‘Hampshire’s Not Dead’: Here’s What It’s Like to Be in Its 13-Person Freshman Class

Hampshire has never been an ordinary institution. Its student-designed curriculum and experimental approaches to learning have long been magnets for nontraditional students, and have produced an all-star cast of alumni, including the filmmaker Ken Burns and the actor Lupita Nyong’o. But the student experience for the baker’s dozen who have chosen to take a chance on the college may be Hampshire’s most unconventional yet.