Hampshire College to close at year’s end

AMHERST — Hampshire College will close at the end of the calendar year, bringing to an end an institution that began in 1970.

Trustees this week voted to permanently shutter the campus following the fall semester, according to a Tuesday morning letter sent to the college community from President Jennifer Chrisler, Trustees Chairman Jose Fuentes and Trustees Chairwoman-elect Elle Chan.

“The rationale behind this painful vote reflects several realities,” the letter states. “The college no longer has the resources to sustain full operations and meet our regulatory responsibilities. The inability to substantially grow enrollment would mean extraordinary cuts to our operating budgets to educate the student body we can reasonably anticipate. Additionally, the degree of short-term debt tied to our land assets means that even a favorable sale would not change our long-term financial trajectory given current enrollment. “

The closure announcement comes seven years after the college explored a possible merger, and also didn’t admit an incoming class that fall.

“Seven years ago, the Hampshire community presented the college with a powerful mandate: to maintain independence and remain true to Hampshire’s deepest-held values. Since then, we have all worked together toward those goals, facing daunting challenges with the ingenuity and resolve that define the best of what happens here. We left no stone unturned, no solution unexplored and made many sacrifices along the way.”