Fond remembrances of Chuck, his life, and his work are welcomed here.
12 Replies to “Fond remembrances of Chuck, his life, and his work are welcomed here.”
Thank you Mr. President , for your innovative, and inspirational vision of a College that gave us students so many intellectual challenges, creative experiences and positive growth. As a student from ’72-’75, I am forever grateful for my years at Hampshire because of your energy, commitment and leadership. May you rest in peace in God’s hands.
While alas I did not meet him personally, his and your shared vision inspired me into Hampshire and continues to do so today in work and life, and going forward…
Please accept my condolences on your and your family’s great loss, and the passing of a so badly needed American visionary and manifestor…
I found Hampshire such a warm and exciting place to go to College, and this emanated from so many different parts of the school — professors, staff, students, student organizations and even funky/cute bureaucratic procedures. I always felt that Chuck Longsworth was key in setting that friendly + intellectually stimulating tone.
As I remember, it was March 31, 1972 when three of us were sleepless in a module wondering how to celebrate April Fool’s Day. Dorli Demmler, Russ Resslhuber and I were goofing on the Hampshire sign at the base of the driveway, which had been painted with colors left over from painting walls in new buildings. We thought it looked like the driveway could lead to a truck stop just as well as to a college, so we found paper and paint and decided on the wording: Chuck’s All-Nite Truck Stop ‘n College. Dorli was the calligrapher. We stayed up all night doing it, and at daybreak we rode rolling desk chairs down the hill and put up our sign. I think Ken Rosenthal drove by and saw us. A few days later there was a note from Chuck in my mailbox: “If you know who up up that sign, tell her I got a kick out of it.”
I entered Hampshire in 1972 and was on the student senate. I remember there was a discussion about some point (important at the time to me but not now). After the meeting, he invited me to his office to talk. That was profound, he would take time to talk with me (a freshman, from a small community in upstate New York). He took an interest. He was the culture of Hampshire at that time and what an amazing culture he created (even though at the time it seemed like herding idealistic, over energized, drug crazed cats to a common place and goal). It was exciting, we created what had never been done before. He was the chief who with grace, charm, caring, warmth and understanding and a preppy look blended all the ingredients to create Hampshire College’s vision and path. He was the ideal first President.
I remember the “Solongsworth” campaign when Chuck was stepping down. I always felt he was warm, funny and very interested in helping a project. The humor of the Solongsworth fit him to a tee. But I was really taken with Polly when she came to see me in a 1973 production of “Steambath,” and came backstage afterwards to talk. She said she had seen the NY production and thought that she enjoyed our version more. Apart from her excellent taste, I appreciated the support for a very young aspiring actor. I felt great for the rest of that run.
Cheers Chuck!!!
It was an honor to follow Chuck as President of Hampshire College. The college was in good shape financially, it had superb faculty members and a strong student body.
It is a challenge to build a new college and Chuck met that challenge completely. Not only did he oversee the building on the campus which was very well designed, he hired a strong administrative team and excellent faculty members. He knew that it was important for the college’s reputation to have high admissions standards, and that made a big difference.
Perhaps most important he had excellent relations with the other four colleges, ensuring that the college complemented them and took advantage of their strenghs. Hampshire did not have to offer advanced physics, as students could take that elsewhere. But the college’s focus on interdisciplinary work was unique.
The college expected and still expects a lot from students, including the fact that every student has to write a thesis. This requires every student to decide what they are passionate about, do research, and write a careful and thorough study about it.
The record of Hampshire graduates demonstrates how special the college was and still is.
The college that Chuck built is still unique and very strong. But without his impressive leadership it would not be where it is.
Again, it was an honor to succeed him and build on all that he did.
Bear with me. In 1970 just after Hampshire started rolling, I had a tiny French Simca car. Not exactly a safe vehicle for many reasons. One of the less obvious was that the the carburetor was spring loaded to the full throttle position. The cable and another spring kept it at idle. One day driving down the hill to Rt16 the cable broke and the motor went to full throttle. After my initial surprise I took it out of gear and turned the ignition off and rolled to the shoulder. I had no clue what had happened. Chuck Longsworth was behind me and pulled over. In about 2 minutes he figured out what the issue was and asked if I had a bungee cord or some string. I found some string under the seat and he took it and tied the throttle so it was at about one third open. It allowed me to drive to a local shop that eventually fixed it for me. I was in awe. Never saw that one comming. Work with what you have …..my lesson for the day and the rest of my life. Thanks Chuck. I’ll bet he even made it to his meeting on time.
My fondest memory is when my friend, a fellow student took me to a ballroom dancing class being held on campus, and President Longsworth asked me to dance ~ it was my birthday and he was such a beautiful dancer. I still remember the “dip” at the end of the dance. He was kind and approachable and warm. I am so sorry to hear of his passing.
I’ll always appreciate the interest Chuck had in our plans to expand the Electronic Music Studio, something that Jim Wright ’73 and I worked very hard to bring about.
Chuck Longsworth was my President when I attended Hampshire. He offered regular office hours when students like myself could drop by his office and ask or tell him things. That was one of many delightful things that set Hampshire apart from its peers for me. I appreciated his willingness to listen and engage.
