To add your club to this list, make a change to your current listing, or request web space for your club, contact the Office of Student Activities at 845-758-7097, email studentactivities@bard.edu, or use the Club Submission Form.
Note from the Coordinator for Clubs and Student Activities
As an alumnus and a former club head, Student Activities helped me navigate spaces I would have never known existed had I not stumbled into the office. I learned the importance of leadership, and work ethic; while understanding that fun events hold weight, but the passion for the event lasts semesters. Here at the Office of Student Activities, we will teach you everything from registering and managing a club to putting on events that will impact the student body. We believe in creating the next generation of student leaders to go out into the world and apply their knowledge and skills to their aspirations and dream jobs. Student Activities is the first step on the journey, and I will be front and center to move your ideas forward.
Considering all of the nuances of the club world, my goal is to ensure that all students know how to register events and specifically, for club heads, how to spend their budgets and answer any club questions. Also, I plan to host Second Saturday event nights as student engagement activities, partner with clubs and other offices to host extracurricular programs, continue our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives by promoting holidays and special happenings on our social media platforms, and providing students with an ear for them to voice ideas or concerns. In Student Activities, we will continue to uplift student voices and provide diverse and engaging experiences.
Inclusive of all majors, not just Written Arts! In this club, members can submit their written creations (be it prose, poetry, or other works of written word) for the reading and group critique of the other members. The best way to take a written work to the next level is to put it out for peers to read it. This club is here to provide that opportunity to anyone who wants it. Constructive criticism only!
The Bard Debate Union is a community of students, faculty, and staff committed to promoting the values of civic discourse, dialogue, and debate throughout the Bard College community, the greater Hudson Valley region of New York, and the world at large.
The Bard Debate Union represents a union of both a student club and a college-sponsored team. As a club, the BDU organizes meetings, workshops, and events on campus and in the local community. As a team, the BDU prepares for, attends, and participates in inter-collegiate debate competitions.
The Finance and Investment Club aims to further students' understanding of finance and investment strategies. The club includes stock trading simulations, valuation techniques, speakers on finance-related topics (balance sheets, modern monetary theory, etc.), and weekly market roundups.
American Writer Martha Beck said, "Every day brings new choices." While these choices seem to challenge individual actors only, the context in which they emerge and the impact they exert on society constitute the “essence” of history, if such a definition can be attempted at all.
The Bard History Club is a community of students and faculty advisers who revisit different choices that past and contemporary generations have made. As such, we hold an exploratory attitude to the interpretation of the past. We will be discussing primary sources and other materials, posing questions such as “what if this did or did not happen?” If possible, we will find ways to invite local historians and faculty members to offer their perspectives on the historical choices and events that formed our current society. We will also try to address issues of historiography and the circumstances that informed the historical actors we examine and influenced their respective societies up to the present day.
Life is about making choices. History is the intricate web of causes and effects that reflects them on a much broader scale. We welcome all who are interested in the subject.
The purpose of this club is to create a space for people to develop their problem-solving skills and get a chance to explore areas of mathematics that are less commonly taught along with others who are interested in the same thing. The Club will gather as a group to work on and discuss competition problems, such as the Putnam exam and various international math olympiads. We will also take part in selecting practice problems to sent out to high schoolers preparing for competitions. In addition, we are planning to have various speakers give presentations about their work in their specific field of math. The class will hold in-person meetings with remote options via Zoom!
The proliferation of mathematical ideas is often hampered by jargon, technical points, and symbolic manipulation. However, within math communities, ideas are communicated verbally and in ways intended to show what is most essential about an idea. An auxiliary goal of this club is to utilize this way of articulating math in a way that makes it appealing to non-specialists. In particular, we hope that during this semester, math majors will be able to share what they find beautiful and inspiring with other students in the Bard community.
We also plan to attend nearby math conferences whenever possible, as well as work together with the Bard Math Circle to provide mathematical opportunities for local middle school students.
Most importantly, anyone is welcome regardless of their major or math experience. The desire to learn more about mathematics and passion for problem-solving is more than enough.
Club Head Information
Tina Giorgadze , tg8183@bard.edu 845-853-2019 Type(s): Academic
A club comprised of students interested in exploring career opportunities in law and legal issues. We host informational sessions and a free LSAT prep library.
The Bard Economics Club is a student-run organization that will supplement the economics program at Bard. Our goals are to enhance the undergraduate economics experience with speakers from various fields within economics such as finance, economic policy, and academia. We also want to raise money so that we can attend major economic conferences such as the Hyman Minsky Conference in Washington, D.C., amongst other talks and conferences in the NYC area. We also aim to help students develop networking skills, and organize networking events with students through Bard alumni working in economics-related fields. The CDO is also willing to work with us on building essential career-oriented skills such as resume-buildling, utilizing LinkedIn, interviews, etc. Besides all of these great opportunities, we also want to create an environment where economics majors can just talk about current events, their economics homework, their weekend, the stock market, cereal, their hedgehog and whatever else.
The Nicaragua Education Initiative is a project that engages in a multicultural exchange between Bard students and the community of Chacraseca, Nicaragua. While staying with host families in Chacraseca during the winter intersession, the project takes Bard students to Chacraseca every January to foster creative learning experiences where students can express themselves in new and collaborative ways. Students in Chacraseca express creativity through science, math, English, and art lessons. Although the trip is only three weeks, the project is a year-long process. Throughout the year, the project raises funds for university students and other scholarships that promote sustainable education. The Nicaragua Education Initiative values learning both inside and outside of the classroom. The connections and relationships we build cannot be learned at a desk, and this multicultural exchange widens the perspectives of each individual involved in the project. Every January for three weeks a group of 12 students from Bard go to Chacraseca, a small village in Nicaragua, where we stay with host family. We teach from 9:00am through 1:00pm during the weekdays. Although the trip is only three weeks, the project is a year-long process. Throughout the year, the project raises funds for university students and other scholarships that promote sustainable education.
The purpose of Physics Club is to foster community within the physics department. Studying physics is really challenging, which makes having fun and building relationships with peers all the more important. We plan to host events like stargazing, movie, craft, and game nights, to supplement department events like Physics Phriday.
The Psychology Club seeks to gather, inform, and engage all students interested in the field of psychology, both majors and non-majors! A key goal of ours is to build a strong community among students interested in this field, and to widen the psychology community to other students through open events.
Beyond promoting communication and awareness, the Bard Psychology Club will also provide an active academic atmosphere in which members can discuss topics of interest, lab assistant and internship opportunities, possible careers in psychology, and ideas for future inquiry and research.
Lastly, we aim to serve as a liaison between faculty and students, communicating any questions or concerns (anonymously) that students have, but may not feel comfortable speaking to faculty about.
Wonder what it feels like to learn to fly? Come try this amazing full body workout. Develop strength, flexibility, and agility. Through our safe, empowering environment, you will build self-confidence that will encourage exploration.
The Canoe Club organizes weekly canoe trips into the Tivoli Bays. Students spend a few hours learning canoe skills and cleaning up litter around the Bays, exploring the area in the process. This semester, the club hopes to bring an instructor to campus to provide more students with canoe safety training and ACA Flatwater 1 instructor certification, thereby increasing the pool of available trip leaders.
Bard Cheerleaders will bring school spirit and pep to all indoor games. Our mission is bring excitement and entertainment to the spectators. We plan to preform during games, ISO, and maybe even during the Women of Color Gala.
Bard College's Golf Club goal is to make Golf accessible to all that sign up. By providing partial equipment, and a membership to the local courses, all you need to worry about is to have fun.
Bard Yoga Collective aims to introduce students to a holistic yoga practice which engages all segments of yoga (community, meditation, and asana). In doing so, the Collective utilizes our extensive yogic community here on campus. Allowing us to learn and lead from multiple angles and levels. The Bard Yoga Collective aims to honor the traditional practice and embark on communal healing. The classes are typically an hour and fifteen minutes long. All classes are lead by experienced and certified instructors. Alternatively to most yoga classes, the class aims to foster community discussion surrounding yoga as well as practice yoga. The club focuses around the Shambhavananda yoga practice which is a form of Hatha yoga. Due to the fact that most students are beginner, vinyasa practices are saved for once a month.
This is a fun club for all levels of skaters! Whether you want to learn how to skate, just want to skate for fun, or get in a good workout, this club is for you!
Unicycling is like throwing a piece of popcorn into the air and juggling it with the top of your head in an attempt at keeping it off the ground before trying to catch it in your open mouth.
That is to say, it’s not particularly useful, you look a little odd in the process, it’s technically exercise, and it’s quite rewarding once you get the hang of it.
Unicycling is fun. It just takes a bit of practice to get going, so the Unicycling Club will provide unicycles and a weekly time and space for that practice. Food and drink too, but don’t quote me on that.
Club Head Information
Marty Graham , Mg3026@bard.edu 978-873-3312 Type(s): Athletic/Recreational
AfroPulse hopes to provide a forum through which African students, those of the African Diaspora, and all other interested students can come together to explore the continent in a multi-dimensional context.
Our goals include spreading awareness of the continent’s rich and diverse history and culture to the wider Bard community, as well as celebrating this culture through food, music, film, dance, and fashion. We also hope to educate on the contemporary issues faced by countries on the continent, and shed light on the place of Africa and its people in our world today through panel discussions, documentary/TED talk screenings, live speakers, and debates. Community service will be a priority in our agenda, and we hope to find practical ways to contribute back to communities across Africa. We will also attempt to reach out to the larger Hudson Valley community through community service activities that promote the continent, and by engaging with similar African student groups in surrounding colleges.
Welcome to the home page of our site! Open to all Bard students Asian Student Organization (ASO) is focused on achieving an awareness of the Asian populations at Bard College, which includes students, faculty, and off-campus neighbors. ASO also aims to create a space that facilitates a dialogue between Asian and Asian American students with the larger Bard community. From various angles, we will try to demonstrate Asian culture and identity by holding events to educate, entertain, and provide community outreach to all students at Bard. We are conscious of the cultures that exist in Bard College and hope to increase understanding between Asian and non-Asian students.
Club is designed for people from or with connections to Hawaii. This will provide a space to connect with other students/community members from the islands.
An offshoot of the Equity and Inclusion Office, this club works to extend resources of the E&I office and make a greater presence in the greater Bard Community. Club activities include workshops, networking activities, and social events. E&I scholars are a strong presence in campus life, being representatives of several campus organizations, and this is a good opportunity for the Bard community to learn more about this organization.
Our mission is to stimulate members of the Bard College community to explore intellectual, political, cultural and social issues that are of importance to the Black community and America as a whole. Black History and current race issues are articulated through dialogue, cultural performances, music, lectures, and art. Race and politics are issues that are often recognized on our campus in through our academic curriculum. However, we as an organization feel that it is necessary to find creative ways to take that experience beyond the classroom brining the links between race, politics, academics, and social life to fruition in the hopes that awareness will spark action and ignite change in our communities.
Brothers at Bard is a club that works as a safe place for men of color at Bard College. The intention of this club is to help young men of color in succeeding not only academically, but socially and emotionally during their time at Bard college.
The Caribbean Student Association (CSA) seeks to provide a sense of social solidarity and academic support among West Indian/Caribbean students at Bard, while promoting interactions with the Bard community as a whole. We hope to achieve this goal through (1) the education of Caribbean culture, society, and politics, (2) hosting events that celebrate the diversity which Caribbean students contribute to Bard and (3) raising awareness about issues past and present of importance to West Indians and the world. The CSA is inclusive to all Bard students, Caribbean or otherwise.
We hope to serve the cultural and social objectives: to promote interests and understandings across cultures and disciplines, to create opportunities for Bardians to ask questions and discuss, and to share our cultural and social understandings and differences. Rather than representing the Chinese government,we represent our own perspectives. We hope to enrich Bardians' knowledge of China by means of film, lecture and party.
Representing the versatility that International Students bring to the Bard community through campus events and gatherings. You don't have to be international to attend!
This is the club affiliated with La Voz magazine. We help organize events relevant to the Hispanic community such as concerts, lectures and more. In addition we seek writers, journalists, and artists for the magazine´s content.
LASO aims to curate spaces and experiences where Latin American culture is showcased, shared, and discussed. LASO facilities community building, and education of Latin American peoples, histories, and current struggles. LASO is not an exclusive club and is, therefore, both for students who pertain to the culture and those who are interested in it.
A club intended for foreign language students at our college. It is aimed at holding weekly meetings for cultural exchange activities, with the ultimate goal being the execution of a main project by the end of the semester.
The Multiracial Student Union is a space dedicated to fostering community, solidarity, awareness, and exploration of the complexities surrounding the multiracial identity. Oftentimes being multiracial leads to a sense of exclusion from racial categories or the erasure/ commodification of self in order to become part of one. We understand the multiracial identity to be a complete identity of shared multiculturalism as opposed to the common idea that being multiracial implies fragmentation. At the same time, examining each individual aspect of our racial makeup is crucial in the exploration of self. This club is meant to be a safe space of comfort for self-identifying multiracial students, where we can analyze the multiracial experience fully, without the simplification of the standard “What are you?” question. We aim to do so through open discussions, community projects, collaborations with other clubs, panels, the creation of art, film screenings, potlucks, and other events.
This club is a space created to center the lives and experiences of the queer and gender-nonconforming people of color both on Bard's campus and beyond. It's a place for conversation and action. It's a place that recognizes and affirms the lives of those whose lives are too often forgotten and erased. Though it was made intentionally to elevate the voices of QTPOC, allies and accomplices are welcome, but only with the understanding that your voices will not be centered and that you are there to learn and support.
The Trans Life Collective is a student and faculty organization working to create an environment that is accepting and comfortable for individuals of all gender identities. In the past, we have advocated gender inclusive spaces in bathrooms and housing, we were instrumental in adding gender identity and expression to Bard's Anti-Discrimination Policy, we held film screenings, hosted trivia events, panels, and performances/workshops, supported grassroots education via teach-ins, created a library of books and films for the Bard community, developed educational materials for students and staff, and organized student events such as Trans-Queer Prom and Gender Blender. All are welcome to attend our weekly meetings.
Transfem Brunch Club is a social club for transgender women at Bard.
Sisterhood is an important but often missing part of trans survival that conventional affinity groups have trouble providing; this club aims to fill that gap.
As a social club, we're focused on having fun and supporting each other while also keeping the conversation light and generally comfortable for all.
The plan for the schedule is to meet most weekends over zoom or outside if the weather allows, with flexibility for members with scheduling conflicts.
Feel free to email or text anytime for information or an invitation.
Women of Color United (WOCU) seeks to provide an inclusive environment for members to exchange personal and collective experiences that occur on and off Bard’s campus. We seek to share with each other issues and experiences of race, gender, and sexuality surrounding the positions of women from diverse backgrounds. WOCU aims to facilitate conversations with the community on topics that are important to us and focus on self-care and self-love throughout the semester. We seek to uplift women and not degrade them, this is not a space for negative vibes. We aim to cultivate positive energy.
This club mixes mindfulness philosophy with movement. We will mindfully move together to a playlist of diverse music. We will focus on being conscious of our body and its relationship to the space we're in, and truly focus all of ourselves on our movement in the moment. It is a very meditative activity.
The Bard College Owling Club is designed to get folks outside and explore! Each week, guided walks on various trails on the Bard College campus will be held to look for owls. These walks will occur just before and just after sunset when owls are most active. Students will learn about the owl species of New York State (such as the Barred owl and the Eastern screech-owl who have been heard and seen on Cruger Island Road), how to call for owls, and how to protect and conserve owls as well as other species and habitats. Due to COVID, each person must wear their masks at all times, and these walks will be socially distant.
The Bard Community Garden is a public space maintained by student and community member volunteers. It is a space for students to plant, tend, and harvest edible and medicinal plants, relax, study, play music, host events, gather, and learn about herbalism, permaculture, and gardening via workshops put on by the club each semester. The club also hosts potlucks and weekly work parties throughout the growing season. New to the community garden is the growing and harvesting of medicinal herbs to supply the Trade Based Student Run Herbal Apothecary Project which the Wild Roots Wellness Collective has put together.
A newspaper that focuses on the news Bard students are interested in, with articles written by students. Showcasing the wonderful art, events, and general content that Bard students are constantly creating.
The Free Press is Bard's preeminent source for print journalism. We are dedicated to hard-nosed, straightforward reporting and in-depth investigative journalism. We cover anything deemed relevant to the community, whether it happens on or off campus. We are always taking submissions.
Bard Science Journal is a student publication dedicated to all genres of science writing including news articles, essays, science-inspired art & poetry, and peer-reviewed research papers. We want Bard Science Journal to be a forum for students to explore different ways of writing and thinking about science. Bard Science Journal emphasizes access to quality science for everyone. Open to both majors and non-majors!
BOTV is a media club whose goal is to bring entertainment, creativity, and also a platform for social thought to Bard by utilizing video, the Internet, and photography. We record and publicize Bard events in addition to creating original content created by our staff and Bard students within the community for the enjoyment of the Bard Community. We also are here to provide pertinent news information ranging from the Bard Hub to global news. We also teach workshops to club members who want to gain experience using video-audio equipment. As well as host events throughout the semester for all of campus.
A bimonthly publication for science fiction and fantasy short stories by Bard students, for Bard students. There is high interest within the student body for an outlet like this, yet it does not exist. Hence, my decision to start this club.
Want to boost your resume and do something cool? Project for Policy Innovation is a student-run think tank that will produce economic, political, and foreign policy proposals and Op-Eds. It will provide students with opportunities to learn how to research and write professionally about these topics, improve their design skills, and learn how to organize labor. We are looking for a treasurer, secretary, writers/editors, digital designers, and a film specialist. Students majoring in political science, human rights, religious studies, EUS, economics, GIS, gender & sexuality studies, studio arts, and film are highly encouraged to apply.
Depending on the role, members will be asked to submit an Op-Ed about any relevant topic every other week and work together in groups to write a policy brief due at the end of the semester. Other members will be tasked with interviewing scholars and professionals. Members are also encouraged to submit their papers that they've written in class to publish.
Club Head Information
Eli Shapiro , es6088@bard.edu 347-210-6936 Type(s): Media/Publications
BUMP (Bard Underground Music Prevails) is an organization that exists as a resource for students and clubs looking to host live-music on campus. BUMP also hosts events and works to maintain safe-spaces. We are a collective of music clubs and venues on campus including SMOG, Root Cellar, Entertainment Committee, WXBC, and Bard Bars. You can reach us at bardbump@gmail.com or through Instagram @BardBUMP.
The Jazz Kittens is a collective of musicians and artist that focus on building a community between the students involved in the Arts program. The ultimate goal is to open opportunities to play in the city and on campus various genres and add to the cultural diversity of Bard College
The Root Cellar is a completely student-run space that houses one of the largest zine libraries on the east coast. The Root Cellar is also a multipurpose space for student use: we host shows, performances, and club meetings.
SMOG is a student run music venue and performance space. Students of Bard College may schedule time in this space to have shows or house other happenings. If you're interested in booking a show, organizing an event, looking to get paid as a student tech, or want to perform at SMOG, email smogbard@gmail.com or bardbump@gmail.com.
The Orcapelicans is the only A Cappella group on campus. Pre Covid-19, our gender inclusive group regularly performed on and off campus. Now, through zoom, this group provides a stress-free and non-judgmental space for people who love to sing with others. We sing all genres!
We teach and experiment with fire poi, as well as several other fire dancing tools such as fire fans, fire staff, fire hoop, and contact fire. We are always willing to explore new forms and continue to expand our skills!
Bard Bards is a Shakespeare performance club dedicated to making Shakespeare accessible to students of ALL backgrounds and experience levels. We aim to make Shakespeare's works relevant, interesting, and exciting to everyone from hardcore fans of the Bard to folks who have never read or watched his plays before. To get in touch with us, email thebardbards@gmail.com!
This is a club focused on the joy of producing musicals that are lighthearted and humorous. This semester we will be performing Firebringer by Team Starkid. It is a comedic musical about cavemen discovering fire.
Club Head Information
Zoe Oro-Hahn , zo5753@bard.edu 201-455-9442 Zoë White ; Type(s): Performing/Visual Arts
A space for dancers, singers, and actors, and musical theatre aficionados alike can bond over their love for musicals, and work towards producing student-run musical performances.
The Bard Tap Club welcomes dancers of all levels. Based on the idea that the sounds we make with our feet are a part of the music, we will begin by learning essential repertory with a focus on rhythm tap technique and improvisation. I will incorporate tap history and jazz music and I will teach 3 dances within the semester, one of which will be choreographed by me to match the different levels of the participants. The club will promote the education of tap history through important repertory and techniques left by those who made tap dance what it is today.
Club Head Information
Alice Baum , ab0833@bard.edu 917-981-0330 Type(s): Performing/Visual Arts
A space for black students working across mediums to engage with each other’s work where it may not be understood in the traditional spaces as well as maintaining an open dialogue about the ethics of each medium and issues of representation.
Club Head Information
Andy Garcia , ag3380@bard.edu Type(s): Performing/Visual Arts
Needlecraft Club is a resource for all students, regardless of ability level, to come together and knit/crochet/embroider/etc. in a relaxed and open environment. Anyone can drop by to work on an existing project, start a new one, and receive help from other members.
The goal of People Of Color Theatre Ensemble is to facilitate an environment of inclusion within the Bard theatre community- particularly for people of color. As we are tired of seeing a lack of representation within the theatre community at Bard, we hope to create more opportunities for people of color who are interested in performance. POC Theatre Ensemble is primarily focused on theater written for and by people of color. We aim to have a core group of about 15 people who will work together to put on productions. Within this group, people will be shifting roles each show to learn the in’s and out’s of theatre, performance, and technical theater. This is not exclusive to theater majors and we want all persons of color on Bard’s campus with a passion for performance!
Club Head Information
Immanuel Williams , Mw7867@bard.edu 518-409-3022 Type(s): Performing/Visual Arts
THE ST. TULA FILM SOCIETY was reestablished in 2010 by Film & Electronic Arts students to encourage viewership and criticism of past and current student work. The society holds screenings twice a month: the first screening consists of films from former Bard students whose works are in the archive, the second screening is devoted to showing current student work. All films are welcome, including works in progress — all are equal in the eyes of Saint Tula. Adolfas Mekas, an avant-garde filmmaker and former professor of film at Bard, initiated Saint Tula in the 1970s to encourage his students to become involved in each other’s projects. The mission is the same 40 years later.
The Surrealist Training Circus is a forum for creative performance on campus. Circus members train for the surreal apocalypse through an ongoing study of puppetry, costuming, stilt-walking, acrobatics and theater. The circus puts on formal theatrical events and informal interventions around campus, culminating in a giant spectacle at the end of the year. We aim to create community and inspire wonder within the public spaces of this private institution.
A Club that runs the student-run Black Box Theatre on campus. We host several projects each semester - and anyone can apply to use our space and/or resources through our Space Application. This semester we are making adjustments to our usual offerings due to COVID restrictions, but there will be more to come in terms of what we can provide!
Model United Nations is a politics and history club inspired by real-life UN proceedings. Club members take on the role of a diplomat, leader, or other historical figure in sessions that simulate intergovernmental and intra-governmental assemblies. In the process, they gain a deeper understanding of international politics and world issues; improved skills in public speaking, debate, rhetoric, and interpersonal communication; and a sense of comradery with other members. Club simulations and training sessions are held weekly. Throughout the year, the club will participate in several conferences at other colleges; members are encouraged to attend at least one per semester.
Club Head Information
Nick Miaoulis , nm8551@bard.edu 207-593-6246 Type(s): Political/Activism
Bard Democrats is a student-led grassroots political association dedicated to helping students exert agency in politics. We organize and promote opportunities to make a real difference at the local, state, and federal level.
We are the local chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, an organization that works in solidarity with the Palestinian people to oppose the Israeli occupation through boycotts, divestment, sanctions, and various forms of civil disobedience and nonviolent protest. On campus, we work towards furthering education on Palestinian justice issues and standing in solidarity with others affected by colonization and occupation.
This club is dedicated to the planning of the Black Body Experience Conference that takes place every Spring Semester. This conference discusses many different issues amongst people of color with a different theme taking place each year.
CodeRed aims to address the need for free and available period products for all. We provide tampons and pads in the bathrooms of most of campus and are working towards providing more environmentally sustainable products for free as well
Election@Bard is a nonpartisan voting initiative sponsored by the Andrew Goodman Foundation and The Center for Civic Engagement. The group works on all things relating to voting at Bard-- including voter registration, education and engagement.
Peace Action is a club that will aim towards inspiring and directing student activists. We will teach students how to write letters and call their representatives, as well as discuss various political movements and crises in the world that need immediate attention and activist action. This club wants to not only bring together activists on campus but also teach people who are interested in politics about how to become an activist and take political action. Peace Action New York State is a national organization from which I have learned a lot about activism and I plan to bring this knowledge with me when starting this Peace Action chapter at Bard.
We are connected with Planned Parenthood Greater New York to promote PP's health services to students, bring students to nearby PP clinics, connect students with campus Health Services to make appointments, get prescriptions, and make information easier and more accessible, allowing every student to have access to safe, affordable, and confidential health care.
Club Head Information
Margaret Dembergh , md7147@bard.edu 845-428-0355 Type(s): Political/Activism
The Race Monologues will serve as a platform for expression for students on and off Bard's campus. As a WOC and POC on this campus, there is not a day that my race/identity/ethnicity does not present itself whether implicit or within interactions. In the past, the Race Monologues have been a space of inclusivity for Bard students to engage how they confront race or conversely, how race confronts them (or does not). At this predominantly white institution or PWI, it seems many forget that there are those that do not always have
Club Head Information
Skye Carter , Sc1528@bard.edu 415-860-5921 Type(s): Political/Activism
The Student Labor Dialogue (SLD), founded in 2005, is Bard's only club devoted to issues of workers' rights and labor justice both on and off campus. We bring awareness and hopefully solutions to issues of labor justice and mistreatment while fostering an open dialogue between students and workers on campus.
The Sunrise Movement is a national youth climate movement dedicated to fighting for good jobs and a livable future, as well as ensuring that the United States government face the climate crisis as the existential threat to humanity that it is. Through peaceful, non-violent actions, lobbying and public outreach, sunrise is committed to centering The Green New Deal - a broad social, economic platform that would both transform our economy to clean energy within 12 years and rebuild the American middle class - as the key platform of any candidate vying for the 2020 democratic presidential nomination. As a chapter of sunrise, we would aide the national organization, push our representative Antonio Deladgo, to support the Green New Deal and hold discussions on the climate crisis.
This club will examine the role and impact that socioeconomic status and class has on on Bard's campus, policies, and programs and creates sustainable solutions to make each more equitable. We will collect institutional data, meet with faculty members to propose new initiatives/solutions, relay all crucial information/resources to our peers via our Instagram, and continuously brainstorm ways to mediate classism on campus--via our Scale Library, our Being Not-Rich Google Doc, our upcoming Internship Equity Award, and the many other projects we work on simultaneously. This club will collaborate with the faculty/staff group Council for Inclusive Excellence to discuss and plan resolutions as well as with any students that reach out.
This organization will focus on the nurturing and education of Catholic students or students who want to learn about the Catholic faith. We strive to create a welcoming and vivid community to help Catholic Christian Students deepen their relationship with Jesus, find a supportive community and live their faith through the lens of Holy Scripture. We will invite guest speakers to learn about God's word and how to live like Christ; pray together; attend and create faith retreats; have game nights; Bible study sessions; as well as attending the Holy Catholic Mass (online until environments are safe). We welcome everyone to join! It is not necessary for students to be Catholic or Christian in any way in order to participate.
The Compassion in Action chapter at Bard is a community of students powered by a culture of creating positive inner change while simultaneously improving the world around us through social activism. We are driven by the ultimate goal of creating a more compassionate world, starting with ourselves. Each week we will collectively learn Buddhist practices and perspectives that will guide us in cultivating healthier relationships with our thoughts and emotions, and in becoming more loving individuals. We will host events with the purpose of building a social community characterized by meaningful, authentic, and fulfilling relationships and interactions.If you want to join a community of people working on cultivating more love for ourselves, others, and the world, this is it!
Club Head Information
Jonathan Cseh , jc7641@bard.edu 818-802-3114 Type(s): Religious
HSO helps raise campus awareness of Hindu religion and culture through venues such as major Hindu festivals, speakers, movie screenings, and similar events throughout the semester. Our goal is not only to enjoy the festive celebrations of Hinduism but to foster an understanding of the impact that one of the oldest religions in the world has on modern culture and society.
The Jewish Students Organization is a cultural and spiritual group that offers a place for students to practice and learn about Jewish tradition and to discuss social and political issues that concern the Bard community. The JSO provides a comfortable and engaging environment for the entire college. JSO in pre-covid era has held Shabbat services and dinner every Friday night in Beit Shalom-Salaam, in the Basement of Village Dorm A. Currently we are continuing this tradition the best we can both in in-person spaces as well as online. All are welcome!
• The mission of the Muslim Student Organization is to provide for the religious needs of Muslims in and around Bard College. Likewise, we aim to introduce and educate the broader community about Al-Islam. Consequently, anyone interested or harboring relevant curiosities are warmly welcome to join. The MSO encourages interaction between different religious groups in hopes of developing understanding and minimizing misconceptions.
• The MSO holds various informational programs throughout the course of the year including Friday (Jumu'ah) prayer, weekly discussions, film screenings, monthly dinners and speakers. All of these events are open to any and everyone who is interested; irrelative of religion, race or any background. Essentially, the MSO seeks to open the lines of communication between all individuals.
The Bike Co-op is a free resource for the Bard community's bike-related needs. Anybody is welcome to stop by during open hours (Tuesdays and Wednesdays 7pm-9pm) to get help fixing their bike, learn about bike maintenance or get involved in any of our bike outreach programs; which include hosting informal alleycat races, offering free bike maintenance classes to the greater community, and other bike related activities. The Bike Co-op is located in the basement of the Old Gym, enter through the south side of the security building, down the stairs. All are welcome to learn and volunteer! Get in touch with us at bardbicycle@gmail.com or on Instagram @bardbikecoop
BEMS is a free, confidential, and a non-transport emergency medical service, operating 24 hours per day, 7 days per week on Bard's campus. Because of the atypical location of campus, we arrive on scene faster than local ambulances. With our average response time being 3 to 5 minutes, we provide essential care in those vital minutes.
We are entirely student-run club. All BEMS members are either training to be, or already are, New York State certified EMT-Bs. Bard EMS receives its semesterly budget from the Bard Convocation Fund, as decided by Bard students and the Fiscal Committee.
The Duties of BEMS is threefold:
To stabilize and package critical, unstable, or potentially unstable patients (as defined by New York State BLS Protocols [see 3.A]) for transport by ambulance.
To render emergency aid to stable patients (as defined by New York State BLS Protocols [see 3.A]) who need prompt hospital care, and arrange transport to an appropriate care facility.
To render minor interim aid to patients who refuse transport during the hours when Bard Student Health Services is closed.
Within the above parameters, BEMS will render aid to anyone who requests it.
*Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, BEMS is currently off call as we are experiencing shortage in personnel (remote learners) and PPE. While we are not in service, we are hiring new members and making the squad as strong as possible for when we return on call. We intend to return on call with a truncated schedule mid-February*
Please email bemsdirector@gmail.com with any questions, and bemshiring@gmail.com if you are interested in joining our team.
The Bard New Orleans Exchange (BNOE) is one of the longest running TLS projects at Bard. Since 2005, students have been going down to NOLA for 5 weeks in the summer and 3 weeks each winter to work for various causes.
In its birth, the project focused on the rebuilding of schools and running summer programs for students. Recently, the program has taken a turn to focus on criminal justice reform in the most incarcerated city in the U.S. (and the world); Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in the country, and New Orleans more specifically has the highest rate within the state.
While in New Orleans, students intern for a variety of criminal justice reform organizations run for and by formerly incarcerated people including, Voice of the Experienced (commonly known as VOTE www.vote-nola.org), The Power Coalition, and The First 72+ These groups work to end mass incarceration through policy creation and reform, direct services, and social justice actions.
While on campus, BNOE members and allies facilitate anti-mass incarceration and general criminal justice reform actions which Bard students can learn from and participate in such as informative panels, fundraising initiatives, and movie screenings.
Within the Bard Student Government, the Central Assembly is made up of: the Speaker of the Student Body, the chairs of the Student Life, Fiscal, Education Policies, & Multicultural Diversity committees, the Peer Review & Student Judiciary Board chairs as well and the Treasurer. Each member of the Central Assembly works to serve the student body in each of their respective branches around student life, conduct, and fiscal spendings. Each member of the Central Assembly holds weekly office hours and attends meetings to aid in assessing the campus climate, discussing curricular concerns within the College, and simply supporting the student body as holistically as possible.
Harm Reduction & Recovery at Bard is a body of students committed towards addressing the needs of Bard students regardless of their substance use or sobriety. This includes but is not limited to accessible and universal access to resources to be safer and reduce harm, the sponsorship of recovery meetings, and social/sober events. Ensuring students are safe while using substances is the group's top priority.
Feel like being condescending to the hipster regime and their Sriracha? Want to transcend the red vinegar water known as Red Hot? Tired of stable bowel movements? Are you wise and true?
Hot Lovers!
We seek both seasoned sauce veterans and cry baby newcomers interested in learning about and tasting unique hot sauces. Every variety of hot sauce speaks to a larger culinary tradition and we won't haze anyone. Hot sauce is a language of love and we want to share this spicy literacy with everyone.
O' Paladin of Pain slather this limp fish taco with what will surely be the best part of my day. With Haste! Hot Paste! Taste Great! My Fate!
Get a Polaroid photo, when you try hot sauce of varying Scoville levels.
The Me In Foundation (MIF) is an organization that enables underrepresented youth from low-income communities to be the writers of their own story. Through our program, students immerse in a variety of artistic disciplines that challenge them to view themselves in a world with endless possibilities. We currently work with K-8 students at The Center for Creative Education in Kingston, NY to extend an enrichment of social and cultural awareness through arts education. In addition, students are assigned a peer-mentor to assist in personal development and goal planning. At the end of each program, students are given the opportunity to showcase what they have created to their family, friends, and students at Bard College. The mission of our foundation is to cultivate the next generation of industry movers, storytellers, and creative thinkers.
Club Head Information
Sydney Williams , sw1941@bard.edu 770-568-6898 Type(s): Service
Paws for Students is dedicated to celebrating the animals we love and who support our wellness! We appreciate and recognize the crucial role supportive and therapy animals play while we are in college. All animal lovers welcome. Even if you don’t have your own emotional support animal, you can join us to get the hugs and kisses from a furry friend. We will partner with the Bard Team of Therapy Dogs to bring more love to our members and other students on campus.
Club Head Information
Katherina Wahi , Kw8881@bard.edu 929-434-7054 Type(s): Service
This is the revival of the Student Run Darkroom, a darkroom space and club organized and ran by students independent of the photography program. The club was conceptualized by Bard alum Nicole Novak in 1998, and then organized by Bard alum Emily Steinfeld and Paolo Vidali in 2002, with the help of the former Dean of First-Year Students John Kelly. We hope to further their goal of bringing non-majors into contact with analogue photography. In this iteration, our focus is by nature and decision equity and inclusion. We'll be continuing with these goals as we strive to provide workshops and darkroom facilities for Bard students. We hope to cultivate a diverse and thriving community of photographers. In addition to developing a darkroom, we organize and host online lectures with Bard alumni, current students, as well as renown artists and photographers.
We provide free prophylactics to the student body via an anonymous online order form. The orders are then delivered to the student's on campus mail box.
The Friendly Philosophers’ Society is club for students to engage together in philosophy that welcomes both majors and non-majors. Throughout the semester we host club meetings, have film screenings, student debates/conversations, and try to gather students’ essays, fiction, poetry, artwork, etc. into a brief publication at the end of each semester. Pretty much, we're a bunch of enthusiastic, nerdy people who want to talk about weird ideas.
We will be practicing techniques to cultivate self Love, Love towards others, and awareness and Love for our planet. This will include informal discussions and meditation practices. Healing techniques such as Reiki will be offered as well. Through these methods our inner environments will be made healthier and happier. Yay!
Sawkill Coffee House is a student run cafe located in Sawkill (a 24 hour open space dedicated to students!) We serve specialty coffee, teas, and snacks. Additionally, Sawkill runs various events for students to enjoy! Sawkill is committed to creating a safe, inviting, space made for students by students.
We organize a variety of events monthly that are available to the student population. We are also a resource for members of the student body planning other activities.
Club Head Information
Jessalyn Henriquez Polanco , jh1331@bard.edu 646-704-1351 Type(s): Social
We screen terrible movies every week so anybody can come to laugh at the stupidity! Students can expect movies that are so bad they're more fun to watch than great movies. We ask the real questions: How did this ever make it on the big screen? Did the director ever make another movie or just wallow in shame? Come ask these questions with us!
This club was inspired by the increasing popularity of Mukbang YouTube videos, which have had a cultural impact on populations worldwide. Our goal for this club is to create a community where we can get snacks as well as talk about the cultural implications of Mukbang videos and the popularization of these videos in North America, given their birth in East Asia. We hope to host several virtual events during the course of the semester and provide members with the opportunity to experience ASMR Mukbang on YouTube and Zoom.
Bard Car Club is for students who are car enthusiasts and looking to meet and hang out with other students who love cars. We will be hosting events on campus including weekly student car meets and cruises as well as annual or bi-annual community charity car shows supporting local charities or foundations. You don’t need to own a car to join, you just have to love them!
