A History of Student Activities, 1969-1973
Compiled by Tim Shary
1969
Apr 18
Lois Bailey of Syracuse, New York, is the first student accepted to Hampshire College, and Jonathan Wright of Guilford, Connecticut, is second; they both applied early decision. [Memo to Liz Wheeler from Van Halsey: 4/28/69]
1970
Sep 12
The first entering class begins arriving, moving into Merrill House, which is divided into cottages A, B, and C. [Course Catalog, Fall 1970]
Sep 22
The first Hampshire College classes begin. [Course Catalog, Fall 1970]
Sep 29
The student body shows up at a meeting to determine how to select their representatives to Community Council; a majority choose the random computer selection method presented by students Hall Powell and Michael Germain. [Community Council Misc.: 7OF-ZO2]
Oct 3
The opening convocation is held: speakers Archibald MacLeish, Henry Steele Commager, and Silvio Conte are awarded the first (honorary) degrees, with Lois Bailey speaking on behalf of the students and James Watkins delivering the faculty address. [Convocation Publication, Fall 1970]
Oct 4
The first annual Kite Flight is held, as students, faculty, and staff gather to fly kites over the open fields that will later contain more campus buildings. [Convocation Publication, Fall 1970]
Dec 1
The first community publication is printed, sans title, arising "from a concern with the directions in which Hampshire College is moving or not moving." Founders are students Hall Powell, Nicholas Callaway, Nicholas Bedworth, and Bill Vance. [First community publication (untitled): Dec. 1970]
Dec 1
Students struggle to find things to do on weekends as extra-curricular offerings are notoriously few: the library is only open during limited hours, and the pottery studio and farm are the only two on-campus activity centers open to students.
1971
Jan 10
The Curriculum Policy Committee approves guidelines for fall registration: pre-registration for classes takes place in April, with 8 spaces (out of 16) in each Division I class reserved for new students; policy for Div. II classes is not yetcomplete.[The Paper People, Vol. 1, #6: March 15, 1971]
Feb 10
About 25% of the students show up at a meeting addressing the ratification of the Hampshire Constitution; primary response is that most important issues remain controlled by the Trustees, despite the governance structure proposed in the Constitution. [The Paper People (as yet untitled): Feb. 12, 1971]
Feb 14
The first Women's Week is held from February 14-20, organized into a symposium by students Ellen Fitzpatrick, Jan Arnesen, Jackie Fralley, and Gayle Hollander; it features lectures, workshops, and entertainment, inviting students from other colleges. [The Paper People (as yet untitled): Feb. 12, 1971]
Feb 15
98 students out of 127 vote to ratify the Constitution with amendments: a two-thirds vote by the faculty is required to overrule actions of the Academic and Community Councils, and administrative staff membership on these Councils is increased. [The Paper People (as yet untitled): Feb. 22, 1971]
Feb 15
The School of Social Science votes to allow Bob Rardin, an assistant professor of linquistics, to teach a fall term course on the war in Indochina; controversies arise over his competence to teach such a course and its use toward Division I exams. [The Paper People, Vol. 1, #4: March 1, 1971]
Feb 24
The "All That Shit" Committee holds a meeting for "people in the community interested in telling about what's going on, or hearing about it, particularly in doing something about it." [The Paper People (as yet untitled): Feb. 22, 1971]
Feb 25
All the artwork from the library art gallery is stolen overnight, apparently without motive.[The Paper People, Vol. 1, #4: March 1, 1971]
Mar 8
Students are offered on-campus jobs for the summer. [The Paper People, Vol. 1, #5: March 8, 1971]
Mar 11
Franklin Patterson sadly announces that tuition will increase $500 (to $4,300) for the 1971-72 school year and financial aid will be reduced; Harold F. Johnson's donation to offset the school's early deficit has been spent on constructing Dakin House. [The Paper People, Vol. 1, #6: March 15, 1971]
Mar.13
Hampshire holds its first spring dance in the Gym (dining commons); "bands that will play" include the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Lovin Spoonful, the Four Seasons, Sly and the Family Stone, and the Supremes. Admission is 25 cents at the door. [The Paper People, Vol. 1, #5: March 8, 1971]
Apr 13
Student Judy Stein encourages other students to write disclaimers on their self-evaluations protesting certain academic requirements, including the two common courses in Human Development and Language Communication and the three course minimum [The Paper People, Vol. 1, #7: April 13, 1971]
Apr 13
The Hampshire Gay Liberation group is holding regular meetings and planning to set up the Hampshire Gay Lib Reading Center; a Gay Lib dance is held April 16 in the Academic Building (Franklin Patterson Hall) lounge. [The Paper People, Vol. 1, 47: April 13, 1971]
