SOURCe Occupation of Cole Science Center, May 6-9, 1992

'Cole Science Center Seized. Community Newspaper, 1(1):1-2, May 7, 1992.'

At 10:25 am, students emerged from the takeover site. As one group passed from the building and through the crowd, other students stayed in the building doorway. All members sang out strong and calmly, "Keep your eyes on the prize, Hold on, hold on. Keep your eyes on the prize, Hold on, hold on."

With arms linked, eight students crossed from Cole Science, site of the takeover since Tuesday night, to the front of Johnson Library where a microphone and sound system had been set up. Makeda Redfern made an opening statement that the building was "taken in solidarity" with the UMass and Amherst College actions. She went on to state that racism "is a community-wide issue" that affects all members of the community, students, faculty and staff. The takeover is "part of the Five College movement towards a more multi-cultural American education."...

Gloria Chacon then came to the microphone. She stated that she was about to read a letter written in 1972 by Third World Organization members, in order for the community to understand that the demands they were making today were not new but, in fact, 20 years later had not been fulfilled. The letter was addressed to Charles Longsworth, President of Hampshire College at the time, and contained Third World Organization demands that had to be agreed to before they would relinquish the Cole Science building. After reading the letter, Claudia Milian came forward and read former Pres. Longsworth's letter written in response to the demands.

Terrance La-Mont Williams, Yee-Ping Han, Taij Moteell, Claudia and Gloria each came forward and read from the current list of demands. Nikki Stewart, Neeshan Meheetu and Aimee Graham stood in solidarity with the group as they took turns at the microphone reading demands.

They returned to Cole Science and passed through cheering faculty and staff of color. As the group entered the building and chained the door behind them, one staff member turned to another and said, "This is it, this is what it's been about. It hasn't changed."

TO: GREG PRINCE

President, Hampshire College FROM: 	STUDENTS OF COLOR

6 May 1992

We the students of color of Hampshire College have decided to take-over Cole Science Center so that issues of race here at this campus will be taken seriously. We will be occupying Cole Science until there is an agreement reached between the students and the administration. Therefore we demand the following:

1. HIRING FOUR PARTTIME COORDINATORS REPRESENTATIVE OF EACH COMMUNITY (IE. ASIAN, LATINO, NATIVE AMERICAN AND AFRICAN AMERICAN.) WE ALSO DEMAND THAT A FULL-TIME COORDINATOR BE HIRED FOR THE FSO. WE ALSO DEMAND THAT THE POSITION OF THE DEAN OF MULTI-CULTURAL AFFAIRS BE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE THE SUPERVISION OF ALL ORGANIZATIONS UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF SOURCE. THIS POSITION WILL BE ROTATED EVERY FOUR YEARS.

2. THAT IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE HIRING OF ADDITIONAL STAFF MEMBERS FOR THE MULTI-CULTURAL CENTER, WE DEMAND OFFICE SPACE, AS WELL AS EXPANDED MEETING SPACE FOR STUDENTS OF COLOR ON THIS CAMPUS. SUCH SPACE COULD INCLUDE THE VACANT DAKIN BASEMENT ROOMS.

3. WE DEMAND THAT THE PROPOSED SCHOOL FOR CULTURAL STUDIES INCLUDE FIELDS OF CONCENTRATION IN ASIAN/ASIAN-AMERICAN, AFRICAN/AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES, LATINO STUDIES, AND NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES.

4. THAT A MINIMUM OF TWO FACULTY OF COLOR BE HIRED DURING THE NEXT ACADEMIC YEAR, ALONG WITH THE HIRING OF FIVE ADDITIONAL FACULTY MEMBERS OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. AT LEAST FOUR OF THESE SEVEN MUST BE ASIAN, LATINO, OR NATIVE AMERICAN. ONE OF THESE MUST BE A LATINA WOMAN.

5. ADDITIONAL FUNDING DF $6000.00 FROM THE ADMINISTRATION FOR PROGRAMMING PER SEMESTER TO BE USED AT THE DISCRETION OF THE COORDINATORS.

6. THAT THERE MUST BE MANDATORY RACISM TRAINING FOR ALL HAMPSHIRE FACULTY AND STAFF. AS WELL AS A RE-EVALUATION OF HOW COURSE CURRICULUMS CAN INCLUDE A STRONGER INTEGRATIVE ANALYSIS OF RACE, SEXUALITY, CLASS AND GENDER.

