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December 2025 News for Bard Families & Friends |
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Students Perform at the International Student Organization (ISO) Show, November 2025. Photo Credit: Wais Kakarr '26. |
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Dear Families,
Congratulations to all of the Bard families who have a student graduating in December! The Office of Development and Alumni/ae Affairs has organized a celebration for students who are handing in senior projects this month. The event will be held in the Stevenson Library from 5:30-6:30pm on Monday, December 8, 2025 with remarks from President Leon Botstein and the Director of Alumni/ae Affairs, Jane Brien '89. Students have received a registration link directly so please encourage your December graduate to sign up for this special event.
December marks the start of an exciting construction project taking place in the Stevenson Athletic Center. Over winter break, the five team locker rooms and two communal locker rooms will be renovated. This is the first renovation of these spaces in decades. The project does require additional funding so please consider giving to the Locker Room Renovation Project by clicking here. Donors of $2,500 or more are eligible to name a locker and donors of $100 or more will have their name listed on the donor wall of the Stevenson Athletic Center. For additional naming opportunities, please contact Mackie Siebens '12, Assistant Director of Development for Family Programs, at [email protected]. Many, many thanks to those who have already given to this project.
This November, the Career Development Office (CDO) organized student workshops on resumé and cover letter writing as well as graduate school planning. Students engaged with representatives from Tufts and Harvard graduate programs, explored grant opportunities abroad during International Education Week, attended industry-focused events like a visit to the Center for Photography at Woodstock, and stopped by CDO's LinkedIn Photobooths to put their best face forward. Applications for the annual Winter '26 LAUNCH recruiting consortium will be open to juniors and seniors from December 10, 2025 through January 2, 2026. This program invites students to apply for consideration for first-round interviews for post-grad employment and paid summer internship experiences. For more information, students should contact Maureen Aurigemma in the CDO at [email protected].
As the year comes to a close, campus is lively with concerts, athletic events, exhibitions, and performances, like the Bard International Student Organization (ISO) Show pictured above, which filled Sosnoff Theater in the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts with music, dancing, and other performances from around the world on Sunday, November 23, 2025. If you find yourself in Annandale, be sure to check out the events calendar, as there is so much to see and do.
On behalf of all of us at Bard, I want to thank you for your generosity this December. I am happy to report that a total of $69,445 was raised on GivingTuesday to support the Bard College Fund. We are grateful to everyone who has included Bard in their giving plans this year - there are still 28 days left to make a gift before the new calendar year begins so please consider making a donation to the Bard College Fund this month!
Best Wishes,
Mackie Siebens '12
Assistant Director of Development for Family Programs
[email protected] | 845-758-7316
P.S. BardWorks 2026 applications have closed but if you have a student who will be a sophomore, junior or senior next fall, please encourage them to look out for information about next year’s program!
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Student Scholars at the annual Scholarship Reception, November 2025. Photo Credit: Joseph Nartey '26. |
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Celebrating Student Scholars
As we wrap up our celebration of National Scholarship Month, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to everyone who participated in honoring our scholars in November. Together, we not only celebrated academic achievements but also recognized the determination and hard work of our scholars. Thank you for being a vital part of our community and for your continued commitment to fostering a bright future for all students!
Support future scholars today and make a donation to support scholarships and financial aid. Your contribution can help unlock opportunities for deserving students and pave the way for their success. |
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Dates to Remember
To view the full 2025–2026 academic calendar, click here.
Friday, December 5, 2025 | Last Day to Withdraw from a Class
Monday, December 8, 2025 | Senior Projects Due
Wednesday, December 10, 2025 | Advising Day
Thursday, December 11, 2025 | Registration for Spring Classes Opens
Monday, December 15, 2025 – Friday, December 19, 2025 | Completion Days—Regular Classes and Final Exams
Saturday, January 24, 2026 | Check-in and Financial Clearance for All Returning Students
Monday, January 26, 2026 | First Day of Spring Classes
Saturday, March 14, 2026 – Sunday, March 22, 2026 | Spring Recess |
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Family Leadership Council
Members of the Family Leadership Council (FLC) play a leadership role in the Bard community through a range of activities. FLC members develop and participate in on-campus and regional recruiting and mentoring events, promote and provide career opportunities for students, and participate in peer-to-peer fundraising. Parents on the FLC play a role in the success of the Bard College Fund through annual gifts. The Family Leadership Council meets twice each year: once during Family Weekend in the fall and once in the spring. These meetings are open so all Bard families are welcome to attend.
Interested in joining or have questions? Contact Mackie Siebens '12, Assistant Director of Development for Family Programs, at [email protected] or 845-758-7316. |
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Ali Faqirzada ’28 at Bard College. Photo by Aaron Schock
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New York Times Reports on Bard College’s Efforts to Free Ali Faqirzada ’28
When Bard Baccalaureate student and Afghan asylum seeker Ali Faqirzada ’28 was detained on October 14 after a routine hearing in New York, officials from Bard College and the Episcopal Diocese mobilized their networks to help. Dionne Searcey for the New York Times reports on these ongoing efforts. “The only chance of rescuing this individual from injustice is to make it visible,” President Leon Botstein told the Times. “If you stand for the truth and for learning and all the virtues of a serious education and an examined life and you believe in the idea of justice, you have to act.”
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Bard in the fall. Photo by Joseph Nartey ’26
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Bard MBA in Sustainability Ranked #1 for Impact in “Better World MBA” Rankings
The MBA in Sustainability at Bard College has been ranked the top MBA globally for Impact in 2025 by Corporate Knights, a sustainable-economy media and research organization. Their “Better World MBA” rankings evaluated 179 programs in terms of sustainability, focusing on the impact schools’ alumni have after graduation.
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Pavlina Tcherneva, president of the Levy Economics Institute at Bard College.
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Economist Pavlina Tcherneva Speaks with Marketplace About Labor Market
Pavlina Tcherneva, president of the Levy Economics Institute at Bard College, spoke with Marketplace about the current state of the US labor market. “Now the slowdown in hiring is turning into more layoffs,” Tcherneva said. “So, I think basically, we are slowly moving towards a vicious cycle in the labor market that is likely to get worse.”
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Assistant Professor Jack Ferver.
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Jack Ferver’s My Town Reviewed in the New York Times
My Town, a semi-autobiographical show written by Bard Assistant Professor Jack Ferver, was reviewed in the New York Times. The play, which Ferver performed at NYU Skirball last week, is a one-person retelling of Our Town by Thornton Wilder following a schoolteacher and interrogating rural American life through dance-theater.
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Youth Voting Rights, a New Book by Bard Vice President Jonathan Becker and Constitutional Scholar Yael Bromberg, Examines the Ongoing Fight for the Right to Vote in the United States
A groundbreaking book, Youth Voting Rights: Civil Rights, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, and the Fight for American Democracy on College Campuses, was published by DeGruyter. The book is coedited by Jonathan Becker, professor of political studies, vice president for academic affairs and director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College, and Yael Bromberg, Esq., a constitutional rights litigator, leading legal scholar of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, and election law professor at American University Washington College of Law.
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L–R: Joseph Luzzi, professor of comparative literature at Bard; The Innocents of Florence.
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The Innocents of Florence by Professor Joseph Luzzi Reviewed in the New Yorker
A new book by Joseph Luzzi, professor of comparative literature at Bard College, has been reviewed in the New Yorker. The Innocents of Florence chronicles the formation of what came to be known as the Innocenti in 15th-century Florence, which was the first orphanage in Europe devoted exclusively to abandoned children and would go on to care for nearly 400,000 young lives over the next five centuries.
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Our November Supporters
Thank you to Bard families and friends who supported Bard in November. We are grateful for your generosity to the College!
#donorsmakedegreespossible
Anonymous (21) • John A. Ravitz and Berry Ravitz • Mary C. Gallagher • Irina Lebedeva • Tyrone Sandaal and Lina Acosta Sandaal • Thomas Cooke and Teresa Cooke • Kenneth A. Hardy and Lillian M. Montalvo • Elyse Hilton • Kimberly L. Haas • John J. Sweeney and Jenni M. Lilledahl • Rand Whipple and Anne Dowd • Alan J. Lipsky and Anna J. Rhodes • Ilya Levinson and Martine Benmann • Bonnie T. Goad and Daniel Donohue • Linda R. MacGorman • Jane A. Brien '89 and Stewart Verrilli • Judith Joa • Roy Capellaro • Geraldine Brodsky • Robert L. Avery and Kelly E. Avery • Craig T. Woodard and Martha E. Woodard • Lynn Nestor • Catriona Shafer and Gurdon R. Miller • William P. Kennedy and Montana Billings • Richard Aldous and Kathryn Aldous • Frank Komola • Donald V. Swinchoski • Thomas Bernard and Sallie Bernard • Barton T. Jones and Deborah Jones • Carolyn Federman • Dorothy Vinski • W. Eric Egan • Lucien A. Walsh and Kirsten I. Walsh • Evan Eisenberg and Freda C. Eisenberg • Lee Houghton and Amy Prince • Sylvia Inchausti and David Inchausti • Lance Ehrenberg and Terry Sidell • Bill Staby and Anne Vaterlaus • Ai Watanabe-DeVore • Susan Petersen • Diane Becker • Gregory Fields and Rozanna Leo-Fields • Richard Dower and Laura E. Dower • Jon T. Glazer and Jennie J. Glazer • Dan Junkins and Minette Junkins • Jim Etkin and Kim Larsen • Fred Markham and Anne du Breuil • Richard Bassler and Stephanie Bassler • Peter W. Greenwald and Gail M. Newman • Jimmy D. Bayne and Gretchen A. Bayne • Ken Frieden • Bruce Berg and Catherine Berg • Karen Dolan • Eurydice Decker • Robert Nathan and Karen Nathan • William Broberg • Debbie Cooper and Daniel Sternberg • Eryn McCourt • Marian E. Dunn '60 • Benedito R. Dos Santos and Anna H. More • Shawna Lee • Stephen Pirozzi • Philip D. Murphy and Tammy S. Murphy • Christopher Watson • David M. Traub and Carrie C. Traub • David W. Jacobowitz '65 and Linda Rodd • Allan Nicholls and Nancy Bercaw • Jukka D. Westhues and Suzanne B. Westhues • Norbert Turek and Melanie Turek • Jason T. Robison and Anne S. Robison • Robert L. Brainard and Lisa C. Brainard • Peter J. Macapia • Xuehua Zhang • Joanna J. Jordan • Michael C. Loner and Vicki E. Loner • Fei Liu • Helene Tieger '85 and Paul Ciancanelli • Marta Dospiva Legan • Geordie Frei • Nicholas S. Thacher • Robert A. Goldfarb '59 and Beth M. Uffner • Tracy Trevorrow and Lois Yamauchi • Deirdre Davis • Jeffrey S. Warren and Betsy A. Garofalo • Ralph Green and Amy Totenberg • Frank Sun and Regina Kuliawat • Emily Tarsell • Adam C. Varley and Kerry G. Varley • Peter Coopersmith and Heather Hart • George Feldman • Kathleen Augustine • Eugene Kim and Ann Da • Jane Kim • Kristen M. Kiefer • Kathie McGinty • Scott Peeler • Kathryn F. Kaycoff '82 • David Meikle
To give to Bard today, visit giving.bard.edu/bcf. |
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