Thank you Mr. President , for your innovative, and inspirational vision of a College that gave us students so many intellectual challenges, creative experiences and positive growth. As a student from ’72-’75, I am forever grateful for my years at Hampshire because of your energy, commitment and leadership. May you rest in peace in God’s hands.
While alas I did not meet him personally, his and your shared vision inspired me into Hampshire and continues to do so today in work and life, and going forward…
Please accept my condolences on your and your family’s great loss, and the passing of a so badly needed American visionary and manifestor…
I found Hampshire such a warm and exciting place to go to College, and this emanated from so many different parts of the school — professors, staff, students, student organizations and even funky/cute bureaucratic procedures. I always felt that Chuck Longsworth was key in setting that friendly + intellectually stimulating tone.
As I remember, it was March 31, 1972 when three of us were sleepless in a module wondering how to celebrate April Fool’s Day. Dorli Demmler, Russ Resslhuber and I were goofing on the Hampshire sign at the base of the driveway, which had been painted with colors left over from painting walls in new buildings. We thought it looked like the driveway could lead to a truck stop just as well as to a college, so we found paper and paint and decided on the wording: Chuck’s All-Nite Truck Stop ‘n College. Dorli was the calligrapher. We stayed up all night doing it, and at daybreak we rode rolling desk chairs down the hill and put up our sign. I think Ken Rosenthal drove by and saw us. A few days later there was a note from Chuck in my mailbox: “If you know who up up that sign, tell her I got a kick out of it.”
I entered Hampshire in 1972 and was on the student senate. I remember there was a discussion about some point (important at the time to me but not now). After the meeting, he invited me to his office to talk. That was profound, he would take time to talk with me (a freshman, from a small community in upstate New York). He took an interest. He was the culture of Hampshire at that time and what an amazing culture he created (even though at the time it seemed like herding idealistic, over energized, drug crazed cats to a common place and goal). It was exciting, we created what had never been done before. He was the chief who with grace, charm, caring, warmth and understanding and a preppy look blended all the ingredients to create Hampshire College’s vision and path. He was the ideal first President.
I remember the “Solongsworth” campaign when Chuck was stepping down. I always felt he was warm, funny and very interested in helping a project. The humor of the Solongsworth fit him to a tee. But I was really taken with Polly when she came to see me in a 1973 production of “Steambath,” and came backstage afterwards to talk. She said she had seen the NY production and thought that she enjoyed our version more. Apart from her excellent taste, I appreciated the support for a very young aspiring actor. I felt great for the rest of that run.
Cheers Chuck!!!
It was an honor to follow Chuck as President of Hampshire College. The college was in good shape financially, it had superb faculty members and a strong student body.
It is a challenge to build a new college and Chuck met that challenge completely. Not only did he oversee the building on the campus which was very well designed, he hired a strong administrative team and excellent faculty members. He knew that it was important for the college’s reputation to have high admissions standards, and that made a big difference.
Perhaps most important he had excellent relations with the other four colleges, ensuring that the college complemented them and took advantage of their strenghs. Hampshire did not have to offer advanced physics, as students could take that elsewhere. But the college’s focus on interdisciplinary work was unique.
The college expected and still expects a lot from students, including the fact that every student has to write a thesis. This requires every student to decide what they are passionate about, do research, and write a careful and thorough study about it.
The record of Hampshire graduates demonstrates how special the college was and still is.
The college that Chuck built is still unique and very strong. But without his impressive leadership it would not be where it is.
Again, it was an honor to succeed him and build on all that he did.
Adele Simmons
Bear with me. In 1970 just after Hampshire started rolling, I had a tiny French Simca car. Not exactly a safe vehicle for many reasons. One of the less obvious was that the the carburetor was spring loaded to the full throttle position. The cable and another spring kept it at idle. One day driving down the hill to Rt16 the cable broke and the motor went to full throttle. After my initial surprise I took it out of gear and turned the ignition off and rolled to the shoulder. I had no clue what had happened. Chuck Longsworth was behind me and pulled over. In about 2 minutes he figured out what the issue was and asked if I had a bungee cord or some string. I found some string under the seat and he took it and tied the throttle so it was at about one third open. It allowed me to drive to a local shop that eventually fixed it for me. I was in awe. Never saw that one comming. Work with what you have …..my lesson for the day and the rest of my life. Thanks Chuck. I’ll bet he even made it to his meeting on time.
My fondest memory is when my friend, a fellow student took me to a ballroom dancing class being held on campus, and President Longsworth asked me to dance ~ it was my birthday and he was such a beautiful dancer. I still remember the “dip” at the end of the dance. He was kind and approachable and warm. I am so sorry to hear of his passing.
I’ll always appreciate the interest Chuck had in our plans to expand the Electronic Music Studio, something that Jim Wright ’73 and I worked very hard to bring about.
Chuck Longsworth was my President when I attended Hampshire. He offered regular office hours when students like myself could drop by his office and ask or tell him things. That was one of many delightful things that set Hampshire apart from its peers for me. I appreciated his willingness to listen and engage.
So many lives touched by his vision, so much good put into the world.