Hampshire College Top Questions

Hampshire is a really relaxed open place. There are always people chilling passing a bowl. There are a lot of dance parties, live funk music and the such. Our traditional parties include: Drag Ball, a gender confused prom. The Easter Keg Hunt, the whole school wandering around the woods in search of booze on easter sunday. Mustashio Bashio, a giant dance party in the greenhouse mod where everyone wears mustaches. And one of the most trippy Halloween parties on the east coast.

Well, we have a basketball team and an ultimate frisbee team. And next year a student is opening an Women's Rugby team. And thats about it for teams. Sports are almost dead here, at least competitive ones. However, whatever Hampshire lacks, there is also the five college system. So basically, if you dislike sports, its a great place to be. But, a lot of people here are outdoor-sy type people, and although they don't do sports, a lot of people enjoy walking, biking mountain climbing, etc.

There are a ton of on-campus activities and clubs, all the time. We've got everything from a cappella groups to a barbecue club to a horror and special effects club to a hip hop collective to our own circus troop. There are no fraternities or sororities, and I think everyone's pretty happy with that. There's so much going on every weekend that it's often pretty hard to decide what activities to do. I have not found it challenging to do things on Saturday night that do no involve drinking. For example, Saturday nights are the official movie-screening time of the club Excalibur, a sci-fi/fantasy club that's been around for over 10 years. They show movies like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" or "War Games", and episodes of various TV series like "Doctor Who" and "Firefly". And there are often snacks involved.

I joined the QCA my first year (Queer Community Association) and I ended up not having a lot of time for it. However they seem to be a very active group with a lot to do. They're very supportive and a good group of loving individuals. There are a lot of groups on campus, Amnesty International, Pre-Law group, Japanese Cinema/Manga groups, Knitting Circle, Improv Troupe, a Jewish group I don't remember them all, but there are a ton. Most people leave their doors open and unlocked during the day. They like to socialize and hang out. During the evening when people are around in the dorms and mods (on campus apartments) people will just hangout in each other's rooms and relax. Most people sleep with their doors closed and presumably a lot locked. It is a college campus after all, but it's also a safe campus. We're in rural MA, pretty safe space. There are a lot of sports, but they don't get much attention. We have a spectacular equestrian team, but they have to house their horses in nearby stables or at Mt. Holyoke. Our ultimate frisbee team (the Red Scare) does very well and is quite competitive. We also have men and women's basketball and soccer (they're not terribly competitive however). There are a lot of parties. It's pretty easy to find a party almost every weekend, but none of them are MASSIVE and get out of hand. It's easy enough to call Public Safety if they're too disruptive after quiet hours or seem dangerous (which rarely happens). We don't have frats or sororities. People can live together in the on campus apartments which are gained through a lottery system (for every semester attended you receive one lottery point which you pool together with friends to get a mod!).

Doors are always open. Everyone is really into meeting new people, so that's always helpful in making friends. Hampshire Halloween is the shit; so is Spring Jam. Lots of mod parties to go to, there's always beer around, and I'm not sure what sub-free kids do. Maybe it's Monopoly.

I partied a lot my first and second years. I had fun, but that was mostly because i got to drink and dance. parties just sort of pop up out of nowhere, they're not really advertised. a lot of people just chill and smoke pot on the weekends, some people stay sober (but you wouldn't really know it sometimes)...but the campus in general is boring with not a lot to do at night and on the weekends if you don't want to get trashed. get off campus, go to a nice restaurant in noho or amherst, go for a nice drive, go shopping, something..... people don't date here, they have sex with random people or they're in relationships, as far as i can tell. dating is too "traditional" (not to mention, yeah, i'll say it.......classy) for a lot of people here.

One of the biggest groups on campus is Red Scare Ultimate Frisbee. We are NOT as intense as people think we are, and we love having new people join our team, which is open to everyone. Red Scare has been one of the constants in my Hampshire career. Though it is a close knit community within Hampshire, I was able to break out of it somewhat, expanding my social sphere. HCEMS, a great program with great people always looking for new members and new leadership. People party a lot, but partying doesn't mean drinking, necessarily. With the Ultimate team, we're usually gone most weekends for tournaments. But when I'm here, there's usually a party, or music, or a party with music, going on. Boston is close. NYC is close. But even Northampton has some big and small names come to town to play shows.

There are plenty of options at Hampshire to create the social life you would want, though as at most places, mindless drinking and dancing dominates the social scene. The outdoors program is pretty awesome though, providing opportunities to kayak, rock climb, hike, canoes etc.

Athletic events are nigh on non-existent, except for frisbie and some soccer. Most people party on weekend nights, and that can mean anything from dinner party to rager. There are no frats or sororities. Theater, live music and poetry regardless of quality, always draw a large crowd. The only reasons to go off campus are to take classes at one of the other Five Colleges, or to go to the Amherst Brewing Company or The Moan and Dove.

Popular clubs include, shotokan karate lead by a surprisingly well known shotokan teacher, the fermentation club that makes beer and cheese and other things, and circus. Theater is popular at Hampshire and there are often student plays. No frats, or sororities, and no sports except for ultimate Frisbee. Their are parties most Fridays and Saturdays at Hampshire.