By David Porter 

Hampshire College’s final commencement Saturday may have been most memorable for what wasn’t in evidence – bitterness, anger or grief at the school’s pending closure after years of financial struggles. If those emotions were there – and they surely must have been – they took a backseat to a ceremony whose joy and optimism matched the picture-perfect spring day. 

The buoyant mood built as the crowd gathered, aided by a bouncy soundtrack that leaned heavily on late 1960s and 1970s classics. Whether by coincidence or not, Linda Ronstadt’s “Different Drum” (yes, it’s about a too-clingy boyfriend) seemed a fitting choice, as the nontraditional school has marched to its own beat for more than 50 years. 

While the school’s announcement last month that it would close came as little surprise to those who have been following Hampshire’s declining enrollment and funding woes, the news still sent shock waves through the five college community, and it may have been particularly jarring on Saturday to hear President Jennifer Chrisler refer to the school in the past tense.  

“For nearly 60 years Hampshire acted as a lightning rod for students who wanted to think differently about the world and about themselves,” Chrisler told the 192 degree recipients. “Hampshire took it as a given that students can and should be trusted with the freedom to pursue their own interest and do something unexpected along the way. That’s the purpose of education, to make people more engaged with the world, not to look at it from a distance. What you carry forward now is the living proof of why Hampshire matters.”

Chrisler and the other speakers acknowledged the day’s difficult emotions but focused on the positives. Keynote speaker J Finley, an associate professor of Africana studies at Pomona College in California, said she was filled with “grief, and gratitude,” then spoke fondly of her time at Hampshire in the early 2000s as a kid from Louisville, Kentucky who overcame self doubts to flourish during her years on campus. 

There were plenty of laughs, chants, inside jokes from the student speakers and, in general, the type of atmosphere that would have been unremarkable at most colleges around the country this month. Though on second thought, it’s doubtful one would find Campus Safety Assistant Mike Purcell’s heartfelt rendition of Jim Croce’s “I’ve Got A Name,” which quickly turned into a singalong with clapping, anywhere else. 

All photos by David Porter.