1972-73

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.

September
Sep 7


 * Charles Longsworth at convocation: "Many students experience anxiety... and despair at first. We try to help them work through that period onto a plateau of joy that comes from the recognition that a student can cope with the independence of Hampshire." [Climax: September 12, 1972] [[Image:Chucks.gif|frame|right|150px|April Fool's Joke, 1973]]

Sep 12


 * 83 students are forced to live at Hamlin House at UMass when House IV (Enfield House) is not completed in time for the new school year, some scheduled to stay at UMass until November 3.[Climax: September 12, 1972]

Sep 15


 * An Amherst police officer shows up on campus for the first time to deal with a noise complaint from area neighbors, who called in at 2 a.m. with reports of a chaotic party; after negotiations, the band is allowed to play one last song. [Climax: September 19, 1972]

Sep 19


 * First-year transfer student Robert Seligman has formed the first chamber orchestra at Hampshire; the 32-member group concentrates exclusively on contemporary and baroque music.[Climax: September 19, 1972]
 * The first food co-op organizes out of House III (Greenwich), with its name yet to be determined.[Climax: September 19, 1972]
 * Third-year student Richard Asinof's article on the 1972 Democratic Convention in Miami, which he attended with press credentials from "Climax", is printed, later to be "butchered" for publication in the October issue of "Seventeen" magazine. [Climax: September 19, 1972]

Sep 26


 * The town of Amherst continues a debate with Hampshire over the broadcasting of Intran on cable channel 8; Amherst selectmen contend that 8 is their town and public schools' channel, Hampshire says that 8 is "open to all." [Climax: September 26, 1972]

October
Oct 10


 * 23 residents from House IV (Enfield), not provided with rooms during the first few weeks of the school year, are told they will have their room charges for that period refunded; student David Weisberg had planned to sue the school for his SS Division I. [Climax: October 10, 1972]
 * A subcommittee of Fellows releases a final proposal for Division III studies to be approved by the Academic Council; it provides for a student's Div. III contract to be available to members of the community for ten days, for recommendations and review. [Climax: October 10, 1972]
 * A lonely stranger wanders around the houses for weeks, going into various women's rooms while they are sleeping and, very politely, asking them if he can spend the night; four women eventually report him, and he disappears, uncaught and unknown. [Climax: October 10, 1972]
 * Only 10% of first-year students polled feel that Fall Colloquy is a successful orientation to the school; the primary complaints to adjusting to Hampshire focus on bureaucracy and lack of sex, as students feel that people "aren't horny enough." [Climax: October 10, 1972]

Oct 13


 * Hampshire's soccer teams, the "X's" and the "0's", defeat Amherst Regional High School's varsity and junior varsity soccer teams, in "spirited but sloppy play". [Climax: October 16, 1972]

Oct 16


 * Charles Longsworth starts holding regular office hours for students each week. [Climax: October 10, 1972]
 * The "Radical Collective," which tried to form in the wake of Bob Rardin's paper on the liberal corporation of Hampshire, has now become fully defunct, citing numerous reasons for its lack of progress and collectivity. [Climax: October 16, 1972]

Oct 20


 * A consciousness-raising support meeting is held for men on campus; its organizers state, "Men in this society are as oppressed as women, although in different ways." [Climax: October 16, 1972]

Oct 22


 * With two consecutive victories over Goddard and Franconia Colleges in Vermont, the Hampshire soccer team secures an undefeated championship in the New England Cosmically Ordained Soccer Conference, which also includes experimental Marlboro College. [Climax: October 24, 1972]

Oct 23


 * Students Ken Burns, Larry Cotton, and Chip Insinger propose and begin the first film series at Hampshire, entitled simply The Weekend Film Series. [Community Council Misc.: 72F-Z16 ]

