Hampshire College

Some great news on a sad day because TO GO IS NOT ENOUGH! ✨📢Hamp merch is back! ✨📢 With our new print-on-demand service, you can order your favorite swag and support the College at the same time. 17% (🥹) of proceeds will support current operations. ❤️🐸❤️

https://www.moq1.com/soundscapemerchandise/hampshire-college

Rebecca Reynolds 82F (Rebecca Reynolds Consulting), author of Thresholds of Change: The Way Through Transformational Times, is working on a new book that blends historical fiction and memoir, as she says, “to trace the parallel journeys of two women navigating male-dominated worlds centuries apart: the life of a little-known eighteenth-century singer whose story offers a window into lives long obscured and misrepresented by history, and my own experiences as a young researcher in Italy."

The project's beginnings date back to her Div III, during which Rebecca's research took her to archives in Italy. "I've had this memoir project in mind for years," writes Rebecca. "Recently, the idea came to me to write both stories (mine and the singer's) in first person, rather than approach hers as something I tell as part of my memoir. This idea excited me, and I started to hear her voice coming through. As I considered how to integrate our voices, I realized our experiences shared thematic anchors that could shape an interesting book structure. The timing is also poignant because of Hampshire's closing. It now feels like a love letter to Hampshire and what going there enabled me to do forty years ago."

Hampshire alums, new grads, students, staff, and a current parent gathered in Boston last Thursday evening at the Jamaica Plain home of Sam Bergquist 82F. There were many sweet moments and offers of support, but perhaps one of the most poignant moments came when a 1970s alum and current student both declared, "You seem like someone who could be in MY Hampshire class!"

Generous alums have stepped up to host similar casual gatherings in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. RSVP for one near you by visiting the Hampshire Network at https://hampshirenetwork.com/events

Shawna Itakura 23F (they/them) studied creative movement and community organizing with Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance Lailye Weidman and the dance program at Hampshire. They were part of the 2023 Faculty Concert, SEED (Show up, Express, Exchange, and Dance) shows, and one of Shawna's most memorable classes was Dancing Coalition, a class about physical movement and political movement — what we can learn from them and their similarities.

Shawna is interested in pursuing continued education in human sexuality to become a sexuality educator. Outside of academics, they are looking forward to traveling, meeting new people, and working on learning Spanish. They are a social butterfly, open to connecting and looking forward to connecting with other Hamp alums!

Congratulations, Shawna!

Congratulations to 2026 Hampshire graduate Zukiswa Mhlongo 22F who will attend Columbia University for an M.F.A. in fiction writing in the fall! Mhlongo concentrated in African feminist activist storytelling, and received both the Five College International Relations certificate and the Five College African Studies certificate. Her work was published in Hampshire’s “The Reader” and in Amherst College’s “Lilac.” She believes her Division III novel manuscript, her poetry chapbook, and her participation in Hampshire College’s poetry club are all reasons she was accepted into the prestigious Columbia program, along with her other accolades.

She would like to thank Co-director of the Writing Program and Faculty Associate Faune Albert 02F and Professor of Anthropology, Literary Arts, and African Studies Nathalie Arnold for supporting her lyrical writing over the years, as well as her grad school application; Assistant Director for Community Advocacy Anne West for her influence on her Center for Feminisms work; and Arnold and Professor of Economics Omar Dahi for encouraging her academic knowledge acquisition in politics, which she imbues into her work. She is extremely grateful and excited to be attending Columbia and joining the New York City Hampshire College Alumni community.

Extra, extra! Read all about it! Final spring commencement at Hampshire College imbued with celebration despite impending closure! https://www.hampshire.edu/news/final-spring-commencement-hampshire-college-imbued-celebration-despite-impending-closure