Opinion: About the Presidential Search at Hampshire College – A Response to Jonathon Podolsky

Jonathon Podolsky says that Hampshire College is at a crossroads, and finds problems with its current search for a new president.  He says that its interim president should not be a candidate, and that the membership of the search committee is wrong.

Hampshire is not at a crossroads.  It’s on a pathway….a pathway toward recovery from the mistakes of a president, in 2018-19, who misunderstood Hampshire and did not recognize the growing pains of a young college in the midst of a thriving five-college community. Lately that pathway has also encountered the same significant challenges that now affect all of higher education. Following that pathway takes time, money, and hard work, which has always been true for Hampshire. Hampshire just happens to be well suited to deal with the new challenges confronting all colleges today. 

From its beginning 60 years ago, Hampshire was to be a series of “successive approximations” of the best in higher education.  It has always been subject to change, some of it from within and some imposed on it from the outside. Change is part of its evolution, and was always expected to influence its behavior.

Hampshire asks its students to develop their own academic program in collaboration with faculty and other students who bring their own talents and experiences to the table. It’s more like a graduate school program or a small business, and not every undergraduate, not even every academic, can work that way.  

With no grades, no class ranking, but detailed evaluations from their academic advisers, students find Hampshire is more like the world they will soon enter than do most students at other colleges. Personal engagement is important at Hampshire, and faculty tell me the Hampshire style makes dealing with AI more productive and less threatening.

Right now Hampshire is conducting the search to find its next president. That person will need strong skills in communication that will inspire financial contributions, well-qualified faculty, and just the right kinds of students for what Hampshire offers.

It happens that its current interim president has those skills and experience. For more than five years Jenn Chrisler has been its chief fund raiser, and (along with its previous president) the college’s public voice. She has lived with Hampshire’s problems, its failures and successes, and knows the five-college community well, both inside and out. I hope she is not the only applicant who brings that kind of talent. But her professional background and comprehension of Hampshire means she deserves to be considered.

Jonathon Podolsky finds problems with Ms. Chrisler’s background. It happens that hers is not only well-suited to the Hampshire of today, but is very similar to one of Hampshire’s most successful presidents. Chuck Longsworth was the chief advancement officer of Amherst College before he helped to found Hampshire and became its second president.

Mr. Podolsky finds another problem in Ms. Chrisler’s candidacy; that she is on campus as the interim. I’ve had a lot of experience with leadership change, both at Hampshire, in business, and at another non-profit where I was its president. He’s right that, if not handled properly, her status can be an obstacle to encouraging other candidates of quality to apply. But I’ve seen it work out very well, with good candidates not discouraged from applying when they perceive the opportunity suits them and the process is fair. I know that Hampshire’s search team, and the search firm they’ve hired, understand this. 

Finally, I’ll comment on Mr. Podolsky’s criticism of the membership of the presidential search team. All of its nine members are trustees of the college. Six of them were Hampshire students (and another member is one now), with Hampshire experience beginning in 1971 and forward.  The other three members are trustees with very special credentials; they were elected by the college’s students, its faculty, and its staff.  All bring experiences from elsewhere, and their perceptions of the college’s current needs surely are influenced by those different personal experiences, but each of them also has a Hampshire College experience. That’s just what this search team needs.

The choice of a new president will not mean that Hampshire has reached the end of the trail.  It’s a young college, with the same kind of need for funds and talent that many other colleges wanted when they were young. With its commitment to an ever-evolving approach to higher education, and the financial support of people who believe in it, Hampshire can continue to attract the students and faculty who will thrive there.  Its new president will be the one who leads it on its pathway forward to success.

Ken Rosenthal has been involved with Hampshire since 1966, was its first chief financial officer, taught law classes there, was a trustee, an interim president, and is the proud father of an alum.