Apr 13
Lacking any student residential staff, Merrill House advertises for a "key person" to handle weekend requests for keys, phone calls, and information at the House Office during the day.[The Paper People, Vol. 1, #7: April 13, 1971]
Apr 21
Earth Week is held, featuring films, lectures, and entertainment focusing on nuclear energy, pollution, and the environment; student Chris Roof is the key organizer. [The Paper People, Vol. 1, #8: April 18, 1971]
Nov 1
Lois Bailey, the first student accepted to Hampshire, has transferred to Williams College; in their student newspaper, the Advocate, she flippantly criticizes Hampshire for suffering from "isolationism, academic anxiety, and hyperseriousness." [Climax: November 18, 1971]
Nov 9
Mrs. Phillip Ives begins the long-standing border dispute over access to Howard Atkins' apple stand when she notifies Ken Rosenthal, College Treasurer, that she does not want students "trespassing" on her property between the campus and Atkins' land.[Memo to Charles Atkinson: November 9, 1971]
Nov 18
Climax, the first full-size student newspaper of Hampshire, debuts. Its staff includes second-year students Richard Asinof, Betsy Dietel, Tom Kizzia, and Kim Shelton, and first-year students Richard Barber, Doug Fleisher, and Phil Robertson. [Climax: November 18, 1971]
Nov 30
A large red sculpture that had been installed on the library lawn disappears; a group calling itself the "Hole In The Wall" gang posts notices all over campus claiming that half of the sculpture will be found in the President's office. [Climax: December 2, 1971]
Dec 1
Part of the red sculpture that had been stolen from the library lawn is found in the science building; a second part is found later on campus by maintenance foreman Andy Weneczek; the missing third piece is a mystery -- the sculpture was only two pieces. [Climax: December 14, 1971]
Dec 2
Bob McNitt, a second-year student, has been forced to close a co-op store he started out of his room, Dakin D-212, because not enough people have paid the $2.00 dues; he had been selling a variety of foods and sundries for only 5% over wholesale price. [Climax: December 2, 1971]
Dec 2:
Second-year student Morgan Wesson is hosting a regularly scheduled news program on Intran. [Climax: December 2, 1971]
Dec 6
The pool table and pinball machines that had been in the basement of Dakin K are removed due to vandalism; first-year student David Short designs a plan for converting Merrill AB-3 into a recreation room, complete with games and new walls. [Climax: 12/14/71; Comm. Council Proposal: 11/17/71]
Dec 9
The Hampshire Chorus and the Hampshire Brass Choir have made their performance debuts, under the direction of Valerie Pilcher, a music professor, and Daniel Asia, a first-year student, respectively. [Climax: December 9, 1971]
Dec 9
The Way Biblical Fellowship holds meetings to study the Bible in a nondenominational context, lead by Brownie Gillespie, a first-year student and
follower of The Way ministry; student member Paul Schalow states, "Christ Jesus is dwelling at Hampshire." [Climax: December 9, 1971]
Dec 9
The Coffee House, held in a basement room of Dakin and organized this year by transfer student Laura Colan, is unable to maintain its consistent weekend evening programs due to lack of student staff volunteers. [Climax: December 9, 1971]
Dec 9
Dean of the College Richard Lyon calls a metting to discuss how the idea of a "concentration" for Division II should be constructed. [Climax: December 9, 1971]
Dec 11
Chas Belknap, a first-year fellow, becomes the first Hampshire student to marry a Smith student, Joan Howarth; assistant professor of anthropology Philip McKean performs the ceremony at the Second Congregational Church in South Amherst. [Climax: December 14, 1971]
Dec 14
Second-year student Tom Griggs reports that he and his group of recycling enthusiasts are collecting an average of 1,200 pounds of paper from campus each week, earning six dollars per ton at a local salvage yard. [Climax: December 14, 1971]
1972
Jan 18
Bob Rardin, a linguistics professor, holds the first of two school-wide meetings to discuss his controversial paper, "Liberal Corporation or Radical Collective: Two Models of a College," launching a wave of self-reflection for the community. [Climax: February 3, 1972]
Jan 24
Lynn Miller proposes a work-study program allowing students to fill full-time paid positions while enrolled, and to allow full-time staff to matriculate as students. [Memo to Community Council: January 24, 1972]
Jan 24
A campus-wide petition to show upport for Lester Mazor's reappointment as the Luce professor of law garners over 350 signatures; petitioners claim that there was not enough community input in his reappointment process. [Climax: February 3, 1972]
Jan 31
Larry Domash, assistant professor of physics, writes a letter to the students in his "Science and Eastern Thought" class, explaining that he will not return to Hampshire in the spring because he wants to stay in Spain meditating with the Maharishi Yogi.
