Bard College Holds One Hundred Sixty-Fifth Commencement on Saturday, May 24, 2025
Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis. Photo by Josué Azor (for Pierre-Louis)
Bard College will hold its one hundred sixty-fifth commencement on Saturday, May 24, 2025. Bard President Leon Botstein will confer 485 undergraduate degrees on the Class of 2025 and 192 graduate degrees, including master of fine arts; doctor and master of philosophy and master of arts in decorative arts, design history, and material culture; master of science and master of arts in economic theory and policy; master of business administration in sustainability; master of arts in teaching; master of arts in curatorial studies; master of science in environmental policy and in climate science and policy; master of music in vocal arts and in conducting; master of music in curatorial, critical, and performance studies; and master of education in environmental education. Bard will also confer 53 associate degrees from its microcolleges. The program will begin at 2:30 pm in the commencement tent on the Seth Goldfine Memorial Rugby Field.
The Commencement address will be given by former Prime Minister of Haiti (2008–09) and President/Founder of Fondation Connaissance et Liberté (Foundation for Knowledge and Liberty, or FOKAL) Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis, who is also a professor at Université Quisqueya in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Honorary degrees will be awarded to Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis, lawyer Jack Arthur Blum ’62, artist and performer Justin Vivian Bond, philanthropist and art collector Maja Hoffmann, journalist and scholar Josef Joffe, photographer Cindy Sherman, and endocrinologist Yaron Tomer.
Other events taking place during Commencement Weekend include Bard College award ceremonies. The Bard Medal will be presented to Penny Axelrod ’63; the John and Samuel Bard Award in Medicine and Science to Jen Gaudioso ’95; the Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters to Lisa Kereszi ’95; the John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service to Angela Edman ’03; the Mary McCarthy Award to Joy Harjo; the László Z. Bitó ’60 Award for Humanitarian Service to Sasha Skochilenko ’17 and Bo Bo Nge ’04; and Bardian Awards to Peter Filkins, Mark Halsey, Peter Laki, Bradford Morrow, and Melanie Nicholson.
ABOUT THE COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER
Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis was the prime minister of Haiti from 2008–09. Upon leaving office, she returned to the foundation she created in 1995, Fondation Connaissance et Liberté (Foundation for Knowledge and Liberty, or FOKAL). She is FOKAL’s president, coordinating special projects in sustainable development and higher education. Pierre-Louis is also a professor at Université Quisqueya in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She holds a master’s degree in economics from Queens College in New York, and honorary doctorates from Saint Michael’s College in Vermont and the University of San Francisco. In 2010, she was a resident fellow at Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Pierre-Louis has contributed to several books and publications about Haiti, and she is a founding member of the Haitian/Caribbean review magazine Chemins Critiques, in which she has published articles on politics, gender, economics, arts, and culture. She is board chair of Haiti’s prominent cultural institution Le Centre d’art, a position she also holds with the Centre de Promotion de la Femme Ouvrière and Caribbean Culture Fund. Among numerous other awards, she is the 2023 recipient of the French Legion of Honor.
Post Date: 05-01-2025
The Commencement address will be given by former Prime Minister of Haiti (2008–09) and President/Founder of Fondation Connaissance et Liberté (Foundation for Knowledge and Liberty, or FOKAL) Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis, who is also a professor at Université Quisqueya in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Honorary degrees will be awarded to Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis, lawyer Jack Arthur Blum ’62, artist and performer Justin Vivian Bond, philanthropist and art collector Maja Hoffmann, journalist and scholar Josef Joffe, photographer Cindy Sherman, and endocrinologist Yaron Tomer.
Other events taking place during Commencement Weekend include Bard College award ceremonies. The Bard Medal will be presented to Penny Axelrod ’63; the John and Samuel Bard Award in Medicine and Science to Jen Gaudioso ’95; the Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters to Lisa Kereszi ’95; the John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service to Angela Edman ’03; the Mary McCarthy Award to Joy Harjo; the László Z. Bitó ’60 Award for Humanitarian Service to Sasha Skochilenko ’17 and Bo Bo Nge ’04; and Bardian Awards to Peter Filkins, Mark Halsey, Peter Laki, Bradford Morrow, and Melanie Nicholson.
ABOUT THE COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER
Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis was the prime minister of Haiti from 2008–09. Upon leaving office, she returned to the foundation she created in 1995, Fondation Connaissance et Liberté (Foundation for Knowledge and Liberty, or FOKAL). She is FOKAL’s president, coordinating special projects in sustainable development and higher education. Pierre-Louis is also a professor at Université Quisqueya in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She holds a master’s degree in economics from Queens College in New York, and honorary doctorates from Saint Michael’s College in Vermont and the University of San Francisco. In 2010, she was a resident fellow at Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Pierre-Louis has contributed to several books and publications about Haiti, and she is a founding member of the Haitian/Caribbean review magazine Chemins Critiques, in which she has published articles on politics, gender, economics, arts, and culture. She is board chair of Haiti’s prominent cultural institution Le Centre d’art, a position she also holds with the Centre de Promotion de la Femme Ouvrière and Caribbean Culture Fund. Among numerous other awards, she is the 2023 recipient of the French Legion of Honor.
Post Date: 05-01-2025