hampshire college is, above all, a community of learners, educators, and individuals passionate about the school's philosophy. this community is why i decided to attend hampshire college, it is what kept me from transferring elsewhere on multiple occasions, and it is what continues to keep me here.
this community was fragmented recently with the deliberate ignorance of student, faculty, and staff voices by a few select members of the administration. a project costing upwards of $300,000 -- money which we, as a 40-year-old institution, don't have at our disposal -- was planned behind closed doors. our roles as members of the hampshire community were being purposely delegitimized by those involved with this project, and that is not acceptable.
this feeling of discontent echoed across campus. the student body, along with members of the staff and faculty, mobilized in less than a week to make our voices heard. more than eight hundred petitions calling for transparency and dialogue were signed in protest. members of the campus community gathered on the library lawn on two separate occasions -- first, on tuesday, to make some noise and demand answers, then, yesterday, to present the staggering number of petitions to the president of hampshire, ralph hexter.
the mobilization that the students, professors, and hampshire staff have demonstrated over the last few days has renewed my love for this school. the fact that we won't take the administration's blatant disregard for our voices is a reminder of everything that hampshire is supposed to stand for -- an open, transparent, and engaged community working together. if we work together, we can make hampshire a place that everyone is proud of. i have never been prouder to be a hampshire student.
this community was fragmented recently with the deliberate ignorance of student, faculty, and staff voices by a few select members of the administration. a project costing upwards of $300,000 -- money which we, as a 40-year-old institution, don't have at our disposal -- was planned behind closed doors. our roles as members of the hampshire community were being purposely delegitimized by those involved with this project, and that is not acceptable.
this feeling of discontent echoed across campus. the student body, along with members of the staff and faculty, mobilized in less than a week to make our voices heard. more than eight hundred petitions calling for transparency and dialogue were signed in protest. members of the campus community gathered on the library lawn on two separate occasions -- first, on tuesday, to make some noise and demand answers, then, yesterday, to present the staggering number of petitions to the president of hampshire, ralph hexter.
the mobilization that the students, professors, and hampshire staff have demonstrated over the last few days has renewed my love for this school. the fact that we won't take the administration's blatant disregard for our voices is a reminder of everything that hampshire is supposed to stand for -- an open, transparent, and engaged community working together. if we work together, we can make hampshire a place that everyone is proud of. i have never been prouder to be a hampshire student.
that -- the avoidance of a community-wide dialogue, the purposeful silencing of students, staff, and faculty -- is what hypocrisy looks like.
this -- our banding together to make our voices heard -- is what democracy looks like.
this -- our banding together to make our voices heard -- is what democracy looks like.
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