[Climax: February 3, 1972]
Feb 3
Students Cynthia Cattell, Peter McFarren, and Martha Steele organize a week-long symposium on Latin America to be held April 8-15, to dispel "misconceptions about forces working for change in LatinAmerica." [Climax: February 3, 1972]
Feb 3
Statistics released show that of the 259 students who entered Hampshire in the 1970-71 school year, only 16 withdrew after the first year. [Climax: February 3, 1972]
Feb 3
$3,000 worth of audio-visual equipment, which students had "borrowed" from the library since September, is now missing and unaccounted for. [Climax: February 3, 1972]
Feb 11
The News and The Aboriginal Amateur Hour, two regularly scheduled television programs on Intran, have been joined by a third "show", in which the activities of a dog are shown continuously for 24 hours; the telecast is repeated for several weeks.
[Climax: February 11, 1972]
Feb 14
The Western Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (WMPIRG) begins a petition campaign to establish a base at Hampshire. [Climax: February 11, 1972]
Feb 16
Second-year students Jarvis McCarther and Vanessa Barabino present the Constitution of the Hampshire College Third World Organization to Community Council. [Community Council Misc.: 72S-ZQ9]
Feb 25
The Third World student body writes an open letter to the Hampshire community detailing problems in the academic program, Third World representation, and Financial Aid. [Climax: February 25, 1972]
Feb 25
The Hampshire College hockey team visits Windham College; first-year student Carlos Garcia ties the game 3-3.with a dramatic goal in the last seconds of the game. Windham is bewildered, Hampshire goes home happy. [Climax: February 25, 1972]
Feb 29
Students Louis Braun and Michael Ubell are asked by other students to leave the Sadie Hawkins Day Dance in the dining commons when they show up with a video camera and lights, shooting footage for the Hampshire television news program to air that night. [Climax: March 3, 1972]
Mar 2
Student salaries are raised 15 cents to $1.75 per hour, the minimum wage for Massachusetts; the Compensation Committee, who approved the increase, also implements an incentive program allowing for 10-cent raises to diligent students every three months. [Climax: March 16, 1972]
Mar 9
The Hampshire Gay Friends group starts meeting with the Student Homophile League of UMass. [Climax: February 25, 1972]
Mar 10
The School of Humanities and Communication adopts a new Division I exam policy, which requires a student's proposal for a project to be approved by his or her advisor, a screening committee, and an exam committee before the exam can even be started. [Climax: March 10, 1972]
Mar 10
Eight white students demand a public response from the administration to the letter written by the Third World student body on February 24. [Climax: March 10, 1972]
Mar 22
A proposal is presented by first-year fellow Tim Higgins, describing plans to redesign the dining commons by building a wall to separate the dish room from the front room and installing sound-absorbing tiles and movable ceiling curtains. [Climax: March 16, 1972]
Apr 3
Charles Longsworth tries a month-long "experiment" in which he invites students to his house for an evening seminar on writing, assigning and evaluating "short but demanding" papers. [Climax: March 16, 1972]
Apr 7
The first Hampshire College magazine that was proposed in Februrary by first-year student Barbara Cottman has finally been produced; the staff of the 64-page premiere includes students Francis Goldwyn, Steve Steisel, Karen Braucher, and Art Samuelson. [Climax: April 7, 1972]
Apr 20
All college business is suspended for two days as the Hampshire community joins over 250 other colleges in a strike to oppose U.S. military involvement in Indochina; meetings focus on the role of the college in a world of war and social injustice. [Climax: April 20, 1972]
Apr 20
In the midst of the strike, members of the Third World Organization release a statement to address the oppression of Third World peoples all over the world, not just in Vietnam, and detail the lack of Third World support at Hampshire. [Climax: April 20, 1972]
Apr 21
In a large demonstration of civil disobedience, a number of students join a contingent that halts ongoing traffic at the main gate of Westover Air Force base in Chicopee;100 protestors are arrested. [Climax: April 21, 1972]
Apr 23
William Farnsworth, father of second-year student Cricket Farnsworth, leads an unrehearsed community meeting in the AB lounge, as the plans for Parents' Day are scrapped to allow for seminars on problems confronting the Hampshire community and the war.[Climax: April 24, 1972]