7. TO RECONSTRUCT THE COMMUNITY REVIEW BOARD INTO A CIVIL RIGHTS BOARD. THE CIVIL RIGHTS BOARD WILL EVALUATE VIOLATIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE POLICY STATEMENT TO ADDRESS ISSUES OF RACE, SEXUALITY, CLASS AND GENDER.

8. THAT THE MINORITY RECRUITMENT OFFICER ESTABLISH A CONSISTENT DIALOGUE WITH HAMPSHIRE'S STUDENTS OF COLOR.

9. IN THE WAKE OF 500 YEARS OF RESISTANCE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES WE ASK THE FACULTY, STAFF AND ADMINISTRATION TO CLOSE THE SCHOOL ON COLUMBUS DAY TO HOLD A MANDATORY CAMPUS WIDE TEACH-IN ON RACISM AND IMPERIALISM.

10. THAT A REVIEW BOARD, INCLUDING PEOPLE OF COLOR, BE CREATED TO RECONSTRUCT AND EVALUATE THE PURPOSE OF THE THIRD WORLD EXPECTATION.

11. THAT THE STUDENTS THAT HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THIS TAKE-OVER BE GIVEN REASONABLE EXTENSIONS FOR COMPLETING COURSEWORK. WE ALSO DEMAND THAT NO DISCIPLINARY ACTiON BE TAKEN AGAINST ANY STUDENT INVOLVED WITH THE TAKE-OVER.

12. FINALLY, WE DEMAND THAT ALL FINAL AGREEMENTS BE IN WRITTEN FORM AND SIGNED BY THE PRESIDENT, DEAN OF FACULTY AND DEAN OF STUDENTS.

MEMORANDUM

DATE: 	May 11, 1992 TO: 	Hampshire College Community FROM: 	Gregory S. Prince, Jr. SUBJECT: Occupation of Cole Science Center

On Saturday afternoon, May 9, Acting Dean of Faculty Merle Bruno, Dean of Students Trey Williams, and I concluded discussions and negotiations with the students occupying Cole Science Center and with students supporting them but outside of Cole; the students have vacated the building. With the tension of the last several days behind us, I would ask each member of the Hampshire community to assist in efforts to begin a process that will mend the divisions opened on campus during the painful days last week. Our community can emerge stronger, having been tested, but the healing process cannot succeed unless we all are party to it. Indeed, the students of color who were not in Cole at the end imaginatively suggested a mediation process to begin to build for the future that made it possible for me to sign the agreement; I am grateful to them for that help and suggestion.

Attached to this memorandum is a summary of the agreement. It offers this community a plan of action for expanding, celebrating, and benefitting from our diversity that can be a model for other colleges. It is signed by me, Michael Ford and students participating in the occupation, and will be signed by Merle and Trey and students supporting the agreement. This latter signing will be done once the mediation process begins. Our goal is to have as many students involved in the process as is possible give their support to the plan that has emerged from this situation. Copies of the full agreement are available in the school, house, and administrative offices and the Library.

Many members of the Hampshire community have worked to bring resolution to the occupation. I would like to thank those individuals publicly for their help, but first I would like to thank all in the community whose work was interrupted and needs not meet but who were patient with those in the building. They recognized and accepted that much of what the students were reacting to involved issues well beyond Hampshire but that these reactions also involved Hampshire....[p.1]

My most special thanks, though, are reserved for several members of our community whose wisdom, patience, guidance, and counsel were instrumental in bringing the events of the last few days to a conclusion. Dean of Multi-Cultural Affairs Ford gave up precious sabbatical leave time to come back to campus to mediate and advise. His efforts were invaluable, as was the leadership he provided the faculty and staff of color who helped keep lines of communication open. I thank each and every member of that group. Acting Dean of Faculty Merle Bruno and Dean of Students Trey Williams were here on campus for 20- to 24-hour stretches. I cannot find words for the premium I place on their intelligence and professionalism and for their skill as negotiators. As a campus we are fortunate to have them as part of our community. As president, I am privileged to count them among my colleagues.

This is the first-ever memorandum of this kind I have written at Hampshire. I hope it and the terms of the agreement will lead to community-wide discussion and action that will make Hampshire a better place in which all of us can and will learn. We are a community of individuals: we care about issues, we agree and disagree about them. Many times our convictions are strong and infused with emotion. I hope, however, that the willingness I and

my colleagues have evidenced over the last several days to engage in conversation and debate demonstrates to everyone on this campus that no disagreement is so strong that it cannot be resolved through thoughtful discourse and compromise. Solutions may not always come quickly, and they will rarely be perfect, but I believe that we can craft them if we maintain open communication with each other. I ask that this be the lesson learned from last week.

