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September 2026 News for Bard Families & Friends |
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A Bard student is gifted some swag for volunteering at the College's Thank A Donor event on Thursday, August 27, 2026. Photo Credit: Mohamad Allahham '29. |
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Dear Bard Families and Friends,
We had a fantastic time welcoming new Bardians to campus in August. Classes started on Monday, August 31 and the semester is off to a great start with much to look forward to this fall.
Bard celebrated Democracy Day on Wednesday, August 19 featuring events and opportunities designed to educate incoming students on the importance of supporting democratic ideals and practices. This coincided with the release of a New York Times op-ed written by Bard’s Acting President, Jonathan Becker. In the op-ed, Jonathan Becker argues that colleges play a vital role in defending citizens’ fundamental right to right to vote.
Please remind your student to attend Club Fair taking place on Saturday, September 5 from 1-3 pm on the quadrangle on the south side of the Campus Center. Club Fair allows students to meet with representatives from all the registered clubs (there are dozens!) and learn how to get involved.
Health Services is partnering with Village Apothecary again this fall to offer Covid and flu vaccine clinics for the Bard community. Clinics will take place on Friday, September 25 from 11am-4pm and Friday, October 23 from 9am-2pm in the Robert Kelly Reading Room (MPR) in Campus Center North. Appointments are required. More information, including a link to register for an appointment, will be sent to students via email closer to the clinic dates.
This academic year, BardWorks will offer two distinct opportunities designed to support students at different stages of their Bard experience and help them prepare for life beyond Bard:
- BardWorks Activate, for first-year and sophomore students, will take place on October 2, 2026. This program helps younger students turn their interests and ideas into action. Through student stories, alumni/ae connections, hands-on activities, and conversations about opportunities across campus, students will discover ways to get involved, build meaningful experiences, and take advantage of the resources available to them at Bard. Students may sign up using this registration form.
- BardWorks Annandale x NYC, for junior and senior students, will take place from January 26–29, 2027. This multi-day professional development experience connects students with Bard alumni/ae, professionals, and family networks while helping them strengthen skills in networking, interviewing, mentorship, and communicating their goals with confidence. Registration for this program will launch on October 5.
We are always looking to welcome parents to join the BardWorks networking event in New York City, which will take place on January 29, 2027. If you are interested in this opportunity or you wish to donate to BardWorks to support student scholarships, please contact Mackie Siebens '12, Assistant Director of Development for Family Programs, at families@bard.edu or 845-758-7316.
Also looking ahead to October, Bard Athletics and Recreation will be hosting its fourth annual golf tournament in support of Bard Athletics on Friday, October 9 at the Red Hook Golf Club. Registration is live and available by completing this form.
Please save the date for Bard’s Family and Alumni/ae Weekend, October 23-25, 2026. Stay tuned for the schedule of events and online registration. Activities include classes, tours, information sessions, guided walks, apple tastings, athletic events and more!
Wishing you a wonderful start to the fall,
Sincerely,
Mackie Siebens '12
Assistant Director of Development, Family Programs
[email protected]
845-758-7316
P.S. The Hannah Arendt Center’s 17th annual fall conference, Solidarity: What Are We Fighting For?, will take place from Thursday, October 15 through Saturday, October 17. More information can be found here.
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Join us for Family and Alumni/ae Weekend!
We are looking forward to welcoming parents, family members, and alumni/ae for Family and Alumni/ae Weekend, October 23–25, 2026. Attendees will be able to enjoy a schedule packed with activities, showcasing just about every program on Bard’s 1,200-acre campus, including classes, athletic events, walking tours, apple tastings, meeting Bard faculty and staff, and more.
We suggest booking accommodations in advance. You may visit the Destination Dutchess website to learn more about places to stay nearby in Dutchess County.
To get a sense of the full schedule for Family and Alumni/ae Weekend, you may view last year's schedule. The schedule for Family and Alumni/ae Weekend 2026 will be available in early October. |
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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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Dates to Remember
To view the full 2026-2027 academic calendar, click here.