Apr 24
The Third World Organization issues a list of imperatives to be met by the college, including priority for Third World faculty and staff candidates, and the institution of programs in Asian, American Indian, and Hispanic studies. [Climax: April 24, 1972]
Apr 28
The master keys for both Merrill and Dakin are discovered to have been missing for nearly two weeks when a rash of thefts from locked rooms raises suspicions; the keys had been available to students all year in the house offices for "night use". [Climax: April 28, 1972]
May 1
Members of the Third World Organization occupy the Natural Science and Mathematics Building in response to the imperatives they submitted to the administration the week before; it is the first student takeover since Hampshire opened. [Memo from Charles Longsworth: May 1,
1972]
May 2
Members of the Third World Organization, still occupying the N.S. & M. building, reach preliminary agreement with President Longsworth on some of the students' proposals; the 38-hour occupation ends at sundown. [Climax: May 4, 1972]
May 4
A sulfur bomb is tossed by an unknown perpetrator into the basement of Merrill B, going off immediately outside second-year student Mark Morrison's door; a resulting panic sends Merrill residents out of the building, believing there is a fire. [Climax: May 4, 1972]
May 4
Statistics show that of the 251 students who entered in Fall 1970, 140 will have taken at least one semester's leave of absence by next fall; the attrition rate, however, is still less than the national average of 10%, as only 24 students have withdrawn.[Climax: May 4, 1972]
May 4
Nearly 200 students have sent letters of petition to President Longsworth supporting the appointment of Vera Rony, a Third World administrator from SUNY Stony Brook with years of impressive experience, to the Dean of the School of Social Science. [Climax: May 4, 1972]
May 10
Anais Nin, famous French writer of erotica, is granted a $200 contingency by Community Council to speak at graduation. [Community Council Minutes: May 10, 1972]
May 16
Victor Lloyd, administrative assistant to the President, and David Roberts, director of the Outdoors Program, host the first Hampshire trivia contest on Intran, featuring a contest between Merrill and the East Module vs. Dakin and the West Module. [Climax: May 4, 1972]
Sep 7
Charles Longsworth at convocation: "Many students experience anxiety... and despair at first. We try to help them work through that period onto a plateau of joy that comes from the recognition that a student can cope with the independence of Hampshire." [Climax: September 12, 1972]
Sep 12
83 students are forced to live at Hamlin House at UMass when House IV (Enfield House) is not completed in time for the new school year, some scheduled to stay at UMass until November 3.[Climax: September 12, 1972]
Sep 15
An Amherst police officer shows up on campus for the first time to deal with a noise complaint from area neighbors, who called in at 2 a.m. with reports of a chaotic party; after negotiations, the band is allowed to play one last song. [Climax: September 19, 1972]
Sep 19
First-year transfer student Robert Seligman has formed the first chamber orchestra at Hampshire; the 32-member group concentrates exclusively on contemporary and baroque music.[Climax: September 19, 1972]
Sep 19
The first food co-op organizes out of House III (Greenwich), with its name yet to be determined.[Climax: September 19, 1972]
Sep 19
Third-year student Richard Asinof's article on the 1972 Democratic Convention in Miami, which he attended with press credentials from "Climax", is printed, later to be "butchered" for publication in the October issue of "Seventeen" magazine. [Climax: September 19, 1972]
Sep 26
The town of Amherst continues a debate with Hampshire over the broadcasting of Intran on cable channel 8; Amherst selectmen contend that 8 is their town and public schools' channel, Hampshire says that 8 is "open to all". [Climax: September 26, 1972]
Oct 10
23 residents from House IV (Enfield), not provided with rooms during the first few weeks of the school year, are told they will have their room charges for that period refunded; student David Weisberg had planned to sue the school for his SS Division I. [Climax: October 10, 1972]
Oct 10
A subcommittee of Fellows releases a final proposal for Division III studies to be approved by the Academic Council; it provides for a student's Div. III contract to be available to members of the community for ten days, for recommendations and review. [Climax: October 10, 1972]
