hampshire was created in 1965 by four other colleges as an experiment in higher education. the campus opened and the first class of students arrived in 1970. the presidents of amherst college, smith college, mount holyoke college, and the university of massachusetts got together in the 1950s and early 1960s and realized that there were things their own schools did not do very well. they also thought that the world was changing a lot and needed a college where students would have a lot of responsibility for their own education to be successful in the future.