History of Community Council

Hampshire College's student government has gone through a series of incarnations since its founding. From the Academic College which transformed into the College Senate, which was subsuquently phased out unconstitutionally by Community Council, the history of student governance at Hampshire College has been tumultous- marked by numerous scandals, controversies and phases of apathy or hyper-involvement on behalf of the student body.

= Controversies, Debates, and Changes =

Council, like all things Hampshire, has an extremely cyclical history, with many ideas and aspects or Council evolving or changing back and forth since its conception.

The Role and Structures of Standing Committees
The degree to which the Standing Committees (currently COCA, COCD, FiCom and SafeCom), especially Ficom, have been integrated into Council has varied considerably over the years. In the late 90's, the Chair of FiCom was originally elected as a member of Council and had to run for Chair within the body of Council, and served as a member of the Executive Board in the position of Treasurer.

The standing committees themselves have also changed over the years. The "Need to Know" Council Handbook from the late 90's lists the standing committees as COCA, FiCom, COCD and the Elections and Information Committee (EIC) and the Totally Radical Actions Committee (TRAC). The Responsability of the EIC was to "manage All Community Meetings (one each semester, or as called), manage elections of At large members and off campus members of the Hampshire Community, maintain a respectable level of information flow from Community Council to the Hampshire Community, and be proactive in developing new and innovate ways to distribute information through the Hampshire Community."

The Public Health and Safety Committee has been around since at least 1999.

Stipends for Officers
See 2009, 1999

= Former Community Council Chairpeople =

A list of the former members of Community Council can be found at the page Former Community Council Chairpeople.

= Timeline =

1969
On September 29th, the student body shows up at a meeting to determine how to select their representatives to Community Council; a majority choose the random computer selection method presented by students Hall Powell and Michael Germain.


 * Community Council 1969-70

Feb 15 98 students out of 127 vote to ratify the Constitution with amendments: a two-thirds vote by the faculty is required to overrule actions of the Academic and Community Councils, and administrative staff membership on these Councils is increased.

1972
Feb 16 Second-year students Jarvis McCarther and Vanessa Barabino present the Constitution of the Hampshire College Third World Organization to Community Council.

Community Council 1973 - 1974

Community Council 1974-75

1975
Sep 27 A record 23% of the student population votes in elections for representatives to the Academic Council and College Council.

Oct 9 After the protests by Hampshire students, the Five-College Student Coordinating Board has voted to allow member schools to elect their own representatives to the board instead of being selected by the board itself; this was Hampshire's main demand.

Nov 6 The Academic Council has been abolished for the creation of the College Senate, which has a smaller membership but the same purpose and jurisdiction

1976
Apr 16 Coordinator of Governance Daphne Reed threatens to resign as Secretary to Community Council if direct action is not taken to repremand Douglas Peebles for his actions at the Executive Committee meeting on April 15.

Apr 22 Finalists in the student trustee primary, Dave Gaynor, Geoff Foisie, and Mark Wittow announce their candidacy as a collective; Community Council votes unanimously to support their decision, which goes to student referendum on May 3. [Climax: April 29, 1976]

Apr 22 In an unprecedented motion, Community Council approves the censure of member Douglas Peebles, denying him the rights otherwise given to a Council member, for the rest of the semester, due to his actions in the April 15 Executive Committee meeting.

1977
Feb 3 Student and Chairperson of C.O.C.D. David Rath has entered negotiations with Allen Torrey to open a coffee house in the basement of the Red Barn.

1978
On October 17th, students cited constitutional violations as the Senate passes a motion to extend all non- student terms on the Senate by one semester.

1979
On February 19th, students passed a Community Council referendum calling for an increase in student activities fees to rebuild the second floor of the RCC as a student center.