Oct 24


 * Thousands of students from the Five Colleges, including 125 Hampshire residents register to vote in Amherst under the 26th Amendment which allows citizens over the age of 18 to vote in elections. [Climax: October 24, 1972]
 * Shari Belafonte is elected to the Academic Council in her first year as a student; she will later make the first proposal for a student-run tavern in House V (Prescott), along with students Ed Kennedy and Nick Kroes. [Climax: 10/24/72; Comm. Council Motion, 11/29/73]
 * A housing poll of over 60% of the students on campus is released: the majority of returning students prefer mod life to dorm life, indicating that they prefer social units of 8 people or less, while 26% of dorm residents cite problems with "relaxing". [Climax: October 24, 1972]
 * Men born in 1953 are now eligible for the draft, as new Congressional laws allow the Selective Service to claim students for induction; even if selected during an academic term, draftees are due to report at the end of the semester. [Climax: October 24, 1972]

Oct 27


 * House III (Greenwich) staff Joel Meister and Bill Grohmann fill a children's swimming pool with 30 gallons of ice cream and up to 75 students consume what is dubbed the "World's Largest Ice Cream Sundae". [Climax: October 31, 1972]

Oct 31


 * The Jewish Community Project has published the first issue of its monthly magazine, "Siach"; a collective known as the Chavurah, living in Mod 34, coordinates its formation. [Climax: October 31, 1972]

November
Nov 4


 * First-year students Michael Silard, Bill Noland, and Tamio Spiegel arrive in Washington, D.C. to film a documentary and report on the Presidental election in which George McGovern's defeat by Richard Nixon two days later is dubbed, "Paradise Lost".[Climax: November 14, 1972]

Nov 10


 * The Dakin Coffeehouse reopens in the basement of cottage G under the direction of first-year student Pat Arthur, providing the setting for musical performances, poetry readings, movies, and parties. [Climax: January 16, 1973]

Nov 14


 * The food co-op is now called Mixed Nuts. [Climax: November l4, 1972]

December
Dec 4


 * The first annual Hampshire College Craft Show opens in the library gallery, organized by students Tom Corey, Jim Madden, Page Morris, and Deidre Wheeler. [Climax: December 12, 1972]

Dec 5


 * Third-year students Debbie Curtis, Kit Hadley, and Cheryl Schaffer of the Women's Caucus have organized a symposium on women's biography for the spring semester. [Climax: December 5, 1972]

Dec 10


 * The Trustees vote to hold the student population at 1,250 for the 1973-74 academic year, halting the planned construction of House VI that would have raised the population to 1500; the decision apparently stems from admonitions of Harold F. Johnson. [Climax: December 12, 1972]

Dec 12


 * UMass' "Project Ten" program of 250 undergrad and graduate students, which was started in 1967 and follows a concept of community and curriculum similar to Hampshire's, formally invites Hampshire students to take their courses. [Climax: December 12, 1972]
 * Facing the possible threat of having little or no financial aid available to incoming students next year, the community considers an all-student work program, similar to that of Goddard College, which would yield up to $400,000 in saved revenue. [Climax: December 12, 1972]
 * Second-year student Julie Beckett, who had been involved with Hampshire since 1968 and became the first enrolled child of a faculty member, announces in a disillusioned essay for Climax that she will be transferring to UMass, permanently, in two weeks.[Climax: December 12, 1972]

Dec 13


 * 605 students sign a statement urging the college to take immediate action on providing practice space to musicians on campus; the statement is sent to President Longsworth, Dean of Humanities and Arts Frank Smith, and Community Council. [Climax: December 19, 1972]

Dec 15


 * President Longsworth receives a petition, circulated by financial aid students led by Geoffrey Lamdin and Jordi Herold and signed by nearly 500 people, urging him to meet with the community to discuss the critical financial aid situation. [Climax: December 19, 1972]

1973

 * Liberal Corporation or Radical Collective: Two Models for a College published by Robert Rardin. This document is one of the most controversial in the history of the College, and has been often cited and reprinted by student activists over the years.

