The Hampshire College Sex Culture

Hampshire College is a bad place to live. When I attended Hampshire, the drug culture and sexual promiscuity of the place was legendary. The semester before I entered, Playboy magazine had covered the Hampshire College annual Halloween party and put it on their recommended list.

The Hampshire College Drug Culture

Hampshire was well known in that part of Western Massachusetts as a place to buy a wide variety of drugs. One woman that I knew of was earning her Hampshire tuition every semester by dealing.

Promiscuity at Hampshire College

When I attended parties at Hampshire College, I saw both male and female students attend parties nude, and for one event hosted in the Hampshire dining commons, I witnessed one particularly intrepid couple actually having sexual intercourse on the dance floor. Of course the promiscuity of Hampshire is institutionally supported, with its coed steam room and walkthrough coed bathrooms in the dorms.

Bad Housing at Hampshire College

The housing at Hampshire College was terrible. The dorms were noisy, and both of the housing complexes I stayed in were poorly constructed, not sound proofed, and inadequately heated. What I understand about those housing complexes is that they were built as temporary housing at the time that Hampshire started and are still in use now, forty years later.

Dangerous Parking at Hampshire College

Not only are the buildings shoddily built, the college grounds are poorly maintained. Twice I had to get my car towed out of parking lots that were muddy, potholed, and covered with dangerous ice in the winter.

Profound Isolation at Hampshire College

Worse than the living conditions at Hampshire was the profound isolation that I and many other students experienced living on campus. It is part of the structure of Hampshire’s education that each student pursues their own educational goals from Division One through Division Three. What this means is that each student is very much alone with their work, and it is often the case that you won’t meet another student studying in your area of interest, even though they are there at the same time you are.

No Exchange of Ideas at Hampshire College

One woman I know who graduated from Hampshire only learned that another student had completed a Division Three in similar subject when she heard it announced as the other woman went to pick up her diploma at graduation. She told me they had a very good conversation about their studies on that day.

Amherst is in Economic Collapse

Finally, Amherst Massachusetts is a horrible place to live. If for some reason a student chooses to leave the Hampshire campus, the Town of Amherst itself is in a state of economic collapse, with restaurants that cater to UMass students being the only businesses that can still survive there.

No Town of Amherst to Visit

There are no super markets in Amherst, and hardly any other shopping in the Town center. Further, the Town has a stated goal of using parking tickets and motor vehicle infractions as revenue steams, effectively making it illegal to operate a car in Amherst.

No Hampshire Town / Gown Relationship

The Hampshire campus is located in an isolated location, four miles from the town center, meaning that there is no Town/Gown relationship, and that students have the choice of either taking the bus or driving their car, at the risk if it getting ticketed or towed by the overzealous Amherst parking management.