Building upon a culture of innovation and intellectual rigor, we envision diversity to include and look beyond traditional categories of difference. In an increasingly intertwined and rapidly changing world, we are dedicated to a rigorous examination of the institutions and structures that sustain inequality based on divisive ideas about difference. Above all, we maintain an ongoing commitment to decreasing the distance between these ideals and our everyday realities.
What We Do
From Hannah Arendt to Chinua Achebe, Bard College has historically been a sanctuary from ethnic, political, religious, and other forms of intolerance. We embody this legacy today with a strong investment in both local and global initiatives, from our Center for Civic Engagement to the Bard Prison Initiative and Early Colleges, as well as with our programs in Bishkek, Berlin, Jerusalem, and St. Petersburg.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at Bard College seeks to materialize our intellectual commitments to plurality, dialogue, and rigorous study by creating a learning environment that includes the voices, works, and ideas of historically marginalized communities and cultures. DEI works closely with other campus departments and organizations.
Academic Offerings
Student Clubs
Student clubs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion at the College include the Bard Christian Fellowship, the Latin American Student Organization, and the Trans Lyfe Collective. For more information about these and other clubs, visit student.bard.edu/clublist.
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Student Government provides leadership for students interested in making Bard College a better place, and is always ready to support students working on issues of diversity and inclusion. -
Housing the Dean of Student Affairs Office, CSLA provides support to students struggling to figure out what diversity means, what they want it to mean, and how to bridge the gap between the two. -
The OSA helps students plan programs, organize events, and lead clubs in an effort to make Bard a more diverse and accepting place, all while keeping students engaged and making sure they have fun.
Gilson Place: Dedicated in Support of Students of Color
Gilson Place, formerly Grey Stone Cottage, is a space dedicated to the advancement of students of color. Bard faculty and student leaders collaborated on its recent renovation and redesign. Gilson Place supports the academic, personal, and social success of members of the Bard community historically underrepresented in liberal arts and sciences education and fosters dialogue about race and culture on campus. The space is named for Alexander Gilson, a freed African American slave who became the head gardener at Montgomery Place, now part of the Bard College campus, and eventually opened up his own nursery business.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The Council for Inclusive Excellence provides vision, direction, and support to diversity initiatives focused on the classroom experience, campus climate, training and recruitment, and community support.
The Campus Climate Team / BICRT is a group of faculty, staff, and students that proactively addresses climate issues on Bard’s campus. The Bias Incident Community Response Team (BICRT) helps to assess, communicate about, and create institutional responses to bias incidents.
The Difference and Media Project features collaborative learning, tutorials, workshops, seminars, and conferences. The Project’s focus on difference is balanced with a strategic investment in interconnectedness.
Support for Students with Disabilities
Bard College is committed to providing otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities equal access to the College’s academic courses, programs, and activities. In support of this mission, the College provides services and reasonable accommodations to self-identified students who present the appropriate documentation. Students with physical, learning, or psychological disabilities should register with the disability support coordinator.
Brothers at Bard
Brothers at Bard began as a campus club and has grown to an institutional initiative with four objectives: to offer a safe space for men of color studying at Bard College; to mentor men of color in high school; to facilitate career development among alumni of color; and to play an active role in the national coalition of organizations dedicated to lifting up young men of color in their academic, personal, and professional development.
Spotlight on the Posse Program
The Posse Foundation recruits talented public high school students who might have been overlooked by traditional college selection processes, forming them into supportive Posses and connecting them with participating colleges. Every year Bard accepts a Posse of 10 students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential, offering them full-tuition scholarships.