On February 23rd, The Climax reported that Leon Brown, a third-year student and the Chairperson of C.O.C.A., had used a theatre production of "Godspell" to generate hundreds of dollars in illicit revenue for C.O.C.A. On March 9th the Climax printed a retraction to their accusations that Leon Brown was responsible for swindling money for C.O.C.A. from a theatre production, stating simply, "We were wrong." After a month more of continuing controversy Leon Brown resigned; student Diane Dorries is elected to the Chair, promising reform in the mismanaged committee.

In May, Community Council elected the following students to these positions: Chairperson, David Early; Secretary, Carolyn Sheehan; Treasurer, Cindy Canary; together they help create the most organized and ambitious era of governance in years. However, the following fall, in an election for 5 student positions on Community Council, less than 10% of the student body votes.

On November 6th, Community Council, lead by Chairperson David Early and Secretary Carolyn Sheehan, sponsored the first of many community meetings entitled "Is The Experiement Over?" to address problems and changes at Hampshire in the past ten years. "Is The Experiment Over?" produced four "radials" of people working together to target areas of concern in the community, including a student work collective, the structure of governance, isms problems, and communication.

1980
On April 15th, Community Council banned all uncaged pets from campus effective in the fall semester of 1980.

On April 19th, a group of students calling themselves FISH, all past members of Hampshire governance, distributed pamphlets during Parents' Weekend detailing moves they felt the administration had made to keep students out of the decision-making process. Supporters of FISH spray-painted slogans of protest on buildings and dump or throw pounds of squid in buildings on campus; FISH members Carolyn Sheehan, David Early, Cory Greenberg, Julie Weisman and Matt Goodman denied involvement.

On December 9th, students reacted with scorn when Community Council presented a tight budget for spring semester groups' funding; the Third World Organization was only allotted $2,750 from a $12,950 request.

1983
On October 25th, third-year student Doug Hasbrouck was elected Chairperson of Community Council; together with an active membership, his record two-year term produced some of the most effective legislation in Council history.

1985
On April 16th, after months of deliberations, Community Council voted to indefinitely freeze the funds of "Communique", a newspaper edited by student Michael Karmody, after allegations of sexism and racism pertaining to a cartoon, and general irresponsibility.

1986
On September 23rd, Community Council Treasurer Dane Afman put forth a motion to effectively disband the Council altogether, citing numerous problems in the operations of Council that lead to apathy and inertia; after a long and tense meeting, the motion failed.

1987
On October 23rd, after holding an unpublicized first meeting of the semester on October 13, Community Council came under scrutiny by students and even some of its own members, beginning the most disorganized and least productive semester in Council history.

On December 11th, Community Council Treasurer Eric Young resigned after the Finance Committee failed to accept a proposal for new funding procedures submitted by Council member Erik B.

1988
On January 26, Community Council held an informal meeting to discuss accusations made by students alleging that a group called 'The Fraternity" was sponsoring a "get laid" party with a wet t-shirt contest; Council later decided to no longer fund the group.

On February 9th, Community Council held their largest election ever, with over 480 votes granted to at-large student members Dake Ackley, Bill Karieva, Sue Sauvain, Sarah Heegaard, Mary McDonald, and Andy Arnold; Council bounced into a strong era of student action. On February 16th, 1988 Community Council voted to remove member Erik B. due to his allegedly racist and sexist slandering of outgoing Council Chairperson Michele Johnson; the act was allowed after an approved suspension of the bylaws. In early March, Community Council approved a motion by member Tim Shary to overturn the removal of Erik B. to allow the Executive Committee to handle it according to Council bylaws. The Executive Committee of Community Council again removed Erik B. from his membership due to his offensive slandering of the previous Council Chairperson, by a vote of 6 to 1.

In a highly contested special meeting on April 8th, Community Council voted to overturn the housing policy changes proposed by the administration and elected to form a committee to evaluate the situation at its next meeting. At the next meeting, the largest Community Council meeting in years, Director of Housing Jack Kuszaj apologized for the lack of student involvement with the previously proposed housing policy, and began work with the Council's ad hoc housing committee. On April 20th, by a vote of 7 to 6, Community Council rejected the newly proposed housing policy, citing that the proposed policy was too similar to its original; house staff reacted with anger and frustration.

