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March 2026 News for Bard Families & Friends |
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Clockwise L-R: Fulbright Award Winners Maia Cluver '22, Cecilia Giancola '25, and Oskar Pezalla-Granlund '24. |
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Dear Bard Families,
We recognize this is a challenging moment for our community. In moments like this, we are especially grateful for your continued support of the institution's values and the spirit of Bard College.
Bard College has been named a top producing institution for Fulbright U.S. students, with four recent graduates earning Fulbright awards around the world. These students are Maia Cluver '22 (Jordan, English Teaching Assistant), Cecilia Giancola '25 (India, Independent Study/Research), Oskar Pezalla-Granlund '24 (Spain, Study/Research), and Grace Molinaro '24 (Egypt, Modern Standard Arabic). Maia, Cecilia and Oskar are all photographed above. We are so proud of these Bardians!
The newly renovated communal and team locker rooms in the Stevenson Athletic Center were opened to students, faculty, staff and community members on Monday, March 2 after renovations took place to upgrade them during winter break. We are still fundraising for this project and invite families to make a contribution using this giving form. Families who give $100 or more will have their name added to the donor wall in the Stevenson Athletic Center. Gifts of $2,500 or more make families eligible to name a locker. If you are interested in other naming opportunities, please contact Mackie Siebens '12, Assistant Director of Development of Family Programs, at [email protected].
The Office of Development and Alumni/ae Affairs and Bard’s Family Leadership Council are excited to launch a nine day online auction from April 7 to April 16 in support of Bard’s Sanctuary Fund. This fund offers displaced and refugee students at Bard assistance with costs such as room and board, books, transportation, medical and legal fees, and more. The auction items include hotel stays, gift certificates, museum tours, concert tickets, sail boat charters, biplane tours of the Hudson Valley and more! We’ll be sharing additional information about the auction in early April.
Room selection for the 2026-2027 academic year will take place in April. The Office of Residence Life and Housing sent out an announcement email about this to all undergraduate students in February. The email included important dates and deadlines and lots of helpful information about the room selection process in general, how to sign the 2026-2027 Room Selection Housing Agreement, and how to apply for Intentional Community Living, Themed Living Communities, Special Application Housing, and Off-Campus Housing options. Click here for more information.
We’re looking forward to celebrating the Class of 2026 at Bard College’s 166th Commencement Weekend from May 22-24, 2026. The commencement tent opens at 1:00 pm on Saturday, May 23 and the procession begins at 2:30 pm. The celebratory barbecue takes place on Blithewood lawn beginning at 6:00 pm followed by fireworks, live music, and dancing. Registration and a full schedule of events will become available this month. More information about Commencement 2026 will be shared over email and included in the April issue of the Annandale Insider.
Sincerely,
Mackie Siebens '12
Assistant Director of Development for Family Programs
[email protected] | 845-758-7316
P.S. For a full list of events taking place at Bard this month, visit Bard’s events calendar. To follow student stories, visit the archives of Bard's student newspaper, The Bard Observer.
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Dates to Remember
To view the full 2025–2026 academic calendar, click here.
Saturday, March 14, 2026 – Sunday, March 22, 2026 | Spring Recess
Wednesday, April 29, 2026 | Last Day to Withdraw from a Class
Wednesday, April 29, 2026 | Senior Projects Due (5:00 p.m.)
Thursday, May 7, 2026 | Registration for Fall Classes Opens at 8 a.m.
Wednesday, May 13, 2026 – Tuesday, May 19, 2026 | Completion Days—Regular Classes and Final Exams
Monday, May 18, 2026 | Provisional Senior Grades Due in the Office of the Registrar
Tuesday, May 19, 2026 | Last Day of Spring Classes
Thursday, May 21, 2026 | Baccalaureate Service and Senior Dinner
Saturday, May 23, 2026 | Commencement |
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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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Diya Vij ’08.
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Bard Alumna Diya Vij ’08 to Lead New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs
Diya Vij ’08, Bard alumna and a vice president at Powerhouse Arts, has been named as the Mamdani administration’s leader of New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Vij, who was profiled in the New York Times, is a veteran of creative communities throughout the city and was praised by Mamdani as a “visionary and deeply thoughtful leader who understands that art is not ornamental to this city—it is essential to it.”
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Lola Kirke ’12.
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Lola Kirke ’12 Profiled in the New York Times
Actress and Bard alumna Lola Kirke ’12 was profiled in the New York Times following her role in the 2025 film Sinners and the release of her book Wild West Village: Not a Memoir. Kirke discussed her childhood in New York City and her family relationships, as well as her work since moving to Nashville in 2020 including her country album Trailblazer.
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Blithewood Garden. Photo by Peter Aaron ’68
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Bard Included in US News and World Report’s 30 Most Beautiful College Campuses
US News and World Report included Bard in its 2026 list of the 30 most beautiful college campuses. This comes afterTravel and Leisure featured Bard in its list of the 30 most beautiful college campuses last year.
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Valeria Luiselli. Photo by Alfredo Pelcastre
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Valeria Luiselli Interviewed in the New Yorker
Valeria Luiselli, Sadie Samuelson Levy Professor in Languages and Literature at Bard College, was interviewed in the New Yorker about her story “Predictions and Presentiments,” which appeared in the magazine and is drawn from her upcoming book, Beginning Middle End.
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M. Gessen.
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M. Gessen Spoke with WMCU’s Here and Now About Kronika, Joint Civic Tech Project of Bard College and PEN America
“At this point, it might be easier to answer the question, ‘Where isn’t history being erased?’” said M. Gessen, distinguished visiting writer at Bard College. In an interview with WMCU’s Here and Now, Gessen outlined how Kronika, a joint civic tech project of Bard College and PEN America, has gone from being an archive to a set of tools in response to worldwide threats to free speech.
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