Leadership & Governance

Hampshire College President Resigns Suddenly, Citing a Campus Pulled Apart

By Zipporah Osei

April 5, 2019

Miriam Nelson, president of Hampshire College: “I am confident a new leader will work within a more favorable environment.”

Miriam E. Nelson, president of Hampshire College, announced suddenly on Friday that she would resign from her position, effective at 4 p.m. In the announcement of her resignation, Nelson said division over her leadership had become a distraction for the Massachusetts college in a time of financial turmoil.

Over the past five years, Hampshire has seen a steep decline in enrollment and faced deficits of close to $20 million. Nelson was named president in April 2018, at the height of the difficulties. She announced at the start of this year that the college was looking to join with some other institution to keep its doors open. Later the college announced that it would not enroll a full freshman class.

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“Since our announcement that we were seeking a strategic partner, I have been gratified by the outpouring of support for Hampshire,” Nelson wrote in a letter to the campus on Friday. “Yet even as we made some progress in finding a sustainable and impactful future, the mere fact that we were doing so pulled our community apart.”

She continued: “So long as I were to remain president of Hampshire, the community’s feelings about me would be a distraction from the necessary work. I am confident a new leader will work within a more favorable environment and find the path to daylight that has eluded me.”

Kim Saal, vice chair of the Board of Trustees, also submitted his resignation in a letter on Friday. “My love for Hampshire has never wavered, and I will always cherish being a member of the Hampshire community,” Saal wrote in a statement.

Last week Gaye Hill, chair of the board, resigned as well.

With Nelson’s departure, the college said it would pursue a plan to stay independent through a new fund-raising campaign.

The Board of Trustees has appointed Ken Rosenthal, one of the college’s founders, as interim president.

Nelson said in her statement that she would welcome new leadership that would “unite the community.”

Zipporah Osei is an editorial intern at The Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter @zipporahosei, or email her at zipporah.osei@chronicle.com.