On September 13th, 1988, Community Council, after years of challenging the MassPIRG line-item fee of $4 per student from the Student Activities Fee, voted to suspend funding for the group; Council Chairperson Kathryn Wichmann casted the deciding vote.

On October 4th, Community Council approved a motion by student member Tim Shary to hold an election for a Third World [pre SOURCE] student position; this was the first time since the position was reserved in 1981 that an election needed to be held. However, despite distributing nomination forms to every student, not one candidate was nominated for Third World student member of Community Council.

1989
On February 14th, Community Council rejected a countermotion by member Tim Shary to overturn the restructuring of Council membership approved in December; Sbary cites numerous laws and college policies that were being violated, but most members decide these are invalid.

1990
On March 6th, Community Council approved a motion by member Tim Shary to halt the proposed plan for redoubling rooms in Greenwich and Enfield; an alternative proposal was requested from the interim housing committee established by Gregory S. Prince the month before. In April, the Council approved the proposal from the interim housing committee, which ultimately lead to the reconversion of the Greenwich and Enfield doubles.

On March 13th, the College Senate approved guidelines for graduation in four years and moves to change the advising system along those guidelines.

On July 23rd, after the administration dropped funding for the annual Frog Book, Community Council Chairperson Tim Shary sponsored a motion to members through the mail to fund the project with Council funds; the proposal passed under questionable quorum.

On September 20th, Community Council Finance Committee Co-Chairs Randy Jones and John Keh organized a meeting of all student organizations on campus to allocate funding for the semester, democratically directing authority for funding to the groups.

On September 24th, Community Council conducted a student referendum to approve the long-awaited student endowment and to ban the sale of cigarettes on campus; although not enough votes were gained to make the vote binding, Council later legislated on behalf of the majority: yes on the endowment, no on banning cigarette sales.

On October 25th, controversy erupted over a decision of the 20th Anniversary Committee which prohibited alcohol from being served over the celebratory weekend, even though it was served at a few administration-sponsored events; Community Council was informed that they would not be able to serve beer at a party which they had planned for alumns.

On October 26th, various members of Community Council distributed a single piece of chalk to each student's mailbox, encouraging them to "express" their opinions about recent events and developments on campus; within hours, the remaining chalk was removed from the boxes, as students have graffitied virtually every building on campus. 4 days later, the Director of Facilties and Services Sheila Moos admitted at an all-community meeting that she gave the order to have the chalk removed from students' mailboxes during the 20th Anniversary celebration, while President Greg Prince announced a potential plan to purchase bankrupt Friends World College.

Community Council 1991-92

Community Council 1992-93

1994
The fall semester Community Council elections in 1994 turned out a notably small number of candidates and voters. Students attributed the poor turnout to student apathy and lack of information about Community Council’s role. Concerns were expressed about the main-streaming of the school and the role this played in students’ attitude toward Community Council.

1995
In March of 1995, three Hampshire students moved to start a Student Action Office and Committee to facilitate political activism among Hampshire students. Theÿ wanted the office to work to aid all students and groups involved in any kind of political action. Both the administration and Community Council responded positively to the proposal.

In October, Community Council considered a version of the Hampshire College Constitution written by the faculty. This version defined the relationships between governing bodies and more clearly outlined Council’s responsibilities. At the time, many of the college’s policy making bodies such as the School Deans and School Meetings were extra constitutional and had no constitutional authority.

1996
In April 8th, the administration investigated Community Council finances after members of student groups met with President Gregory S. Prince to express their concerns about discrepancies in their accounts. Deb Martin, Acting Dean of Student Affairs and Peter Correa, Hampshire College Treasurer-elect, met with Chair of Community Council L.G. and FiCom Chair Alfonzo Stefanini to discuss the audit.

