1980-81

This Timeline is based on a portion of Tim Shary's A History of Student Activities and Achievements at Hampshire College. Anything not otherwise cited comes from this source.

Important Documents

 * [[Media:Ways and byways through hampshire.pdf|Ways and Byways through Hampshire]] - one of the monographs included in Hampshire's Ten Year Review

September
Sep 9


 * The National Enquirer names Hampshire "America's most expensive institution of higher learning" with combined costs for the 1980-81 school year hitting $6,500. [Climax: October 6, 1980]

Sep 22


 * The long-awaited Community Center, organized by students Carolyn Sheehan, Mark Wineburg, and Julie Weisman over the summer, is set to open in the site of the old Atticus Bookstore on the first floor of the Library center. [Climax: September 22, 1980]

October
Oct 9


 * Thousands of alums, faculty, staff, and students gather for a four-day celebration of the 10th Anniversary of Hampshire College, featuring the Fall Colloquy theme, "Ideals Into Practice: Hampshire After Ten Years". [Climax: October 6, 1980]

November
Nov 2


 * The campus is closed for the annual Halloween party for the first time since it began in 1970; only invited guests and Hampshire students are allowed on campus. [Climax: November 17, 1980]

Nov 3


 * Members of the Mixed Nuts Food Co-op are debating over a proposed 3% price increase that was originally slated to go into a political cause fund, as they cannot agree what to do with the extra $150 in revenue per week. [Climax: November 3, 1980]
 * The Ten-Year Review of Hampshire College has been published. [Climax: November 3, 1980]
 * The National Yiddish Book Exchange, directed by alum Aaron Lansky, has opened in Florence. [Climax: November 3, 1980]
 * Student Sue Strait has won the Women's World Flying Disc Championship. [Climax: November 3, 1980]

Nov 17


 * After the Prescott Tavern was closed last year due to losing revenue following the raising of the drinking age, College Relations Intern David Starr and a group of students have reopened the Tavern to serve as a coffee house. [Climax: November 17, 1980]

December
Dec 9


 * Students react with scorn when Community Council presents a tight budget for spring semester groups' funding; the Third World Organization is only allotted $2,750 from a $12,950 request. [Climax: December 15, 1980]

February
Feb 23


 * Division III student Bonnie Gruszecki is Hampshire's first rape counselor/advocate, working out of a mod on campus. [Climax: February 23, 1981]

March
Mar 6


 * A lit cigarette tossed down a trash chute in Merrill House ignites a blaze that is discovered by student Derrick Elmes; the building is evacuated and the blaze is extinguished by the sprinkler system. [Climax: March 16, 1981]

April
Apr 12


 * Racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, and Latin American-U.S. relations are the subjects of a super-symposium organized at Hampshire during the week of the Pioneer Valley Third World Music Festival. [Climax: April 13, 1981]

Apr 28


 * In a college-wide referendum to ban nuclear proliferation, the community passes the decision with a vote of 934 in favor and 21 opposed. [Climax: May 11, 1981]

May
May 3


 * After months of work and planning, Division III student David Wiener enters two of his machines in competition for the International Human-Powered Speed Championship in California; noted athletes Eric Heiden and John Howard are riders, but do not win. ["Human Power" documentary, HC/MEDIA video 019]

May 11


 * Climax, the student newspaper since November, 1971, prints its last issue. [Climax: May 11, 1981]

June
Jun 1


 * Physical Plant forms a special crew to begin removing thousands of round red, white, and green stickers from campus buildings; the Italian "self-historification" artist, Guglielmo Cavellini, had been sending the stickers to students for a year. [Apostrophe: March 11, 1982]