The college was founded as an experiment in alternative education as a complement to the three other area colleges – Amherst, Smith and Mount Holyoke – and the University of Massachusetts.
Hampshire College alumnus Aaron "E-J" Evans-Janes, left, demonstrates a cook stove he made to alumnus Nicholas Underhill during an open House at the Lemelson Center for Design Friday, the first day of festivities to mark the college's 40th anniversary. Evans-Janes is a member of the class of 2003 and Underhill, the class of 1971.
Evans-Janes spent two years in Zambia working in the Peace Corps where he built the stoves for people to use. AMHERST – Jarvis W. McCarther, Hampshire College class of 1970, said the college prepared him well for his life in law.
The college, the Philadelphia man said, helped “with your creativity and how you approach issues.” He said the skills “I learned here, what I learned about myself transferred” to later life.
McCarther is a member of the first graduating class at Hampshire College, which this weekend is celebrating its 40 anniversary.
Unlike traditional schools, the year a student enters, not graduates, is the how they are marked. Hundreds of alumni were returning to help celebrate, including filmmaker Ken Burns.
Nicholas Underhill, class of 1971, said coming to Hampshire gave him the time he needed to practice piano, something he wouldn’t have be able to do at a more traditional college. Underhill is a pianist and composer based in Cleveland.
The college was founded as an experiment in alternative education as a complement to the three other area colleges – Amherst, Smith and Mount Holyoke – and the University of Massachusetts. The Four Colleges became the Five Colleges.
McCarther said he had to convince his parents to allow him to come here. He studied political and social science.
He had applied to Amherst College, and Hampshire College looked at applicants to the area schools. When he was contacted and learned about the college, he was fascinated with the idea of being able to create his own program. And he knew “this is where I wanted to go.” He loved it so much, he said, he stayed on to work in the admissions office before heading to law school.
Underhill, who came the next year, said he too was drawn to the freedom the college offered. Had he gone the more traditional route, “I wouldn’t have been able to practice (as much.) It was my focus,” he said of music and piano.
Aaron “E-J” Evans-Janes said he might not have joined the Peace Corps had the college not led him there. He built cook stoves in Zambia, and found his time with the college prepared him for was to “try to spark innovation in the local villages.”
He said people in the villages “turned to outsiders to help for support.” The project he was working with helped them use their own resources.
On Friday, back on campus, he displayed his cook stove during the Social Change demonstration at the Lemelson Center for Design and Innovation.
Other events throughout the weekend include films, lectures, panel discussions, book signings by alums, music by alums, free classes, a session with Burns on Saturday and an Ultimate Frisbee game.