In May of 1996, Community Council and the College Senate approved a new constitution which dramatically changed governance structures at Hampshire. The new Constitution eliminated the College Senate, and altered other structures. Many in the Hampshire Community claimed the move broke several restictions of the previously established constitution, sparking criticisms of the Council's "habit" of operating "extra constitutionally". In December, the Judicial Council ruled that Hampshire must operate under the 1971 College Constitution until the new version is ratified by the Board of Trustees. Community Council brought the issue to the Judicial Council as a largely symbolic process to bring attention to the urgency of ratification.

1997
On February 7, 1997, a public Judicial Council hearing began to investigate charges brought by Community Council against former Community Council Chair Lorenzo Gaynes. Gaynes was charged with spending for personal gain, forgery, spending outside the Master Budget, and spending without the approval of Community Council. Charges were brought late Spring of 1996, but were postponed while G. was on leave. On March 12, the Judicial Council made a ruling on the Lorenzo Gaynes case. The Council recommended that G. pay back $1814.40, be placed on disciplinary probation, have a note of the incident put on his transcript, and not be able to hold positions of financial responsibility on the campus. They also made recommendations on revising financial procedures of Community Council.

Following the initial indicment of L.G., at a March 11th Community Council meeting FiCom Chair Nathaniel Irons and FiCom member, Dan Gregor brought charges against the new Community Council Chair, William Doane, for allegedly modifying the Council bylaws without approval, as well as Seth Mills-Cannon, Council Parliamentarian, for negligence. Mills-Cannon claimed the charges were personally motivated. Doane resigned. Rebecca Saunders was elected Chair following Doane's resignation. 2 weeks later, four members of Community Council --students Alexis Eynon, and Seth Mills-Cannon, and staff Sarah Reeves and Steve Berube-- resigned. They expressed their dissatisfaction with the process that took place at the previous meeting on March 11, saying that it was personally motivated, secretive, and improperly carried out.

On October 28, 1997, Rebecca Saunders resigned citing academic work and an ineffectual relationship with Dean of Student Affairs Bob Sanborn as reasons. s. Co-chairs Jenny Donovan and Peter Lull took her place. In November 1997, a Constitutional Reconciliation Committee attempted to produce a constitution that could be passed by Community Council, the Faculty, and the Board of Trustees. After six years of failed attempts by larger bodies, they hoped to have a new draft by December 5 for the Board of Trustees meeting.

1998
On February 17, after two weeks of deliberation, Community Council endorsed changes to the Hampshire College Constitution Some Community Council members were upset by the sudden appearance of the move to ratify the constitution on Council's agenda, feeling they were unprepared to make such a substantial move.

1999
On March 31st, at-large representative Faiysal AliKhan resigned citing an inability to effect change in six months as a member of Community Council. Community Council 1999-2000

2002
Joseph Rosenbaum, nicknamed "Lemmy" after the Mario Bros. character served on Council from 2002 to 2004 (?). He was controversial for his insistence on blocking any vote not being blocked by anyone else.

2007
In Fall 2007, Community Council held an all-community meeting in the Main Lecture Hall about the school considering putting security cameras in the parking lots. The meeting was packed, and got very heated.

2008
prescendent set for vote of no confidence

On April 28th 2009 the Community Council made only two decisions regarding the Elections Procedures for Fall of 2009:


 * That there would be twelve positions as there were this year, six at-large positions and six housing based positions The same as there was in the Fall 2008 year. * Council Officers would be nominated in Council and voted on by the Community at-large.

All logistics were left up to the Task Force to convene at the start of Fall 2009

2009
In spring of 2009, Community Council took several meetings --including a 5 hour Saturday afternoon session-- to review the Community Council constitution and vote on amendments. The most important amendment was a move to limit consolidation of power within Community Council -- students were no longer allowed to hold more than one officer position within Community Council as well as its subcommittees, except for extreme conditions where absolutely no other student was willing to take on an empty officer position.

2012
In Spring of 2012, Community Council officially ceased meeting after an order was placed for its dissolution by the Board of Trustees. It was subsequently replaced by the Hampshire Student Union