1988-89

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. 11


 * A group of first-year students living in Dana House as a result of overcrowded housing begin a march across campus making loud noises in protest; the group is ultimately joined by over 50 students in the Dakin Quad, where Security ends the demonstration. [The Permanent Press: September 16,1988]

Sep. 13


 * Community Council, after years of challenging the MassPIRG line-item fee of $4 per student from the Student Activities Fee, votes to suspend funding for the group; Council Chairperson Kathryn Wichmann casts the deciding vote. [The Permanent Press: September 16, 1988]

Sep. 16


 * Many older students are reporting difficulty in finding classes that are not limited due to pre-registration; professors resort to lotteries and essays in order to fill available spaces. [The Permanent Press: September 16, 1988]


 * The installation of Publications and Public Information in Warner House has offically ended the crafts center that existed there for years. (The Permanent Press: September 16, 1988]

Sep. 17


 * Six unidentified naked students leave the sauna to begin an impromptu game of frisbee in the library quad, only to realize that in their zeal for fun they left their clothes in the building, which closed while they were playing. [The Permanent Press: September 30, 1988]

Sep. 22


 * After extensive protests by students, including an attempted demonstration organized by mod 75 residents Beth Marshall and Chris Anderson, Prescott House supervisor Jim Jemison lifts a ban that prohibited playing live music in the mods. [The Permanent Press: September 30, 1988]


 * An eight-day conference entitled "The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: Realities and Alternatives", organized by students lead by Yogesh Chandrani, begins one of the largest lecture series in recent years. [The Permanent Press: October 14, 1988]

October
Oct. 4


 * Community Council approves a motion by student member Tim Shary to hold an election for a Third World student position; this is the first time since the position was reserved in 1981 that an election needed to be held. [The Permanent Press: October 14, 1988]

Oct. 14


 * After numerous debates and a primary narrowed the number of candidates for student trustee, second-year student Anita Fearman has been elected to the position by a wide margin, ending the most controversial student trustee election process ever. [Trustees Records]


 * Hampshire band Beatrice U.T.B. have released their first album, "Demolisten", with students Matt Bosson and Sage Guyton doing vocals, Sean Kennedy on guitar, and Tim Wilson on drums. [The Permanent Press: October 14,1988]


 * For the eighteenth consecutive year, the proposed construction of a student center is discussed by the Trustees, this time within the Campus Life Committee; negotiations at least produce blueprints. [The Permanent Press: October 28,1988]

Oct. 20


 * Despite distributing nomination forms to every student, not one candidate is nominated for Third World student member of Community Council. [Community Council Minutes: November 1, 1988]

Oct. 21


 * Under the conduction of third-year student Jason Uechi, the Hampshire College Marchin' Band delivers its first Parents' Weekend performance, from the library to Dakin. [The Permanent Press: October 28,1988]

Oct. 24


 * Adele Simmons announces she will resign as President of Hampshire College effective June 30, 1989, to take on a position with the MacArthur Foundation. [The Permanent Press: October 28, 1988]

Oct 28


 * Students Working Against Poverty (S.W.A.P.) have obtained an 8,000 square foot warehouse in Holyoke to use as a household necessities distribution center. [The Permanent Press October 28, 1988]


 * The Women's Center sponsors a Witch's Costume Ball in the Red Barn as a chem-free alternative to the Halloween Party taking place at Saga. [The Permanent Press: October 28, 1988]

November
Nov. 5


 * First-year student Cara Page organizes a "Candlelight Vigil to Celebrate Diversity" at the Grace Chruch in Amherst in response to a massive Ku Klux Klan rally planned that day in Philadelphia; over 100 Hampshire students attend. [The Permanent Press: December 9,1988]

Nov. 18


 * The Permanent Press publishes a special four-page section entitled "Adele in the Eyes of the Student Press", a retrospective of the President's eleven years at Hampshire. [The Permanent Press: November 18,1988]

December
Dec. 5


 * Administrators receive a petition of nearly 300 signatures, demanding that the extensive lighting problems on campus be fixed; by January 10, almost a third of the previously inoperative outdoor lights have been repaired. [The Permanent Press: February 3,1989]

Dec. 6


 * Despite critical opposition by four of its members, Community Council passes a motion to restructure its student membership, changing previous at-large positions to be filled and elected by underrepresented minority groups on campus. [The Permanent Press: December 9,1988]

Dec. 21


 * Division III student Denice O'Neill dies in the crash of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerby, Scotland; more than 300 other people perish in the disaster, caused by the explosion of a bomb placed on board by international terrorists. [The Permanent Press: February 3, 1989]

January
Jan. 21


 * Students, staff, and guests are shocked at the January commencement ceremony when Adele Simmons delivers a speech in which she stresses the financial needs of the college, encouraging donations to the continuing Capital Campaign. [The Permanent Press: February 3,1989]

February
Feb. 10


 * Former Admissions employee Vincent Washington is found guilty of assault and battery by a Northampton District Court judge for sexually harassing student Laura Ring on November 11, 1987. [The Permanent Press: February 17,1989]

