In Dec. 2017, Hamilton College announced its 18th Boston Posse, of which I was a member. The following May, in the midst of high school finals frenzy, the College said that it was discontinuing its relationship with Boston Posse and that my posse would be the last. As scholars still undergoing training and without full knowledge of life on campus, my posse members and I had no idea what was happening. Today, in the latter half of our first year, we are more than confused: we are angry, hurt, and beyond frustrated.
As it sets in that Boston Posse is truly ending, the Posse community and our friends are becoming increasingly distressed. Higher officials in the administration have yet to give concrete, transparent answers as to why they decided to end Boston Posse at Hamilton. From what we do know, it was a decision made without input from Posse — not one Posse scholar or one Posse alumnus was present in any of the conversations. The administration took it upon themselves to make a momentous decision that will deeply affect dozens of people within the Posse community without informing anyone in that collective.
In reducing us to numbers, statistics, and dollar signs, they stripped of us of our identities and humanity. They overlooked all that we offer to Hamilton, including our geographical and cultural diversity, our leadership, our innovation, our academic excellence, our resilience, and our hard work. We are Residential Advisors, community organizers, club leaders, student government representatives, and more. We put all of our energy and spirit into everything we do on this campus and for this college, and we are repaid with a single email telling us we are no longer wanted.
The effects of cutting Boston is compounding. It is more than just an end to an 18-year-long partnership. We — as in current Boston and Miami scholars and future Miami scholars — are being robbed of a true Posse experience. This is especially true for those of the last Boston Posse. My fellow members and myself will never experience mentoring and supporting our “babies” (in the Posse community, the youngest Posse members are referred to as “Posse babies,”) which is a fundamental part of the Posse experience here on campus. When we are seniors, we will be all that is left of Boston Posse. When we graduate, we will do so knowing that Boston Posse may never again exist on this campus, that 18 years of effort, passion, time, and energy has ended, and that future Boston students will be missing out on an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to Hamilton and connect with the incredible Posse community.
At a college where white students from suburbs and high socioeconomic backgrounds constitute the majority of the student body, the Posse community has been instrumental in helping me have positive and fulfilling Hamilton experiences. With the Posse community’s support, it is marginally easier to navigate the cultural shock, stress, and anxiety that comes from entering an environment where nearly 70 percent of the population is vastly different from you and what you are most familiar and comfortable with. Without Boston Posse, our community will never be the same.
Finding comfort and solace at Hamilton as a person of color and/or as someone from a lower socioeconomic background is already near-impossible. By reducing our Posse community and the support systems it has to offer by half, the administration has made the lives of its on-campus Posse scholars that much more wearing. Additionally, future Miami scholars will miss out on the significant bond between Boston Posse and Miami Posse. The presence of both cities’ Posse scholars is integral to our Posse experience; by ending Boston Posse, the administration is terminating nearly a decade of tradition and community building.
During our annual PossePlus Retreat in the beginning of the month, it became clear that the decision to end Boston Posse has affected scholars and supporters in ways that are only negative and counterproductive. Most scholars already feel unsupported, unwanted, and discouraged by most the administration and student body, and the termination of Boston Posse has only exacerbated those feelings. Many of us feel as though the administration is purposefully working against us. In being told that Posse costs too much money, or that we require too many resources, we are being made to feel as though Hamilton can no longer profit off of our emotional labor, our hard work, and our spirit, and so it will no longer invest in our futures because we are simply not worth it.
We know that the reinstatement of Boston Posse is highly unlikely, and although we would love for that to happen, that is not why I am writing this piece. Instead, we are simply asking to be given straightforward answers to the questions we have about why and how the decision was made. We want to know what the College plans to do instead of Boston Posse. And we want to be treated with respect and dignity in our conversations about Boston Posse going forward. Given all that we — both Boston scholars and Miami scholars — have offered the College over the last 18 years and will continue to offer for the foreseeable future, is that really so much to ask?
