Hampshire College Top Questions

There are a lot of student groups on campus, which are student-run. One popular group is New Leaf, a student group for environmental sustainability. Athletics are NOT big at Hampshire. The most popular sports team is our ultimate frisbee team, the Red Scare. There are also basketball and soccer teams (and possibly some others?) but they don't generally get a lot of attention on campus. There are no fraternities or sororities at Hampshire. There is definitely partying that happens on campus, but I don't know much about it because that's not my social scene. Although there is a lot of alcohol and drug use (especially marijuana) on campus, it is also possible to find students who are not into that. There are sub-free halls in the dorms, as well as sub-free mods. There are also different noise level designations in the dorms and mods. Hampshire Halloween is a very popular event that happens every year. Drag Ball is also popular. Midnight breakfast is served outside of the Merrill Living Room every Friday.

There is always something going around on Hampshire campus that is either totally organized by, or involving all students. Athletics are not very popular, and are basically there for the athletes to enjoy. Theater ranks among the most popular social events, as do the various musical performances that go on all the time.

Huge parties are not very common at Hampshire. Most parties will be no bigger then 20 or so people in an apartment drinking beers and smoking pot, sometimes dancing or playing beer pong. The occasional big party does happen though, usually with a live student band or blasting techno. These parties get very crowded, usually do not supply booze and usually center around dancing. Hampshire halloween is the biggest event of the year. Also known as "trip-or-treat" many of the students dress up and take hallucinogens or just get flat wasted. Another tradition is easter keg hunt, when fourth year students buy kegs and hide them in the forrest, and on easter morning all the students go out with cups looking for them. Everyone ends up wasted by noon. The music scene at Hampshire is OK, but nothing special.

This is not a party school. It is pretty small. Most parties are indie dance parties. Most weekends are just hanging out with the people you really like. People leave their doors open and unlocked. The dating scene is very open there is alot of sexual freedom accepted. There are no athletic events, (except the frisbee team), people are really into rock climbing ( we have a wall and bouldering cave) Most people are very friendly and willing to help out and most of all there is always interesting conversation.

Hampshire doesn't have as much of a social life as some other colleges, but the other four colleges in the area generally make up for that. There have been a few weekends when campus was dead, but generally there are multiple events being held on a Friday or Saturday night, both for sub-free and non-sub-free people.

Hampshire has really amazing traditions. One of them, that I think Hampshire is most famous for, is Hampshire Halloween. I'm not the hugest fan, but most people seem to have a good time. People come up with the craziest, most original costumes, and if you're going to head out, it's best that you follow suit. Another great Hampshire tradition is Drag Ball. It's really a huge, sweaty dance party where everyone dresses in drag (and tries to get laid). There are performances and a DJ, and it takes place in our dining commons. My favorite tradition is Spring Jam, which takes place a weekend or so after Drag Ball, in the Spring. There are blow up activies (obstacle course, moon bounce, sumo wrestling, jousting...), free sno-cones and cotton candy, and great live music that goes until really late at night. As long as it's sunny out, it's a guarenteed great time.

Ultimate Frisbee. otherwise no real sports teams on campus.... which isnt to say there arent those that play. People leave their doors open, which sometimes bothered me. you'd have to look at them while you walked down the hall, obligated to say hi. but i can be kind of antisocial. Parties are ok... mostly cramped. No frats or sororities. The best is just hanging outside with a few good friends, drinking... smoking... or not. I met my best friends there while in the dorms. We'd have to eat at the dining hall so mostly we'd just complain about the food and diarrhea as ice breakers.

Hampshire is not a huge drinking school. It is true that there is a lot of pot, but also I think that people prefer smaller, more intimate social groups. I have more often gone out in the woods, built a fire, cooked dinner and drank beer with close friends than played beer pong.

No teams (aside from frisbee), not many real clubs or organizations. No frats. If one is awake at 2am on a tuesday its the day before a paper is due or they are too high to sleep. Reasonably good theater and arts seen. If you don't like drinking on saturdays you can smoke some weed (I'm only half joking). Dating seen is very odd, to say the least. My freinds randomly assorted from people living near me, and freinds of freinds, etc.

No one is involved. I have started clubs but no one cares. People are mostly out doing things that personally interest them by themselves or with a few friends. Some students leave their doors open but people do steal. People feel safe bacause Hampshire is this "fruity, drug loving, liberal hippi school" but people are still human and they do steal. There are no athletic events save the occasional frisbee and basketball games which no one knows or cares about. There are rarely lectures at Hampshire worth going to although there are several other schools in the area. Hampshire Halloween has started sucking really hardcore. The administration wants to do away with the drug loving image and so they have cracked down in an extreme way. No one wants drug dealers running the scene at Hampshire but everyone does want to have a good time. The students are almost enitrely opposed to the anti-drug actions of the administration. How often do people party? Uhhh....depends on your definition of partying. How hard is it to find a group of people to smoke weed and drink with? Not hard at all. Drinking happends every weekend in excess even though there are never good parties. If you are planning to go to college for the awesome dance parties, skip Hampshire. Unless listening to jam bands and smelling unwashed bodies is your thing... Off campus you can see a movie, go in the woods or eat out. These are the three things you can do off campus unless you travel outside the valley.