Club Head Information
Baylor Brown , bb0416@bard.edu 719-464-5948 Type(s): Special Interest/Other
The Bard Disabled Student Union (BDSU) is a social justice club dedicated to helping build community among disabled students and improve accessibility across campus. This club is for any student on campus looking to explore their identity as a disabled person, we are inclusive of physical and mental disabilities, diagnosed or not. We hope that by building community and access, all students at Bard can learn and feel comfortable at the school.
The Bard Wellness Club, in affiliation with Peer Health, will serve to provide Bard students with wellness-oriented events for bettering mental and physical health. These events will promote healthy living with everything from lectures by experts in nutrition, meditation, and psychology, to outdoor events, smoothies, s'mores,and self-care workshops. We also will be having therapy dogs (so keep a lookout for our emails). We are a group focused on growing as individuals but with community support. :)
Peer Counselors (PCs) live alongside students and serve as leaders and resources for their residents—PC's hold area and dorm events throughout the semester. Events range from teaching kitchens, tea nights, snack grabs, etc. As an offshoot of Bard College's Residence Life and Housing, this club would extend resources to Peer Counselors to engage with their residents and build community, allowing for more engaging events, directly benefiting students on campus.
Lead Peer Counselor's and PC's will spearhead this club. If residents have ideas for events they would like to see happen, this club will help get items needed.
Club Head Information
Mo Olagunju , mo9923@bard.edu 845-758-7455 Type(s): Special Interest/Other
The FFA aims to provide self-defense classes available to all students on the Bard campus. We created this club in response to the events in late 2019 on both Simon’s Rock and our campus, as well as the countless forms of discriminatory violence that we see on a daily basis in our world. We at the FFA believe that all individuals should have the knowledge to defend themselves should the need arise. The FFA wants to be able to give people of all identities confidence in their own physical strength in ways never done before on this campus.
This club intends to create an open space for students to learn, discover, and engage in the practical study of herbs. In doing so, we hope to foster a better and more holistic understanding of our personal health and help create various approaches to taking care of oneself. Club meetings will consist of students sharing their personal experience with herbs as well as learning from resources (books, videos, podcasts, forums, etc.) We will also be working with the herbs that we study and implementing them in our daily lives.
Members in the club create and collaboratively work on new ideas and projects. Projects can be designed to help students on campus or to be used in social outreach work. They can also be based on pure curiosity.
Club Head Information
Vishrut Tiwari , vt7433@bard.edu 845-663-6189 Type(s): Special Interest/Other
THE BARD MEMETICS LABORATORY (BARD MEME LAB)is an interdisciplinary research group focusing on digital memes, online media, and content dissemination. The lab provides a space for examining online culture through the lenses of the experimental humanities, film studies, cognitive science, and the visual arts. Through examining the underlying superstructure of memetic content - not just the content of the meme but its very form — the Lab engages with the online cultural landscape and produces original research and programming. Currently working on our first publication, CONTENT: A Memetics Research Journal.
Not Just Dungeons and Dragons is Bard's hub for all manner of role playing games. Through ongoing drop-in campaigns, special events and a sizable lending library of sourcebooks, the club aims to foster a sense of community among Bard's players of RPGs, and to provide opportunities and resources which would otherwise be unavailable.
The Passion to Persist program is designed to inspire and support underrepresented students in the division of Science, Mathematics, and Computing (SM&C) by providing individualized peer coaching, faculty mentoring, and cohort support. Each component of this program will focus on achieving success in SM&C areas of study by developing critical skills in building resiliency, persevering in the face of difficulties, learning from mistakes, managing time efficiently, and much more!
Participants of this program are matched with an upper college mentor who assists them with cultivating key skills for success in SM&C. Additionally, there are monthly gatherings with faculty mentors who give the “inside scoop” on success in the sciences.
The mission of Bard Pre-Health Club is to provide resources for pre-health students in their journeys as undergraduates, as well as develop the opportunity to explore different health-related topics. Over the years, we have invited a multitude of speakers to present on campus and on zoom to cover a variety of topics such as public health and medical careers, global and local health problems, medical school admissions, etc. Bard Pre-Health Club offers a community where students, pre-health or not, are able to come together and explore different avenues in health-related fields.
Bard Robotics Club aims to contribute to empowerment of individuals not only through improvement in technological awareness and access but also through use of tools to ensure greater control over privacy.
Join us to build cool projects and have some sci-fi like discussion. We are welcome to any computer technology related topics such as gaming, 3D graphics, etc. Our goal is to create innovative ,intelligent, accessible and fun projects.
Club Head Information
Henry Chang , hc7145@bard.edu 347-276-6000 Type(s): Special Interest/Other
The Senior Class Council is a group of final year students who meet weekly to help plan and execute events related to celebrating the accomplishments of the Class of 2021 and leaving a positive legacy on Bard's Campus through community engagement and philanthropy.
Club Head Information
Najwa Jamal , nj6089@bard.edu 718-371-8923 Type(s): Special Interest/Other
We are a collective that focuses on self-care, wellness, holistic health care for body-mind-spirit-emotion and soul all equally considered, herbal medicine, earth based skills, intersectionality of our diverse rich backgrounds, connecting to land and place, aligning with the seasonal and cosmic flow of everything, ancestral remembrance, dream working, mysticism, ritual, magic, community gathering, circling up to honor life, each other, and more! We are a web that includes many projects woven together for the same ends. We run a student organized herbal apothecary project that supplies loose herbs for tea, some simple tinctures, syrups, balms and more for the Bard Community. -
Youth Initiative In Africa is a club designed to share awareness of Africa's amazing culture by hosting various engaging events and workshop sessions around campus.