AMHERST, Mass.—Dozens of students gathered in a Hampshire College social hall Sept. 19 to celebrate the marriage of the school’s president to his male partner of 27 years.

Ralph Hexter, the 55-year-old president of the small liberal arts school, and Manfred Kollmeier, 60, exchanged vows over the Labor Day weekend. The couple made the marriage public with an announcement Sept. 18.

“This is our way of celebrating Hampshire College, which so warmly welcomed us as a couple when I was named president in 2005,” Hexter said.

Hexter said being a married gay man is not “what I’m about as a college president.” But, he said, it is a part of his life he wants to celebrate and share with the students.