Oct 10
A lonely stranger wanders around the houses for weeks, going into various women's rooms while they are sleeping and, very politely, asking them if he can spend the night; four women eventually report him, and he disappears, uncaught and unknown. [Climax: October 10, 1972]
Oct 10
Only 10% of first-year students polled feel that Fall Colloquy is a successful orientation to the school; the primary complaints to adjusting to Hampshire focus on bureaucracy and lack of sex, as students feel that people "aren't horny enough." [Climax: October 10, 1972]
Oct 13
Hampshire's soccer teams, the "X's" and the "0's", defeat Amherst Regional High School's varsity and junior varsity soccer teams, in "spirited but sloppy play". [Climax: October 16, 1972]
Oct 16
Charles Longsworth starts holding regular office hours for students each week. [Climax: October 10, 1972]
Oct 16
The "Radical Collective", which tried to form in the wake of Bob Rardin's paper on the liberal corporation of Hampshire, has now become fully defunct, citing numerous reasons for its lack of
progress and collectivity. [Climax: October 16, 1972]
Oct 20
A consciousness-raising support meeting is held for men on campus; its organizers state, "Men in this society are as oppressed as women, although in different ways." [Climax: October 16, 1972]
Oct 22
With two consecutive victories over Goddard and Franconia Colleges in Vermont, the Hampshire soccer team secures an undefeated championship in the New England Cosmically Ordained Soccer Conference, which also includes experimental Marlboro College. [Climax: October 24, 1972]
Oct 23
Students Ken Burns, Larry Cotton, and Chip Insinger propose and begin the first film series at Hampshire, entitled simply The Weekend Film Series. [Community Council Misc.: 72F-Z16 ]
Oct 24
Thousands of students from the Five Colleges, including 125 Hampshire residents register to vote in Amherst under the 26th Amendment which allows citizens over the age of 18 to vote in elections. [Climax: October 24, 1972]
Oct 24
Shari Belafonte is elected to the Academic Council in her first year as a student; she will later make the first proposal for a student-run tavern in House V (Prescott), along with students Ed Kennedy and Nick Kroes. [Climax: 10/24/72; Comm. Council Motion, 11/29/73]
Oct 24
A housing poll of over 60% of the students on campus is released: the majority of returning students prefer mod life to dorm life, indicating that they prefer social units of 8 people or less, while 26% of dorm residents cite problems with "relaxing". [Climax: October 24, 1972]
Oct 24
Men born in 1953 are now eligible for the draft, as new Congressional laws allow the Selective Service to claim students for induction; even if selected during an academic term, draftees are due to report at the end of the semester. [Climax: October 24, 1972]
Oct 27
House III (Greenwich) staff Joel Meister and Bill Grohmann fill a children's swimming pool with 30 gallons of ice cream and up to 75 students consume what is dubbed the "World's Largest Ice Cream Sundae". [Climax: October 31, 1972]
Oct 31
The Jewish Community Project has published the first issue of its monthly magazine, "Siach"; a collective known as the Chavurah, living in mod 34, coordinates its formation. [Climax: October 31, 1972]
Nov 4
First-year students Michael Silard, Bill Noland, and Tamio Spiegel arrive in Washington, D.C. to film a documentary and report on the Presidental election in which George McGovern's defeat by Richard Nixon two days later is dubbed, "Paradise Lost".[Climax: November 14, 1972]
Nov 10
The Dakin Coffeehouse reopens in the basement of cottage G under the direction of first-year student Pat Arthur, providing the setting for musical performances, poetry readings, movies, and parties. [Climax: January 16, 1973]
Nov 14
The food co-op is now called Mixed Nuts. [Climax: November l4, 1972]
Dec 4 The first annual Hampshire College Craft Show opens in the library gallery, organized by students Tom Corey, Jim Madden, Page Morris, and Deidre Wheeler. [Climax: December 12, 1972]
Dec 5
Third-year students Debbie Curtis, Kit Hadly, and Cheryl Schaffer of the Women's Caucus have organized a symposium on women's biography for the spring semester. [Climax: December 5, 1972]
Dec 10
The Trustees vote to hold the student population at 1,250 for the 1973-74 academic year, halting the planned construction of House VI that would have raised the population to 1500; the decision apparently stems from admonitions of Harold F.Johnson. [Climax: December 12, 1972]
Dec 12
