#HampForward

A few days ago, I wrote about the convergence that seemed to be happening at Hampshire College.
Yesterday, the President and another Board member resigned.  There was cheering and excitement at Hampshire, facebook, and Slack.
Why was there cheering?  Because the President charted a course for Hampshire that many in the community felt was (so far) an unnecessary last resort.  Is it possible that Hampshire would some day need to partner with another institution?  Yes.  It’s possible – after other options are deemed infeasible.  The problem here is that the community doesn’t understand how/that Miriam Nelson sufficiently researched all other options, and how she deemed them infeasible so early in her tenure @ Hampshire.
She believed that what she was doing was good for Hampshire. Some members of our community were angry at her, and I understand that anger, but I never felt it myself.  In the same way, I don’t feel happy that she decided to step down.  This has been terribly difficult for her, I’m sure.
But this is bigger than her, or any one person (or even any group of people).  Now is the time to pull together, and her departure gives us that opportunity.  The convergence I described on Wednesday continues.  On campus, several members of the Alumni Advisory Group (AAG) joined the re-envisioning Hampshire Coalition meeting. It was eye-opening for me.  These folks are serious, ded...

Source: Docnotes - April 6, 2019 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jacob Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs