Hampshire College President Ralph Hexter became the first college president to have a same-sex marriage earlier this month. Hexter wed his partner of 27 years, Manfred Kollmeier, over Labor Day weekend. However, they postponed public announcement of their nuptials until Hexter could share it with the Hampshire faculty and staff on Sept. 18 during the annual reception at the president's house. A celebration with students and staff took place last Wednesday (Sept. 19) on campus.

Hexter is not the only openly gay college leader, but he is the only one to wed a same-sex partner since the Massachusetts ruling in 2004 deemed it unconstitutional to permit solely heterosexual marriages.

"We wanted to announce our marriage to our community first," said Hexter in a press release. "This is our way of celebrating Hampshire College, which so warmly welcomed us as a couple when I was named president in 2005, and of celebrating the state of Massachusetts and all those who helped it become a pioneer in recognizing and upholding the right of gay couples to be legally married."

When asked why he thought there was such a proportionally small number of openly gay college presidents (estimated to be slightly more than 10), Hexter told the Associated Press that, "in many parts of academia, whether it's religious-based schools, many community colleges, [being gay] isn't as welcoming." He added that, however, "overall as an 'industry,' higher education is comparatively welcoming. There is a glass ceiling in most places. I think it has to do with the fact that the president is the chief fundraiser. In the older institutions there's a fear that some of the alumni who provide the greatest support and who are more conservative may be put off by this."

"Ralph and I made a lifelong commitment to one another many years ago, so marrying is not about marking a new stage in our relationship," Kollmeier said in the news release. "We feel it is important to exercise the precious right we have here to marry. Massachusetts should be the first, not the only state where this is possible. Discrimination should end and all couples who wish to be civilly married, wherever they live, should have the right to do so."

Hexter joined Hampshire in 2005 and is the college's fifth president. He holds degrees from Harvard, Oxford (Corpus Christi College) and Yale Universities, and has held teaching and administrative positions at Yale, the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of California-Berkeley. He serves on the board of trustees of the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley and on the board of advisors for the National Conference for Community and Justice.