FilmSnobReviews

Title: The Unmaking of a College
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Amy Goldstein
Starring: Ken Burns, Moon West, Jeffery Sonnenfield
Runtime: 1 hr 24 mins

What It Is: In 2019, student-dominated Hampshire College finds itself with new faculty: Miriam “Mim” Nelson stands as president, though with odd intent to turn the school on its head. Determined to reshape the school without the consultation of staff and students with possibly devastating consequences to its economy, the president found herself at the opposition of the college community, determined to save their school and prepare for incoming freshmen.

What We Think: Directed by an alum of the school and a FSR favorite, Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl, The Unmaking of a College is a straightforward documentary that allows itself to be incredibly involved in the story it follows, told entirely by those who lived it. It is entirely felt, Goldstein managed to make what would otherwise just be doomed to be a news article headline into a story about how the influence of political rule bleed into the most independent and private facets of American culture. If you’ve ever been to a college, which I have, you, reader, are likely very familiar with how colleges and universities are seen and treated as business transactions rather than putting the needs of the student and their education first because of corporate interest. Being in college, feeling the weight of systematic ignorance is always prominent (The Hunting Ground is also another fantastic yet more devasting college-centric documentary I would recommend to double feature). I admire Goldstein and the interviewees sharing this point in history where the students have been able to push back and win their independence, winning back necessary and financial benefits that would have otherwise been lost because of former President Nelson’s agenda to make the school more profitable for her administration and blend into the scores of colleges that do the same.

Our Grade: B, A wakeup call to bring back the voices of students as a good-standing higher education is seemingly more inaccessible and watered-down than ever, The Unmaking of a College is a quick portrait of students ensuring their standing in education, rather than being treated as dollar signs by the educational climate that is meant to benefit and support them.