September 2023
News for Bard 
Families & Friends

Dear Families,

We are wrapping up the second week of classes at Bard! It is always exciting this time of year– all of our students are back and the campus is bustling with the students' energy. 

We hope to see many families for Family and Alumni/ae Weekend on October 27-29, 2023. Please stay tuned for the schedule of events. Festivities this season include our highly popular classes, tours, Bard Men’s Soccer playing Skidmore (it’s Senior Day too), and the Bard Conservatory Orchestra with maestro Leon Botstein performing works by faculty members Joan Tower and Marcus Roberts at the Fisher Center.  

If you are able to join us, we recommend making travel arrangements now. You can find a list of nearby hotels here. Registration will be live soon.

The 20th anniversary season of the Fisher Center continues. Music Director Leon Botstein opens The Orchestra Now’s (TŌN) ninth season on September 15 with a concert including the vibrant and festive melodies of Franz Lehár and the Strauss brothers, and Mahler’s beautifully tragic Sixth Symphony. The concert will be both in-person and livestreamed. Purchase your tickets here. 

The following weekend, on Saturday, September 23, Bard’s Women’s Soccer team takes on Ithaca College in Annandale, you can come to cheer them on in person, or watch live online. Go Raptors!  

This year's Hannah Arendt Conference: Friendship and Politics will be on October 12 and October 13. Every year, students, thinkers, artists, writers gather at our campus in Annandale for two days of exploration into a pressing contemporary issue. The full conference will be available to stream live online if you cannot attend in person. View all of the details here.

Best wishes,
Sasha Boak-Kelly

P.S. A few important dates to keep in mind:
September 13th (this Wednesday) is the last day of Drop/Add
October 9th-10th is Fall Break
October 27th-29th is Family Weekend

Dates to Remember

Monday, April 29, 2024 – Tuesday, April 30, 2024 | Advising Days (No classes are held on advising days)
Wednesday, May 1, 2024 | Last Day to Withdraw from a Class 
Wednesday, May 1, 2024 | Senior Projects Due
Thursday, May 9, 2024 | Registration for Fall Classes Opens at 8 a.m.
Wednesday, May 15, 2024 – Tuesday, May 21, 2024 | Completion Days—Regular Classes and Final Exams: All students and faculty remain on campus
Monday, May 20, 2024 | Provisional Senior Grades Due in the Office of the Registrar
Tuesday, May 21, 2024 | Last Day of Spring Classes
Thursday, May 23, 2024 | Baccalaureate Service and Senior Dinner
Saturday, May 25, 2024 | Commencement

Spring Check-Out Dates:
Non-graduating Students: Wednesday, May 22, 2024 • Must check out by 12:00 pm
Graduating Seniors: Sunday, May 26, 2024 • Must check out by 12:00 pm

Newsmakers

Chinua Achebe. Photo: ©2007 Frank Fournier Chinua Achebe. Photo: ©2007 Frank Fournier

In Memory of Chinua Achebe, Bard College to Host Celebration of Contemporary African Writing on September 22

On Friday, September 22, Bard College is hosting After Chinua Achebe: African Writing and the Future, an event honoring the memory of the late Chinua Achebe (1930–2013), former Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Professor of Languages and Literature. A symposium in the afternoon in Weis Cinema at the Bertelsmann Campus Center will examine the current flowering of writing by African authors, in Africa and in the diaspora.

Full Story
Incoming Bard High School Early College Bronx students (front row from left to right): Shirley Contreras, Khloe Wilkerson, Ariella Thompson, Kevin Mendoza, and Summer Rae Lee Garcia stand with Vice President and Dean of Early Colleges Dumaine Williams ’03 (back row on left) and President Leon Botstein (back row on right) at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Photo: Danny Santana Photography Incoming Bard High School Early College Bronx students (front row from left to right): Shirley Contreras, Khloe Wilkerson, Ariella Thompson, Kevin Mendoza, and Summer Rae Lee Garcia stand with Vice President and Dean of Early Colleges Dumaine Williams ’03 (back row on left) and President Leon Botstein (back row on right) at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Photo: Danny Santana Photography

Opening of Bard High School Early College Bronx Featured on News 12

For News 12, journalist Valerie Ryan reports on the opening of Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) in the Bronx. Speaking with faculty, administrators, elected officials, and students, News 12 highlighted the BHSEC Bronx ribbon-cutting ceremony as a major milestone for young Bronx scholars, whose aspirations range from entering the field of neuroscience to entrepreneurship.