Wednesday, September 9, 2026 | Drop/Add Period Ends 5pm
Monday, October 12, 2026 – Tuesday, October 13, 2026 | Fall Break
Friday, October 23, 2026 | Midterm Grades and Criteria Sheets Due from faculty
Friday, October 23, 2026 – Sunday, October 25, 2026 | Family and Alumni/ae Weekend
Thursday, November 26, 2026 – Sunday, November 29, 2026 | Thanksgiving Recess
Monday, December 7, 2026 | Senior Projects Due
Wednesday, December 9, 2026 | Advising Day
Thursday, December 10, 2026 | Registration for Spring Classes Opens
Friday, December 18, 2026 | Last Day of Fall Classes (Fall Semester Ends) |
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Students making signs at a polling location on campus. Photo by Jonathan Asiedu ’24.
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Bard Acting President Jonathan Becker Writes Guest Essay for New York Times Opinion
Jonathan Becker, acting president at Bard College, has published a New York Times Opinion guest essay about student voting rights. In the article, “What Does the Trump Administration Have Against the 26th Amendment?” Becker argues that institutions of higher learning have a duty to assist their students in navigating the registration and voting process, educating them not only about their democratic rights, but also actively helping them to realize those rights.
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Tara Westover. Photo by Brigitte Lacombe
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Tara Westover Joins Bard College as Visiting Writer in Residence in the Division of Languages and Literature
Bard College’s Division of Languages and Literature is pleased to announce the appointment of Tara Westover as visiting writer in residence. Her appointment begins in the fall 2026 semester. Westover is an American historian and memoirist whose first book, Educated, a memoir of her upbringing in rural Idaho, was a finalist for a number of national awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, PEN America’s Jean Stein Book Award, and two awards from the National Book Critics Circle Award.
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Composer in Residence Missy Mazzoli.
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The Galloping Cure by Composer in Residence Missy Mazzoli Featured by the BBC
The Galloping Cure, an opera by Composer in Residence Missy Mazzoli, was featured on the BBC’s Radio 4: Front Row. A collaboration between Mazzoli and author and Bard Fiction Prize winner Karen Russell, The Galloping Cure is a musical allegory for the opioid crisis. The Edinburgh International Festival, where the opera premiered, described it as “visually stunning and emotionally gripping."
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Arlo Haskell ’00. Photo by Ashley Kamen ’01
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Arlo Haskell ’00, Executive Director of the Key West Literary Seminar, Featured in the New York Times
The work of Bard alumnus Arlo Haskell ’00, executive director of the Key West Literary Seminar, was featured by the New York Times in an article about Key West’s literary history. The Seminar recently renovated a house belonging to writer Elizabeth Bishop, and it hosts a walking tour and summer writing workshops for high schoolers in order to “incubate future writing talent.”
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Richard Ostfeld and Felicia Keesing, husband-and-wife researchers in upstate New York, are studying why Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses are getting worse.
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Professor Felicia Keesing Contributes to 35-Year Study Finding Lyme Disease is Spread More by Mice than Deer
After more than 35 years, the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies has published the results of a long-term study into the ecology of Lyme Disease. The study, co-authored by Bard Professor and David & Rosalie Rose Distinguished Chair of the Sciences, Mathematics, and Computing Felicia Keesing, aimed to better understand how ticks, bacteria, climate, plants, and mammals interact to spread Lyme, a disease with nearly half a million new sufferers every year.
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Our August Supporters
Thank you to Bard families and friends who supported Bard in August. We are grateful for your generosity to the College!
#donorsmakedegreespossible.
Anonymous (3) • Kenneth S. Stern '75 and Marjorie Slome • Irina Lebedeva • Kimberly L. Haas • John J. Miller and Emily Altschul-Miller • Ilya Levinson and Martine Benmann • Kent Forden and Joanne Chu • James D. Bush • Frank J. Komola • Michael Cooper and Leah Cooper • Harold Rosenthal and Kimberly Schwab • Laurie Jean Weil • Bill Allen and Barbara Westermann • Jim Etkin and Kim Larsen • Andrew S. Szegedy-Maszak and Elizabeth A. Bobrick • Connie Laport • Elizabeth H. Shapiro and Michael E. Shapiro • Jeffrey Stein • Peter W. Greenwald and Gail M. Newman • Michael G. Zahn and Deborah H. Zahn • Chavie Weisberger Mashinsky • Margaret S. Griffin • Natasha Dillahunt '98 • David W. Jacobowitz '65 and Linda Rodd • Jason T. Robison and Anne S. Robison • Fei Liu • Blake Logan '88 • Jill G. Cereda • Jane Kim • David Meikle
To give to Bard today, visit giving.bard.edu/bcf. |
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