UMass' "Project Ten" program of 250 undergrad and graduate students, which was started in 1967 and follows a concept of community and curriculum similar to Hampshire's, formally invites Hampshire students to take their courses. [Climax: December 12, 1972]
Dec 12
Facing the possible threat of having little or no financial aid available to incoming students next year, the community considers an all-student work program, similar to that of Goddard College, which would yield up to $400,000 in saved revenue. [Climax: December 12, 1972]
Dec 12
Second-year student Julie Beckett, who had been involved with Hampshire since 1968 and became the first enrolled child of a faculty member, announces in a disillusioned essay-for Climax that she will be transferring to UMass, permanently, in two weeks.[Climax: December 12, 1972]
Dec 13
605 students sign a statement urging the college to take immediate action on providing practice space to musicians on campus; the statement is sent to President Longsworth, Dean of Humanities and Arts Frank Smith, and Community Council. [Climax: December 19, 1972]
Dec 15
President Longsworth receives a petition, circulated by financial aid students led by Geoff Lamdin and Jordi Herold and signed by nearly 500 people, urging him to meet with the community to discuss the critical financial aid situation. [Climax: December 19, 1972]
1973
Jan 16
Student Trustee Jenais Brodie, a second-year student, has gone on leave for the spring term, but her request to remain a trustee has been granted by Charles Longsworth and trustee Winthrop Dakin, even though this is a clear violation of the by-laws. [Climax: January 16, 1973]
Jan 20
The Hampshire College Student Mobilization Committee, headed by students David Foster, Steve Treuer, and Garret Brown, joins national activist groups in Washington, D.C. to protest the war in Indochina during the inauguration of President Nixon. [Climax: January 16, 1973]
Feb 6
Charles Longsworth writes to Jeanais Brodie, student Trustee, telling her that after reviewing the issue of her term on leave with the Trustees' Executive Committee, he recommends that she resign gracefully so that her successor may be elected. [Climax: February 20, 1973]
Feb 13
Peter Hardin, a third-year student, writes the first of a two-part detailed account on the personal side of Hampshire President Charles Longsworth, whom he lived with for a week during January Term to research the article. [Climax: February 13, 1973]
Feb 13
Jeanais Brodie responds to Charles Longsworth's recommendation for her resignation, stating that she had previously agreed to be at the March Trustee meeting; a new election is a tactic to "disenfranchise the students" from voting on the 1973-74 budget. [Climax: February 20, 1973]
Feb 20
Division IV, a food and entertainment service organized by students in House III (reenwich), has opened to happy crowds in Academic Building II (Emily Dickinson Hall).[Climax: February 20, 1973]
Feb 27
As the result of the Electric Incentive Program to save energy, students living on campus save $1,530 in a little over a month, which goes to Financial Aid. [Climax: February 27, 1973]
Mar 6
Merrill and Dakin House Councils are engaged in deciding the House Codes for behavior regulation, which will in turn affect the pending decisions on disciplinary procedures that are currently being debated in Community Council. [Climax: March 6, 1973]
Mar 6
The Hampshire 5, a basketball team organized by members of the Third World Organization and managed by first-year student Al "Savannah" Mitchell, has a 2-2 record against intramural UMass teams, even though they lack a home court. [Climax: March 6, 1973]
Mar 13
Dakin House Council approves a revised version of their House Code, omitting the controversial "drug rule" that would have banned the use of drugs "harder" than marijuana.[Climax: March 13, 1973]
Apr 9
Israel Horevitz's play, "Morning", which was scheduled for performance in five days, is cancelled by the actors after a number of Third World students object to what they feel are unfair racial stereotypes in the play, which features an all-white cast. [Climax: April 17, 1973]
Apr 17
Third-year student Nicholas Bedworth writes a lengthy feature detailing the Transcendental Meditation movement, citing that there are at present about 75 meditators involved with TM at Hampshire alone. [Climax: April 17, 1973]
Apr 18
"The Boys In The Band", a play about a reunion of homosexual friends, opens to outstanding praise under the direction of first-year student Barry Cohen. [Climax: April 24, 1973]
May 1
