In a matter of months, Hampshire College will close its doors in western Massachusetts. It will mark the end of a 60-year-long experiment that broke new ground in the world of higher education.
While students, alumni and locals continue to mourn the coming loss, there was cause for celebration over the weekend at what was likely the school’s final spring commencement.
Some graduates wore flower crowns while others dawned kilts and even a puppet or two as just under 200 students accepted their diplomas Saturday.
It was the end result of their own rigorous final year of studies – or “Div 3” work, as the Amherst, Massachusetts, school calls it.
For Zukiswa Mhlongo, that meant deep-diving into her project: "A Plan for South Africa: International Relations and Creative Writing through an African Feminist Activist Storytelling Lens."
“So far, I've had some pieces of my work published in college newspapers, and that's helped me get into my master's program, but I'm hoping to send my actual policy paper to the South African government this summer,” Mhlongo said
It’s work she says she’s proud of, along with the rural, private college that helped make it happen.
“It's really heartbreaking, but I'm so grateful that I got a full-experience here,” she said, recounting how her high school in South Africa connected her with a Hampshire College advisor years ago. “This is such a special place, and honestly, I believe everyone deserves to have an opportunity to be here. I wish I could do more to keep this place afloat, but it will always be a part of me, and I plan to carry it along with me, to all my life and endeavors.”
That was the sentiment across the board Saturday. Hampshire College says this coming fall semester will be its last, following a Board of Trustees vote that indicated efforts to raise funds and boost enrollment had come up short.
During her address, Hampshire College President Jennifer Chrisler acknowledged the metaphorical cloud hanging over commencement (physically, it was a sunny day on the 800-acre campus).
But, she said, all eyes and attention were on the graduates who join an estimated 15,000 alumni.
“You are the radical and wild minds. You are the heartbeat that continues,” she said. “Hampshire doesn't end today: it disperses. It goes with you into every room you enter, every problem you take on, every question you refuse to stop asking. So, to the graduating class of 2026: you bring me so much joy. I am grateful for the gifts that Hampshire has given us, and I am grateful - deeply, genuinely grateful - for everything you have given me. I am so very proud of you. Congratulations.”
Her address also named staff, faculty and hallmarks of the campus that she said made Hampshire College what it is.
This, as the Board of Trustees prepares to approve selling off large swaths of the campus, if not all of it, to meet debt demands tied to $25 million worth of loans the school took out over a decade ago.
Since at least 2019, the school known for emphasizing individual studies and mentorships over “majors” and typical curriculums had been fighting to stay afloat.
Major fund drives, campaigns and consolidation bought the school more time, including time for students like Anais Richard, who's own work included exploring a lack of diversity in the Pioneer Valley's music scene, as well as working with the college's extensive zine collection.
“I'm happy and I'm sad - there are so many people around here who I love and it's really sad to see an important part of Pioneer Valley and just … the college community kind of being like chased out of existence,” Richard told WAMC. “Hampshire's been struggling for a while and we're all aware of that, but it's the people, the students and the faculty and the professors who make this place what it is, and without them there would be literally no point in any of this.”
For @WAMCNews: Hampshire College's spring '26 commencement is underway, celebrating 192 students completing their Div 3 work as the Amherst, Mass. school prepares to close later this year and sell of its property to meet debts pic.twitter.com/2eabREdhYA
— James Paleologopoulos (@WAMC_J_Paleo) May 16, 2026
Joining Richard mid-interview was one of the student’s favorite faculty members, Michele Hardesty, an associate professor of U.S. Literatures and Cultural Studies who's been with Hampshire for 18 years.
Hardesty says there’s been plenty of finger-pointing within and outside the college regarding its closure. The associate professor herself took part in organizing over the years, trying to save faculty jobs as the school’s enrollment and funding problems reached a fever pitch in 2019.
Now, she says, about 200 faculty and staff will soon be laid off in mid-June, though some will be rehired to assist with the last batch of students finishing their degrees this fall.
“We really have to look at the bigger context of how hard it is for an institution like this to stay open, and … the way that people are focusing on who's made money off the closure is important to think about,” she said. “I don't think there was any major malfeasance in the college closing, but what it does mean is a lot of people are getting their careers completely interrupted. People might lose their houses - they don't have childcare suddenly, and I hope there's also ways that the state of Massachusetts can come to [their] assistance, especially when the college might not be able to provide that assistance.”
“I hope that the other Five Colleges can do go above and beyond to support faculty and staff and students with opportunities, because this just came at such a terrible time and it came so suddenly,” she added.
Hardesty noted an emergency fund to help support Hampshire College staff is still going. She also acknowledged the “Hampshire Next” campaign – a last ditch effort by alumni, staff and locals to try and secure some of the massive campus that is going up for sale.
About $1.6 million has been pledged to that campaign as of Monday, May 18. Hardesty says she hopes those who are pledging to that drive consider giving to the emergency fund, as well.
“People are going to lose healthcare, people are going to lose childcare, people are going to lose their homes - people won't be able to pay their bills, and there's a lot more money that's been pledged towards that land sale that may or may not happen than towards that emergency fund for staff and faculty,” she said. “I hope that people don't forget about that fund in the excitement about a possibility of a Hampshire Next.”
On that note, the associate professor also emphasized that Saturday was about the students.
For context, the bell heard throughout commencement (and this story) was part of the celebration: parents and students rang the bell by the Harold F. Johnson Library to celebrate graduates – graduates like Aisling Lynn who’s work involved photojournalism and documenting the extreme wealth in New York City’s Upper East Side.
“I feel really, really proud about not only graduating from undergrad, but also graduating from Hampshire College - I really believe in this institution and what it represents,” Lynn said.
Also proud was Lynn’s family, wearing t-shirts bearing Aisling’s face, as well as signage. Her father, Benjamin, says he was bursting with pride.
“She fought like hell to be here at Hampshire, against our judgment and against our advice, and she will continue to do that and be that kind of a person who just goes and does - she knows what's right for her, and she will continue to do that, and we are all going to benefit from whatever it is that she does, and I am so excited to see it,” he said.
Echoing that sentiment was Kristin Colvin Young, Aisling’s “bonus mom,” Young tells WAMC.
She added that, as a Mount Holyoke alumna, the cross-collaborating Five College Consortium – of which Hampshire College and Mount Holyoke are members - is like nothing else, and that one of the schools ceasing operations was a blow to it and the region itself.
“It's a huge loss. The Five Colleges - it's missing a point in that star and … it's heartbreaking for all of us,” she said. “I know that the graduates will go out there and do all the great things, but I think about the generations who should be attending Hampshire in the future, and I'm heartbroken for all of them.”
About 750 students were believed to have been enrolled at Hampshire College as of fall 2025. Minus the 192 graduating over the weekend, it wasn’t immediately clear how many were on track to graduate during the school's final semester.
Many who had only been on campus for a few years or less are expected to transfer to various schools that have offered to take in Hampshire students.
