that an open mike format, which was only used in 1975, would make the ceremony too long and boring. [Climax: April 14, 1977]
Apr 21
In a special edition of Climax devoted to Southern Africa, it is reported that the Trustees have delayed making a final decision on divestiture from South Africa until the June board meeting. [Climax:April 21, 1977]
Apr 26
The Committee for the Liberation of Southern Africa holds an all-community meeting to address the opposition of the Trustees and administration to divesting college stocks from South African-related companies. [Climax, Special Issue on Southern Africa: 4/21/77]
May 4
The Committee for the Liberation of Southern Africa occupies the administrative offices of Cole Science Center after months of extensive attempts to make the Trustees divest the College's stocks in corporations that have South African holdings. [Statement by the H.C.C.L.S.A., May 4, 1977]
May 7
At the height of the occupation, Charles Longsworth announces that the Chairman of the Trustees has ordered the College Treasurer to sell the stocks of companies operating in South Africa; Hampshire thus becomes the first U.S. college to start divesting. [Statement by Charles Longsworth: May 7, 1977]
Sep 15
Daphne Reed, the Coordinator of Governance, is leaving office after one of Charles Longsworth's last offical acts eliminates her position; thereafter, Hampshire governance faces an unprecendented era of apathy and disorganization over the next few years. [Climax: September 15, 1977]
Sep 21
The new Hampshire Women's Center holds their first meeting in their new office, Ezbicki House, across the driveway from the Admissions Office. [Climax: September 29, 1977]
Sep 24
Hampshire students join colleges from all over the country at Kent State University in Ohio to protest the proposed building of a gymnasium on the site where 4 students were shot to death by National Guardsmen in 1970. [Climax: September 29, 1977]
Sep 24
A makeshift wooden cross is set on fire outside Merrill House during a Third World student party; the perpetrator is unknown. [Climax: October 6, 1977]
Sep 29
In a meeting of over 400 people at the dining commons, President Simmons announces the formation of an investigative committee to study the cross-burning incident and "other incidents of racism" on campus; professor Frank Holmquist will chair the group. [Climax: October 6, 1977]
Oct 6
Student Stephen Cohen announces the creation of the Smokers Liberation Movement to support the rights of smokers on campus and in society. [Climax: October 6, 1977]
Oct 6
The Hampshire College Deviant Behavior Bowling League is active and meeting every Monday night, when its eight teams go bowling. [Climax: October 6, 1977]
Oct 8
The Board of Trustees approve Adele Simmons's Proposed Interim Investment Guidelines, which concentrate on corporations that cause "social injury", and form the Committee on Investment Responsibility to establish criteria for ethical investments. [Climax: October 20, 1977]
Oct 13
Climax publishes a special issue entitled, "Surviving Hampshire", devoted to explaining "how to survive the Hampshire experience". [Climax: October 13, 1977]
Nov 3
The Committee on Racism has been meeting four or five times a week for a month; they announce plans for a report on grievances encountered by members of the Third World community and an all-community meeting in addition to their main investigation. [Climax: November 3, 1977]
Nov 10
The editorial staff of Climax, students Steve Nesich, Peeper Koechl, and John Parnass, announce that they will publish one last issue of the newspaper before resigning on November 17, due to a variety of historical and personal reasons. [Climax: November 10, 1977]
Nov 10
Students Joanne Levine and S. A. publish an article called 'The Physical Plant Tapes," detailing the shocking mistreatment of physical plant workers by students through interviews and personal accounts. [Climax: November 10, 1977]
Nov 17
Controversy rages over the $8,000 cost for Adele Simmons's Presidential Inauguration, nicknamed "The Coronation" by certain members of the community; it will be the largest event at Hampshire since the opening convocation. [Climax: November 17, 1977]
Nov 17
The Committee on Racism announces findings from its discussions on grievances with members of the Third World community and reports numerous problems with racism at Hampshire, making recommendations for needed work. [Climax: November 17, 1977]