In a special edition of "Climax", several articles detail the controversial firing of accounting assistant Diane Damelio, who was fired under "new regulations" for absenteeism; staff and students argue the reason was her political beliefs in feminism. [Climax: May 1, 1973]
May 1
In the same special edition of "Climax", a female student's evaluation from an Amherst College course is printed verbatim, revealing the alarming sexist and academically elitist attitudes of area professors. [Climax: May 1, 1973]
May 1
The Academic Council votes to approve modifications in the Division III process, trying to have its previous problems eliminated in time for the many students entering their fourth year who plan on starting advanced projects in the fall semester. [Climax: May 8, 1973]
May 4
The first Five-College Folk Festival is held, organized by first-year students Jon Orleans and Elizabeth Harzoff; the three-day festival features concerts, workshops, and lots of food. [Hampshire College press release: April 10, 1973]
May 6
The first annual Hampshire One-on-One (basketball) Tournament ends anti- climatically when the two finalists, first-year students Andrew Rucks and Albert Mitchell, decide to call off the last game and split the $50 prize money. [Climax: May 8, 1973]
May 17
Community Council approves the first guidelines for community living, the Code of Rights.[Community Council Misc.: 73S-Z55]
Sep 1
Hampshire's Whole Woman Center has been established in Dakin D-102 and 103, having been organized over the summer by women students; they offer a number of resources to all women on campus without regard to ideology. [Climax: September 11, 1973]
Sep 9
Third-year student Brian James and faculty associate Dick Spahn organize a group to conduct community meetings for men examining their roles in society; their first meeting is held during the fall colloquy.[Climax: September 11, 1973]
Sep 13
The Amherst-Hampshire College Tea Party, a group dedicated to "thrusting themselves and the college institution into participation in Amherst town politics", holds their first meeting, citing hopes to help in building a bike path along Route 116. [Climax: September 18, 1973]
Sep 17
The Residential Learning Centers of House III, i.e. Human Development and Educational Studies, in donuts 4 and 5 respectively, have opened and are conducting group and community meetings to aid them in their purposes. [Climax: September 18, 1973]
Sep 17
The Hampshire College Theatre Board is created, with seven voting members: students Tim Angle, John Oleson, Andrea Stander, and Jim Weed, staff members Daphne Reed and Liz Coolidge, and technical director of the Performing Arts space, Richard Kahan.[Climax: October 2, 1973]
Sep 21
Hampshire's first political rally for students seeking governance positions is held in the Main Lecture Hall before a luke-warm and small crowd. [Climax: September 25, 1973]
Sep 22
The Board of Trustees votes to name Academic Building I as Franklin Patterson Hall, AB II as Emily Dickinson Hall, the Science Building as Charles Cole Center, and Houses III, IV, and V after towns inundated by the Quabbin Reservoir. [Climax: September 25, 1973]
Sep 22
Third-year student Kitt Morris puts up for sale the pottery studio that she built, equipped, and maintained since 1970 in Wayne Stiles House; she offers to sell it to Community Council for $750.[Community Council Misc.: 73F-Z19]
Sep 26
The Bubble, an air-supported dome covering eight tennis courts on the west side of campus, deflates around 10 p.m. after a perpetrator slashes a 3-foot tear in its side, causing a 120-foot opening and $5,000 worth of damage; it is repaired in five days. [Climax: October 2, 1973]
Sep 27
A small fire, apparently caused by an arsonist, breaks out in the Dakin basement between F and G at 3 a.m.; large house meetings the next day with House Master Miriam Slater lay plans for fire prevention and safety precautions. [Climax: October 2, 1973]
Oct 2
Diane Damelio has won re-imbursement of her income for the time in which she was unemployed as the result of her unexpected firing; she had filed an arbitration suit against the college.[Climax: October 2, 1973]
Oct 3
Students picket Atkins Farm in support of the United Farmworker's lettuce and grape strike.[Climax: October 2, 1973]
Oct 4
Another fire breaks out in Dakin House, starting in the basement of J with a pile of papers apparently ignited by an arsonist.[Climax: October 9, 1973]
Oct 4
The Whole Woman Center produces two proposals for internal governance after two days of meetings, one giving more autonomy to interest groups and one forming a committee of the groups; women on campus are asked to select their choice via ballot. [Climax: October 9, 1973]
