Timeline of Events

• April 1, 2019: The Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, Gaye Hill, resigns; Luis Hernandez 70F, the longest serving current vice chair takes over.
• March 22, 2019: Re-Envisioning Hampshire Campaign issues a press release with an initial plan for independent Hampshire College.
• March 20, 2019: President Nelson announces the formation of yet another hand-picked committee called President’s Options Working Group of off-campus community stakeholders.
• March 5, 2019: Hampshire College Faculty Launch “Re-Envisioning Hampshire College for the 21st Century”
• March 4, 2019: The student-organized sit-in at President Nelson's office reaches 33 day mark, breaking the record for the longest sit-in in US college history.
• February 19, 2019:
  • Nine staff members from the Admissions and Advancement offices were notified that their employment at the College will end effective April 19, 2019.
  • Faculty take a vote regarding their confidence in the senior administration, the results of which are void on procedural grounds.
  • New England Commission on Higher Education (NECHE) releases a statement expressing appreciation for President Nelson's openness and regular communication, but makes no mention of the college's risk of losing accreditation or being placed on probation.
• February 18, 2019:
  • HC AAUP issues the list of "Current Faculty Demands"
  • President Nelson issues an update announcing the members of the newly formed Options Committee consisting of hand-picked members of the Crisis Committee and the Strategic Visioning Task Force.
  • The faculty members of the Crisis Committee respond to President Nelson's announcement expressing disappointment over the fact that the President has disregarded their concerns regarding the constitution of the Options Committee.
• February 15, 2019:
  • The EFC's and AAUP's requests for the budget for AY 19/20 and the financial records is not met by the requested date.
• February 14, 2019:
  • ECF issues a statement calling for an immediate suspension of all firings and layoffs until detailed financial information (including all raw data) is made available to the relevant committees.
  • Alumni gather on Hampshire College campus to protest the announced staff layoffs.
• February 13, 2019:
  • 107 members of the Mount Holyoke faculty issue an open letter (dated February 11) expressing solidarity with Hampshire faculty, concern with the President and Board’s violation of key principles of shared governance, and the demand that these principles guide key decision-making going forward.
  • President Nelson issues an update informing the community that
    • The NDA's signed by the Strategic Visioning Task Force and the senior leadership team have been dissolved and replaced by confidentiality agreements covering details about potential strategic partners and sensitive financial data.
    • Crisis Committee and the Strategic Visioning Task Force are to be blended into a new committee.
    • The administration will "engage in conversations with the Budget and Priorities Committee, the School Deans, and others to assist in crafting the FY20 budget."
  • President Nelson issues "Context and Schedule for Layoffs" citing the small size of the incoming class as the reason for the downsizing of the college. The first round of staff layoffs is to be announced on February 19, 2019, followed by "workforce reduction" on or near April 1.
• February 12, 2019: The Budget and Priorities Committee reconvenes.December 3, 2018: The Dean of Faculty issues a call for self-nominations for two distinct groups that are to participate in the Hampshire Visioning Project,
  • Hampshire Visioning Task Force (VTF) co-chaired by President Mim Nelson and incoming Board chair Kim Saal and to consist of a group of trustees, faculty, staff and students. This advisory committee is constituted to “provide the Board of Trustees with ideas about ways to re-make Hampshire College.” Faculty, staff, and students appointed to this committee are required to sign a broad, permanent, and binding non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
  • The Faculty Innovation Group (FIG) to consist of 8-10 faculty members and co-chaired by two faculty members.
• February 11, Crisis Committee to President Nelson:
  • Crisis Committee representatives must be involved in all aspects of the consideration and selection of potential partners, effective immediately.
  • Non-Disclosure Agreements should be re-evaluated and dissolved asap.
  • Budgets and Priorities committee needs oversight in how financial information is used moving forward in decision making.
  • and verbal demand to sign the faculty contracts that were approved by CCFRAP.
• February 8, 2019: ECF sends a letter to President Nelson asking that by Feb. 15 the administration produce a detailed financial plan of the budget for AY 19/20 starting fiscal year July 1, 2019, for both scenarios (having partner by June 1 and not) with:
  • projections for revenues; layoffs; salary, wage and benefit reductions
  • the relevant, raw detailed data from which these plans are derived.
• February 6, 2019: HC AAUP and CC independently demand immediate reinstatement of Budget & Priorities Committee, whose meetings have been cancelled by the treasurer.
• February 4, 2019: 137 members of the Amherst College faculty publish an Open Letter in the Chronicle of Higher Education to express their concern over recent decisions by Hampshire’s President and Board and to urge them to restore shared governance and trust among faculty and staff.
• February 2, 2019: Crisis Committee asks the Board of Trustees that the board publicly articulate their commitment to a participatory decision making process and commitment to core principles.
• February 1, 2019
  • A crowdsourcing campaign "Fund a Fall 2019 Class and Democratic Future for Hampshire College!" raises over $200k in support of admitting the Fall 2019 class, including a $100k donation by the HC former president Adele Simmons. The total amount raised by Feb. 4 is $251,078.
  • The Crisis Committee joins the BoT during their discussions on the Fall '19 class, but is not allowed to take part in the final deliberations or vote.
  • The BoT announces that the college will not admit the Fall 2019 class, except for those students who committed to the college during the Early Decision period and those who were admitted in 2018 but deferred.
• January 31, 2019: Student group HampshireRiseUp begins a sit-in in President Nelson's office in protest to the decision not to admit the F19 class.
• January 30, 2019: The Crisis Committee sends a letter to the Board of Trustees requesting:
  • full access to the materials used in decisions regarding the F19 class and search for future partner
  • assurance that CC will be full participants in the deliberation process
  • a delay of the vote on the acceptance of a Fall 2019 first year class until February 15th, 2019 to allow for full review of material and involvement of campus community.
• January 26, 2019: A Crisis Committee (CC) of 8 faculty and 6 staff members is elected to represent these constituencies before the Board of the Trustees (BoT) and the President.
• January 17, 2019: The Hampshire College community issues a statement "A Response from Hampshire College Faculty, Staff, and Alumnx to Recent Announcements by Hampshire College Senior Leadership" asking that the fall 2019 first year class be admitted and demanding transparency and involvement in the decision-making process in the spirit of shared governance. The statement is signed by more than 2000 people.
• January 17, 2019: In light of the Jan. 15 announcement, the Faculty Innovation Group chooses to dissolve.
• January 16, 2019: Hampshire Visioning Task Force meetings commence.
• January 15, 2019
  • To the total surprise of the Hampshire College community, President Miriam Nelson announces the plan to seek a strategic partner and the possibility of not admitting a Fall 2019 class.
  • The presidents of Amherst College, Smith College, and Mount Holyoke College issue statements about President Nelson's announcement, revealing that they were informed about her plans only the previous week.
• December 4, 2018: In the monthly faculty meeting, concerns were raised about the reasons for the secrecy. The NDA requirement for the FIG membership was dropped.