Full Story
Bard students demonstrate in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan on the anniversary of the Taliban takeover. Photo by Jonathan Asiedu ’24 Bard students demonstrate in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan on the anniversary of the Taliban takeover. Photo by Jonathan Asiedu ’24

Bard College Commemorates Second Anniversary of Evacuation and Resettlement Efforts for Students from Afghanistan

The Bard College community will host a special event on Sunday, September 10 to commemorate the extraordinary journey of students whom Bard College and partners across the globe helped to evacuate from Afghanistan in 2021. The event will celebrate the achievements of these resilient students, serve as a tribute to the monumental efforts expended on behalf of this Afghan cohort, and foster meaningful dialogue about their futures.

Full Story
Clara Sousa-Silva, assistant professor of physics at Bard College. Photo by Melanie Gonick Clara Sousa-Silva, assistant professor of physics at Bard College. Photo by Melanie Gonick

Bard College Awarded $124,936 by the Heising-Simons Foundation to Simulate and Detect Potential Biosignatures

Bard College has received $124,936 from the Heising-Simons Foundation for a five-year project to simulate and detect potential biosignatures from exoplanets. The project, led by Assistant Professor of Physics Clara Sousa-Silva, will look for potential markers of life beyond Earth by expanding our understanding of how molecules behave in different atmospheric environments.

Full Story
Dinaw Mengestu, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of the Humanities, director of the Written Arts Program, and director of the Center for Ethics and Writing.  Dinaw Mengestu, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of the Humanities, director of the Written Arts Program, and director of the Center for Ethics and Writing. 

Bard College Awarded $300,000 by the Booth Ferris Foundation to Support the Center for Ethics and Writing

Bard College is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a two-year, $300,000 grant by the Booth Ferris Foundation to support the establishment of the Center for Ethics and Writing. The center, directed by Dinaw Mengestu, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of the Humanities and director of the Written Arts Program, reimagines the study of literature and writing as both an academic and social practice, one that asks students to translate the skills they develop in the classroom as critical readers and writers to some of the most pressing and divisive social issues of the moment.

Full Story

August Supporters

Thank you to all our families and friends who made a gift to Bard in August. #donorsmakedegreespossible

Anonymous (3) • Andrew B. Arnold and Arabel J. Elliott • Richard Bassler and Stephanie Bassler • Helene Tieger '85 and Paul Ciancanelli • Allan Doescher and Lois Doescher • Rand Whipple and Anne Dowd • Jennifer C. Dunlop-Fletcher '99 and David F. Fletcher • Gregory Fields and Rozanna Leo-Fields • Susan H. Gillespie • Kimberly L. Haas • Liam Harte and Emily B. Todd • Michael J. Horvitz • Gretchen Jacott and Carlos Jacott • Judith Joa • Dan Junkins and Minette Junkins • Kathryn F. Kaycoff '82 • Charles Phillips and Maureen Langloss • Connie Laport • Jim Etkin and Kim Larsen • Vladimir Lebedev and Celestine Bohlen • Gregory Fields and Rozanna Leo-Fields • Ilya Levinson and Martine Benmann • Jason Malinowski and Jennifer Malinowski • David Meikle • Bruce Paddock and Arliss Paddock • Kim V. Pham • Charles Phillips and Maureen Langloss • David W. Jacobowitz '65 and Linda Rodd • Lee Roussel and Andre Roussel • Catriona Shafer and Gurdon R. Miller • Warren E. Spielberg and Rina E. Rinkewich Spielberg • Liam Harte and Emily B. Todd • Jamie A. von Klemperer and Alison M. von Klemperer • Rand Whipple and Anne Dowd