In July 2025 UMass will join the Mid American Conference as a full member, retaining affiliate status in sports where the MAC does not compete.

The university was founded in 1863 under the provisions of the Federal Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act to provide instruction to Massachusetts citizens in "agricultural, mechanical, and military arts.

[23] In the 1880s, Goodell implemented an expansion plan, adding the College Drill Hall in 1883, the Old Chapel Library in 1885, and the East and West Experiment Stations in 1886 and 1890.

When UMass Boston was founded in 1963, it was initially reckoned as an off-site department of the Amherst campus and was headed by a chancellor who reported to the president.

Co-curricular service programs include the Alternative Spring Break, Engineers without Borders, the Legal Studies Civil Rights Clinical Project, the Medical Reserve Corps, Alpha Phi Omega, the Red Cross Club, the Rotaract Club, UCAN Volunteer, and the Veterans and Service Members Association (VSMA).

The research appeared in the May 2007 issue of Nature Nanotechnology, and the team is currently focusing on sensors, which will detect malformed proteins made by cancer cells.

[50] Also, UMass Amherst scientists Richard Farris, Todd Emrick, and Bryan Coughlin led a research team that developed a synthetic polymer that does not burn.

[76] Riots occurred after the Boston Red Sox lost the 1986 World Series, won in 2004 and 2007, after the Red Sox were eliminated in the 2003 and 2008 playoffs, after UMass' football team lost in the Division I-AA football championship game in 2006 and after the Patriots first Super Bowl victory over St. Louis in Super Bowl XXXVI.

"[80] UMass Amherst replaced the ban with a policy aimed at designing specific curricula for admitted Iranian nationals based on their needs.

While less controversial, this policy has still generated backlash, with one student saying, "This university that's supposed to be so open-minded forcing him to sign a document saying he won't go home and build a bomb or something is just really disappointing to see.

[82] The 9,000-seat Mullins Center, the multi-purpose arena of UMass Amherst hosts a wide variety of performances including speakers, rock concerts, and Broadway shows.

In addition, the Music, Dance, and Theater Departments, the Renaissance Center, and multiple student groups dedicated to the arts provide an eclectic menu of performances throughout the year.

The SGA also makes formal recommendations on matters of campus policy and advocates for undergraduate students to the Administration, non-student organizations, and local and state government.

In November 2010, "about a quarter of a million pounds of organic matter was moved by hand", using all student and community volunteer labor and no fossil fuels on-site.

Now, the Franklin Permaculture Garden includes a diverse mixture of "vegetables, fruit trees, berry bushes, culinary herbs, and a lot of flowers that will attract beneficial insects.

[88][89][90] Several fraternities had houses on North Pleasant Street until 2007 when several lots owned by Alpha Tau Gamma were sold to the university for $2,500,000 ($3,791,125 in today's money).

[citation needed] Following the Hamas-led October 7th, 2023 attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli bombing campaign and invasion of the besieged Gaza Strip, UMass Amherst experienced Pro-Palestinian student demonstrations throughout the 2023-24 school year.

On October 25, 2023, over 500 UMass Amherst students and faculty affiliated with a number of activist groups on campus organized a rally outside of the Whitmore administration building.

[98] Following the International Criminal Court case accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, protests continued at UMass Amherst during the Spring semester.

The administration’s aggressive stance towards the encampment was not the same as the response to a similar protest the previous year, which had demanded more equitable solutions for housing and did not face any sanction from the university.

[104] Although UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes claimed that ”involving law enforcement is the absolute last resort” in an email sent at 8:30pm that night,[105] police reinforcements had been brought in while negotiations were ongoing.

[109] As more arrests took place throughout the night, UMPD jails become overcrowded and campus shuttle buses were co-opted[110] to transport arrestees to be held at the Mullins Center.

[114] Sectors of the UMass community held that the chancellor’s decision to call police into campus was an irresponsible escalation that created an unsafe environment and betrayed the core values of the university.

[115] Other community members condemned the arrests and later no-trespass orders, with an arrestee stating “UMass is alienating their own — and surrounding — community by doing this… It’s a public university where people all over the area partake in events.”[116] The ACLU of Massachusetts later released a statement declaring “Campus administrators have an obligation to protect students’ safety on campus; at the same time, they must take all necessary measures to protect students’ right to protest.

It's a hallmark of our history… it also means that you don't arrest peaceful protesters.“[118] Shortly after, during a general faculty meeting on May 20th, a motion was put forth proposing a vote of no confidence in the chancellor.

Chairman Stephen Karam stated, "I want to offer the Board’s full and unwavering support for Chancellor Javier Reyes…We have absolute confidence in his leadership, his integrity, and his commitment to our students.

"[121] Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey similarly supported the Chancellor’s decision, saying, ”I understand and appreciate that there is a right to protest and to give voice, certainly.

[122] On January 16 2025, Massachusetts law firm Prince Lobel, headed by former Republican Attorney General Ralph C. Martin II, released an independent external review of the two encampments in the Spring.

The UMass Amherst Department of Athletics currently sponsors men's intercollegiate baseball, basketball, cross country, ice hockey, football, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, and indoor and outdoor track & field.

Notable faculty have included Sheila Bair, the former chairman of the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Chuck Close, celebrated photorealist; Samuel R. Delany, author and critic; Vincent Dethier, pioneer physiologist; Ted Hughes, British poet laureate; Max Roach, considered one of the most important jazz drummers in history; Lynn Margulis, famed biologist; Stephen Resnick and Richard D. Wolff, heterodox economists; James Tate, Pulitzer Prize–winning poet; and Robert Paul Wolff, in both philosophy and African-American studies.