January
Jan 16


 * Student Trustee Jeanais Brodie, a second-year student, has gone on leave for the spring term, but her request to remain a trustee has been granted by Charles Longsworth and trustee Winthrop Dakin, even though this is a clear violation of the by-laws. [Climax: January 16, 1973]

Jan 20


 * The Hampshire College Student Mobilization Committee, headed by students David Foster, Steve Treuer, and Garret Brown, joins national activist groups in Washington, D.C. to protest the war in Indochina during the inauguration of President Nixon. [Climax: January 16, 1973]

February
Feb 6


 * Charles Longsworth writes to Jeanais Brodie, student Trustee, telling her that after reviewing the issue of her term on leave with the Trustees' Executive Committee, he recommends that she resign gracefully so that her successor may be elected. [Climax: February 20, 1973]

Feb 13


 * Peter Hardin, a third-year student, writes the first of a two-part detailed account on the personal side of Hampshire President Charles Longsworth, whom he lived with for a week during January Term to research the article. [Climax: February 13, 1973]
 * Jeanais Brodie responds to Charles Longsworth's recommendation for her resignation, stating that she had previously agreed to be at the March Trustee meeting; a new election is a tactic to "disenfranchise the students" from voting on the 1973-74 budget. [Climax: February 20, 1973]

Feb 20


 * Division IV, a food and entertainment service organized by students in House III (Greenwich), has opened to happy crowds in Academic Building II (Emily Dickinson Hall).[Climax: February 20, 1973]

Feb 27


 * As the result of the Electric Incentive Program to save energy, students living on campus save $1,530 in a little over a month, which goes to Financial Aid. [Climax: February 27, 1973]

March
Mar 6


 * Merrill and Dakin House Councils are engaged in deciding the House Codes for behavior regulation, which will in turn affect the pending decisions on disciplinary procedures that are currently being debated in Community Council. [Climax: March 6, 1973]
 * The Hampshire 5, a basketball team organized by members of the Third World Organization and managed by first-year student Al "Savannah" Mitchell, has a 2-2 record against intramural UMass teams, even though they lack a home court. [Climax: March 6, 1973]

Mar 13


 * Dakin House Council approves a revised version of their House Code, omitting the controversial "drug rule" that would have banned the use of drugs "harder" than marijuana. [Climax: March 13, 1973]

April
April 1


 * Students play an April Fool's joke, remaking Hampshire's main sign to read "Chuck's All-Nite Truck Stop 'n' College." (CLIMAX, April 10, 1973)

Apr 9


 * Israel Horevitz's play, "Morning", which was scheduled for performance in five days, is cancelled by the actors after a number of Third World students object to what they feel are unfair racial stereotypes in the play, which features an all-white cast. [Climax: April 17, 1973]

Apr 17


 * Third-year student Nicholas Bedworth writes a lengthy feature detailing the Transcendental Meditation movement, citing that there are at present about 75 meditators involved with TM at Hampshire alone. [Climax: April 17, 1973]

Apr 18


 * "The Boys In The Band", a play about a reunion of homosexual friends, opens to outstanding praise under the direction of first-year student Barry Cohen. [Climax: April 24, 1973]

May
May 1


 * In a special edition of "Climax", several articles detail the controversial firing of accounting assistant Diane Damelio, who was fired under "new regulations" for absenteeism; staff and students argue the reason was her political beliefs in feminism. [Climax: May 1, 1973]
 * In the same special edition of "Climax", a female student's evaluation from an Amherst College course is printed verbatim, revealing the alarming sexist and academically elitist attitudes of area professors. [Climax: May 1, 1973]
 * The Academic Council votes to approve modifications in the Division III process, trying to have its previous problems eliminated in time for the many students entering their fourth year who plan on starting advanced projects in the fall semester. [Climax: May 8, 1973]

May 4


 * The first Five-College Folk Festival is held, organized by first-year students Jon Orleans and Elizabeth Harzoff; the three-day festival features concerts, workshops, and lots of food. [Hampshire College press release: April 10, 1973]

May 6


 * The first annual Hampshire One-on-One (basketball) Tournament ends anti- climatically when the two finalists, first-year students Andrew Rucks and Albert Mitchell, decide to call off the last game and split the $50 prize money. [Climax: May 8, 1973]

May 17


 * Community Council approves the first guidelines for community living, the Code of Rights. [Community Council Misc.: 73S-Z55]