Oct 5
The Hampshire frisbee team defeats long-time rivals Clark University, 15-8, in a contest on their home field; top scorers are Andy "Sticky Fingers" Shannon and Rob "Whiskey Man" Bell.[Climax: October 9, 1973]
Oct 8
The third Dakin House fire in five days (the fourth since September 27) engulfs J-210, when an unidentified person enters the unlocked room and sets fire to the clothes in a wardrobe.[Climax:
October 9, 1973]
Oct 8
The Centrum Gallery opens in House III with a photography exhibit by Walter Rosenblum entitled "Pictures of Haiti"; gallery founders and directors are students Per Larsen, Riker Davis, Karen Goodman, Kate Evarts, and Jamie Peebles. [Climax: October 16, 1973]
Oct 13
Diane Damelio is reinstated as a staff member of the Business Office, on "probation". [Climax: October 16, 1973]
Oct 25
100 people respond to announcements for a "raffle" in the AB lounge, at which three students "get rid" of a pound of marijuana; two winners each receive a half-pound, the sponsors earn $10 each, and $40 is donated to Financial Aid. [Climax: October 30, 1973]
Oct 29
After a hastily called meeting at law professor Lestor Mazor's house the previous night, a handful of students and faculty hold an all-community meeting in a stuffed Main Lecture Hall to deliberate on the impeachment of President Nixon. [Climax: October 30, 1973]
Oct 30
Nearly 500 members of the Hampshire community assemble in front of the library to consider questions on Hampshire's endorsement of impeaching President Nixon; a simple vote calling for Congress to impeach Nixon is approved, 418 to 42. [Climax: October 30, 1973]
Oct 30
Academic Council votes that all B.A. degrees, and Division II and III exams, will no longer have the option of being awarded "with distinction", as they had been for the previous years' graduating classes.[Climax: November 13, 1973]
Nov 4
Hampshire joins over 30 other schools at UMass for the New England School's Organizers Conference To Impeach Nixon. [Climax: November 6, 1973]
Nov 6
Students, staff, and faculty have named AB II as Emma Goldman Hall, after the anarchist and feminist who worked for the cause of libertarian socialism in the U.S. until her deportation to Russia in 1919; she died in Canada in 1940. [Climax: November 6, 1973]
Nov 6
Statistics show that 50% of students in this year's entering class expect to meet with their advisor several times a month for guidance, and the average student expects to spend 16 hours studying each week.[Climax: November 6, 1973]
Nov. 17:
A student is raped while hitch-hiking to Mini-Mart on the driveway; the unidentified man maces her in the eyes, ties a noose around her neck, and drives for 70 minutes before raping her; upon her return, the student finds no one at Security. [Climax: December 4, 1973]
Nov 19
President Longsworth sends a letter to the parents of students living in Dakin H, J, and K, urging them to talk to their children about the fires over Thanksgiving break, and to support his decision to administer polygraph tests when they return. [Memo from Charles Longsworth: 11/19/73]
Dec 4
Ten fires have now broken out in Dakin J and K since September, an average of one every six days; state fire investigators suspect that the arsonist lives in Dakin. [Climax: December 4, 1973]
Dec 11
Controversies rage over an executive decision to delay the start of January Term by five days in order to conserve energy; students and members of the Academic Council feel the move exceeds the jurisdiction of the administration. [Climax: December 11, 1973]
Dec 11
Students are being evacuated from Dakin H, J, and K to the dining commons every two to five nights as the fires in those buildings continue; all-night suite patrols and off- duty firemen watching the buildings have produced no suspects for over 15 fires. [Climax: December 11, 1973]
Dec 15
The second student in a month is raped while walking along the driveway; the vehicle description is similar to the automobile driven in the November assault, and the time and date of the crime are exactly four weeks later. [Climax: December 18, 1973]
Dec 18
Despite measures including posting security guards on halls, tying open bathroom doors, and requiring students to sign in and out of the building, fires continue to break out in Dakin House every few days.[Climax: December 18, 1973]
Dec 30
A formal report on the Dakin House fires is filed by investigator Ray Hill, which is only given to certain members of the administration; while the community is not told the findings, no more fires occur after the investigation. [Climax: February 19, 1