Feb. 11


 * An emotional memorial service for Denice O'Neill is held in FPH; the college announces the establishment of the Denice O'Neill Fund for Division III research projects, as proposed by her friends Geralyn Flood, Sean Kennedy, and Rob Harmon. [The Permanent Press: February 17, 1989]

Feb. 14


 * Community Council rejects a countermotion by member Tim Shary to overturn the restructuring of Council membership approved in December; Shary cites numerous laws and college policies that are being violated, but most members decide these are invalid. [The Permanent Press: February 17, 1989]

Feb. 18


 * The Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program sponsors a rally at the Unitarian Meetinghouse in Amherst to show support for pro-choice abortion rights; the Supreme Court is expected to review the landmark Roe vs. Wade case in the next few months. [The Permanent Press: March 3, 1989]

Feb. 21


 * Former music professor Roland Wiggins, who sued the college for discrimination in his denial of reappointment, has settled out of court; student trustee Anita Fearman discovers $145,000 was removed from the endowment for a "one-time legal fee". [The Permanent Press: March 17, 19891

Feb. 25


 * The Feminist Studies Network holds their first meeting. [The Permanent Press: March 17, 1989]

March
Mar. 6


 * Under the new restructuring, the Community Council election for student candidates in the gay/lesbian/bisexual, older student, and student worker categories results in one of the lowest voter turnouts in Council history. [The Permanent Press: March 17, 1989]

Mar. 11


 * The winners of Hampshire's first Schick Super Hoops 3-on-3 Basketball Championships are the Assassins men's team of Tim O'Shea, Jason Blumklotz, and Jim Winter, and the Supersonic Trio women's team of Sue Melbourne, Lacey Johnston, and Kathryn Snow. [The Permanent Press: March 17, 1989]

Mar. 12


 * The Hampshire Marchin' Band participates in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Washington, D.C. [The Permanent Press: March17, 1989]

Mar. 17


 * Michael Ford, former Dean of Students, has been named the Dean of Multi-Cultural Affairs; the position was demanded and agreed to during the Dakin Masters House occupation a year earlier. [The Permanent Press: March 17,1989]

Mar. 28


 * Community Council member Peter Altman presides over a successful outdoor all- community meeting. [The Permanent Press: April 14,1989]

April
Apr. 4


 * After a heated debate on a petition by first-year student Ross Chafetz to instate a Jewish student representative on Community Council, the Council forms the Committee to Evaluate Restructuring in order to review specific new membership guidelines. [Community Council Minutes: April 4, 19891


 * Community Council approves a motion by member Stephan Jost to designate Greenwich donut 1 as older student housing effective in the fall semester. [The Permanent Press: April 14, 19891

Apr. 5


 * About 50 students gather for Hampshire's first all-community meeting for gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and heterosexual or questioning allies; the two-hour meeting addresses an extensive agenda. [The Permanent Press: April 14, 1989]

Apr. 8


 * Dozens of Hampshire students join over 600,000 protestors in Washington, D.C., in a national pro-choice march for abortion rights sponsored by the National Organization of Women. [The Permanent Press: April 14,1989]

Apr. 14


 * The Rainforest Action group has begun allocating proceeds from benefits to international defense funds and ecology programs. [The Permanent Press: April 14, 1989]

Apr. 20


 * The Committee to Evaluate Restructuring, organized by Community Council members Philip Bertani and Mitch Kramer, holds their first meeting. [The Permanent Press: April 14, 1989]

Apr. 22


 * The Hampshire College Baseball Team defeats Landmark College by a score of 5-3 for their first win ever; pitcher Aaron Rudelson throws a two-hitter while Jacob Hoye, Randy Jones, Peter Sheingold, Peter ODonnell, and Steve Deutsh make key plays. [The Permanent Press: April 28, 1989]

Apr. 24


 * Student protesters from Hampshire and UMass, calling themselves People for a Socially Responsible University, occupy Memorial Hall at UMass to protest the University's involvement with Department of Defense research. [The Permanent Press: April 28,1989]

Apr. 28


 * Signs have begun appearing on campus prohibiting cigarette smoking in public areas, in compliance with the Massachusetts Clean Air Act, which became law over a year ago. [The Permanent Press: April 28, 1989]

May
May 2


 * Community Council passes a motion by the Committee to Evaluate Restructuring which effectively ends the restructured student membership configuration and reinstates an Elections Committee to encourage a diverse range of future student candidates. [The Permanent Press: May 12, 1989]

May 4


 * Hampshire students are among the 35 protesters arrested after a 24-hour occupation of the UMass Graduate Research Center in the continuing demonstrations against Department of Defense research by People for a Socially Responsible University. [The Permanent Press: May 12, 1989]

July
July 15


 * After numerous student complaints and protests, Special Programs concedes to drop the $10/week rent that summer student workers had been paying for their Prescott mod rooms, rather than granting demands for a wage raise. [The Permanent Press: September 15, 1989]