Hampshire College Receives $5 Million Gift Honoring Alumnus Ken Burns

AMHERST — Hampshire College announced a new $5 million investment in its Change in the Making campaign. This second $5 million gift to the campaign, given by an anonymous benefactor, will fund the Ken Burns Initiative to Transform Higher Education, propelling implementation of Hampshire’s innovative approach to undergraduate liberal-arts education.

“This is yet another historic moment for Hampshire College,” President Ed Wingenbach said. “We’re reinventing the liberal arts by placing globally relevant questions at the center of our curriculum and challenging students to become agents of momentous change. This donor — who has no previous affiliation with the college — recognizes that higher education requires radical change and that Hampshire is best suited to lead that disruption. We are enormously grateful.”

The unrestricted operating gift supports the ongoing implementation of a new curricular model that organizes undergraduate education around the most urgent challenges of our time, instead of the traditional structures of majors and disciplines. This revolutionary way of teaching and learning is intended to prepare students for meaningful work that can change the world.

The initiative will accelerate development of innovative approaches to inquiry-driven, project-based education that enables students to master the entrepreneurial skills needed for today and for tomorrow. Key components of Hampshire’s curriculum — building courses around urgent challenges, the unique Semester Unbound program, learning collaboratives, and project teams — will all be supported by these funds.

“I’m humbled that such a generous philanthropist chose to make this extraordinary gift to my alma mater in my honor,” said campaign co-chair Ken Burns. “I know Hampshire is transformative because I experienced it firsthand. I saw how the originality of practices implemented at the college reverberated through higher education. Fifty years later, our nation needs fresh thinking in higher education, and Hampshire is poised to deliver on that opportunity.”

Since its launch in January 2020, Change in the Making: A Campaign for Hampshire has raised more than $33 million toward its $60 million goal and is on track for a successful completion in June 2024.