News & Events | Commencement 2007

Commencement
The graduating class of 2007.

One Hundred and Forty-Seventh Commencement
Thursday, May 24 - Sunday, May 27

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, received an honorary degree and delivered the commencement address as part of Bard College's one hundred forty-seventh commencement on Saturday, May 26, 2007. At the commencement ceremony, Bard President Leon Botstein conferred 342 undergraduate degrees on the Class of 2007 and 137 graduate degrees. Honorary degrees were also awarded to physiologist and writer László Z. Bitó '60, constitutional law scholar and former Stanford University President Gerhard Casper, historian Barbara J. Fields, youth advocate William E. Milliken, and author and professor Azar Nafisi.

Click here to read Mayor Bloomberg's Commencement Adddress

Click here to read Leon Botstein's Charge to the Graduates

Schedule of Events

Friday, May 25

2:00 p.m.
Alumni-Student Men's Rugby Game
Sponsored by the Department of Athletics and Recreation and Bard–St. Stephen's Alumni/ae Association
Lorenzo Ferrari Soccer Complex, north field (weather permitting)

5:00 p.m. – 9:00p.m.
President's Dinner and Reception
Salute reunion classes and honor the exceptional achievement of Bard alumni/ae and friends.
Commencement Tent (behind Kline Commons and Stevenson Library)

9:00 p.m.
Commencement Jazzfest
Some of the stellar jazz players in Bard's history perform in memory of Larry McLeod '76 and Frank Carter '79.
Blum Hall, Edith C. Blum Institute

9:30 p.m.
Concert, American Symphony Orchestra and Bard students
Bard student soloists and composers in concert with the American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein, conductor
Sosnoff Theater, Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts

Saturday, May 26

7:30 a.m.
Walking Tour of Bard Lands with Professor William Maple
A boxed continental breakfast will be available.
($5 per person)
Meet on back lawn of Blithewood.

10:00 a.m.
Senior Project Panel
Members of the Class of 2007 present their Senior Projects.
Olin 102

Commencement

Academic Procession
1:30 p.m.

2:30 p.m.
Commencement Exercises

Commencement Address
Michael R. Bloomberg
108th Mayor of the City of New York
Click here to read Mayor Bloomberg's Commencement Adddress

Confering of Honorary Degrees

László Z. Bitó '60
Doctor of Science
(Alumni/ae Honorary Degree)
László Z. Bitó is an internationally known professor of ocular physiology. A professor emeritus at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, he developed medication that manages glaucoma. He is also a writer of memoir and fiction.

Michael R. Bloomberg
Doctor of Humane Letters
Michael R. Bloomberg is the 108th Mayor of the City of New York. He founded Bloomberg L.P., a financial news service, radio, television, and Internet company. He is a philanthropist in education, medical research, and the arts.

Gerhard Casper
Doctor of Laws
Gerhard Casper, former president of Stanford University, is a constitutional scholar and educator. He is Peter and Helen Bing Professor in Undergraduate Education, professor of law, and senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford.

Barbara J. Fields
Doctor of Humane Letters
Barbara J. Fields is a professor of history at Columbia University, specializing in the history of the American South and 19th-century social history. She is the author of many books, including Slavery and Freedom on the Middle Ground, which won the John H. Dunning Prize of the American Historical Association.

William E. Milliken
Doctor of Humane Letters
William E. Milliken is founder and vice chairman of Communities In Schools, Inc., which connects schools with needed community resources. He received the Edward A. Smith Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Leadership, honoring a lifetime of service.

Azar Nafisi
Doctor of Letters
Azar Nafisi, author of the critically praised Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, is a visiting fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. A professor of aesthetics, culture, and literature, she lectures on the role of Western literature and culture after the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Charge to the Graduates
Click here to read Leon Botstein's Charge to the Graduates

Conferring of the Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Arts Degrees
in the History of the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture
The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture

Conferring of the Master of Arts in Teaching Degrees
Master of Arts in Teaching Program

Conferring of the Master of Fine Arts Degrees
Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts
Conductors Institute
International Center of Photography–Bard Program in Advanced Photographic Studies

Conferring of the Master of Arts Degrees in Curatorial Studies
Center for Curatorial Studies and Art in Contemporary Culture

Conferring of the Master of Science Degrees in Environmental Studies
Graduate School of Environmental Studies

Conferring of the Master of Science Degrees in Environmental Policy
Bard Center for Environmental Policy

Conferring of the Bachelor of Arts Degrees

Benediction

Special Events for Reunion Classes
Gather with classmates and friends for special receptions and dinners.
Dinners offer reserved seating for reunion classes.

Commencement-Reunion Barbecue, Dance, and Fireworks
Blithewood main lawn
Dance to live music from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m.
Fireworks at approximately 9:00 p.m.

Commencement Jazzfest
Some of the stellar jazz players in Bard's history perform in memory of Larry McLeod '76 and Frank Carter '79. Blum Hall, Edith C.
Blum Institute, 9:00 p.m. to midnight

Sunday, May 27

9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Alumni/ae Memorial Service
In honor of alumni/ae, faculty, and special friends of the College who died during the past year
Officiants: Bard College Chaplaincy
Chapel of the Holy Innocents

Click here for information about Commencement 2006.

Commencement