COLE SCIENCE CENTER OCCUPATION AGREEMENT
May 9, 1992

As part of our responsibility to provide support 1) to all individuals; 2) to specific identity and common interest groups, and 3) to the community as a whole, the Lebron-Wiggins-Pran Center plays an important role; its goal is to meet these responsibilities in a way that will bring the community as a whole closer together and that will avoid marginalizing any student or group.

1) We will institute a process of reallocating resources which, by the beginning of the 1993 calendar year, will result in the addition of at least one and one half FTE of resources to the Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs. The allocation of these will be determined as a result of consultation between the administration, the office of multi-cultural affairs and the domestic and foreign students of the Asian/Asian-American, African/African-American, Latino/Latin American, and Native American communities. This consultation will begin in September, 1992 with the goal of beginning the hiring process by January 1993 or as soon thereafter as possible. The new presidential assistant for Hampshire's urban initiative will be working to raise additional resources to support the overall goals of the Multi-Cultural Center and the College.

The position of the Dean of Multi-Cultural Affairs will be a four-year appointment with review in the third year, at which time a decision will be made about the next term. The position may be filled by the same person for more than one term. In accordance with the Dakin agreement of March 2, 1988 this review will be expanded to review all positions located in the Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs, and will be conducted by those specified in the Dakin agreement.

2) We will add an amount of $6000 to the base budget in increments of $2000 per year over a period of three years beginning in the fall of 1992 to be designated for students of color programming under the discretion of the office of multi-cultural affairs.

3) The Educational Policy Committee in collaboration with the Dean of Multicultural Affairs and at least one faculty and one student of color will review in the spring of 1993 the Third World Expectation to evaluate the degree to which it has enhanced curricular offerings in Asian/Asian-American, African/African-American, Latino/Latin American and Native American Studies and to recommend areas for additional offerings. This review will be repeated every three years.

To encourage the development of such offerings, when faculty development funds are awarded in 1993 and 1995, preference will be given to the best proposals designed to enhance curriculum development in these fields. Faculty in all four schools are encouraged to submit proposals. These may include proposals for new courses, revisions of existing courses, or searches for new teaching materials in which peoples of the non-dominant American cultures are well represented.

The Educational Policy Committee, in collaboration with the Dean of Multicultural Affairs and at least one faculty and one student of color, will review, in the spring of 1993, the contracts of students who have completed concentrations in Asian/ Asian-American, African/African-American, and Latino/Latin American, and Native American studies to evaluate the degree to which the Hampshire course offerings have been able to support such study. Recommendations to enhance curricular offerings, if this is necessary, will be made to school curriculum committees.

4) Over the next five years a minimum of half the searches for long-term faculty members will be targeted to increase the number of Asian, Latino, Native American, and African American faculty. The term "targeted search' is defined in the 1990-91 annual report of the Hampshire College Affirmative Action Committee.

In addition, the following steps will be taken to ensure that search committees are well prepared to carry out aggressive affirmative action searches:

The president will meet with each of the four schools at the beginning of each academic year to articulate and affirm the college's commitment to increasing the cultural diversity of the faculty and to discuss specific strategies for doing so.

A committee to work over the summer is charged to articulate ways in which students can participate in the process of faculty selection and curricular development in Asian/Asian-American, African/African­ American, and Latino/Latin American, and Native American studies. The report will be due at the first deans' meeting in fall, 1992, when the deans begin their deliberations about faculty positions for 1993-94. If the Affirmative Action Committee does not meet this summer, the president will appoint a committee to meet in June to propose ways in which the college can address faculty and curricular issues having to do with hiring more faculty of color over the next five years. This committee will consist of the Dean of Faculty, Dean of Multi-Cultural Affairs, two school deans, a member of the affirmative action committee, the executive assistant to the president, and two other faculty members. If the Affirmative Action Committee does plan to meet over the summer and it is willing to take on this charge, it will carry out the above task.

The committee will be asked to articulate a charge to the schools to carry out aggressive and intensive affirmative action searches for any regular faculty positions that are open.

The committee will generate a list of guidelines for search committees for increasing the pool of affirmative action candidates. These guidelines will be based on searches that have been conducted in the past that have succeeded in increasing the number of Asian/Asian-American, African/African American, Latino/Latin American, and Native American faculty. This does not guarantee that the searches will be successful in attracting or hiring faculty of color, but we have learned in the past that it greatly increases the probability that this will happen. These searches will be carried out under our affirmative action guidelines and will involve extensive networking as well as standard advertising.

The committee will articulate means by which students can participate substantively in the processes of faculty selection and curriculum development in ways that will contribute to their academic work, not interfere with it.

5) Currently, Student Affairs provides fairly intensive social issues training for both professional staff and student staff in the areas of racism, sexism, heterosexism, anti-Semitism, ageism, and disability issues. To ensure the exposure of all members of the faculty and staff to this training those faculty and staff entering the Hampshire community for the first time will be required to participate in such educational activities. In respect for the needs of Hampshire's multicultural community we will strongly encourage current members of the faculty and staff to participate with new members in these programs. Responsibility for these educational activities will reside with the director of personnel and the dean of faculty.

6) As part of Hampshire's commitment to ensuring an open community and to eliminating all form of harassment we will formalize our grievances procedures by establishing a human rights panel tio review complaints of violations of Hampshire College policies on discrimination and harassment based on race, religion, pervious military service, physical disability, gender, age, sexual orientation and socio-economic background. This panel is to be convened by the Affirmative Action Office and will consist of membership representative of the groups it is designed to protect.

7) The Assistant Director of Admissions for Multi-Cultural Recruitment will engage in a consistent dialogue with Hampshire students of color, and we will expand that commitment to include faculty and staff of color as well. To implement this commitment, the Assistant Director of Admissions for Multi-Cultural Recruitment will create an advisory group of faculty, staff, students of color, and designated staff of the multicultural center to work with the Trustee Admissions Committee, the Director of Admissions and the Assistant Director of Admissions for Multi-Cultural Recruitment. This committee, in complementing and reinforcing individual contact, will provide an annual plan of activities and evaluation of previous efforts.

8) In recognition of 500 years of resistance by indigenous peoples, Hampshire faculty, staff, and students will offer an annual campus-wide teach-in on racism and imperialism. The Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs will be asked to arrange the first teach-in in the Fall of 1992. The President's Office will seek appropriate funds for the event.

9) We the signers of this agreement support the granting of extensions of up to two days for each day of the take over for the completion of course work. The extensions can be granted by faculty to those students who were extensively involved in the take over and to those whose work was delayed because they did not have access to Cole Science Center. An 'honor system' sign-up sheet will be posted outside of Central Records for those students seeking these extensions. After signing on this sheet, students must make individual arrangements with faculty by the end of the day, May 12, 1992. Faculty will also receive extensions equaling the students' extensions for turning in those particular evaluations.

It has never been the practice of the College to impose disciplinary sanctions against students involved in protest. However, it must be clear that damage to facilities is a violation of community norms. Responsibility for such should be articulated by students involved in any such activity.

10) CHECKS AND BALANCES

A review committee is to be set up to determine how to evaluate progress on the agreement reached by the May 1992 student takeover. This committee will consist of four students of color with equal representation from Asian-American, Latino, African-American, and foreign students. The committee will be convened and chaired by the Dean of Multicultural Affairs and three faculty or staff members of color.

This review committee will meet in early October 1992 to establish criteria on which the ongoing evaluations will be based and to propose means to carry out the evaluations. These means will include but not be limited to the following:


 * a designated committee (that includes a visitor from outside Hampshire who will attend one meeting a year) to participate in the annual review
 * a name-optional questionnaire to be filled out annually by every student/faculty/staff of color at Hampshire
 * a list of multicultural events, sponsored by funds promised in the 1992 agreement, attendance figures for those events
 * a report on teach-ins, workshops, or other-campus events that address issues of oppression
 * a report on curricular initiatives and faculty/staff hirings

The annual evaluation committee will present its evaluation to the President of the College, Dean of Faculty, Dean of Multi-Cultural Affairs, and Dean of Students. Evaluations will be accompanied by recommendations for compliance with the agreement of the May 1992 student of color takeover as well as recommendations to respond to current needs and concerns.

The Dean of Multicultural Affairs will include in his/her annual report an evaluation of the progress in meeting the 1992 demands.

May 9,1992

We the undersigned members of the Hampshire College administration have entered into this agreement with the student negotiating team and will undertake to implement this agreement immediately:

Gregory S. Prince, Jr., President Merle S. Bruno, Acting Dean of Faculty Trey Williams, Dean of Students Michael Ford, Dean of Multi-Cultural Affairs