Reunion is done and dusted, the frenetic campus energy has subsided, and here in my world we are asking Bardians for support by June 30th—and now is the best time to give because, thanks to a generous donor from the 1970s, we have A MATCH! (See more below.)

Thank you to everyone who came back for Alumni/ae Reunion Weekend 2023; it was the perfect time to be in the HV, not too hot, not too cold. Thanks to the class committees, we had record-breaking attendance from 2013 and 2003; the Class of 1973, at their 50th, turned their dinner in Blithewood into an impromptu Adolph's playlist dance party; and 1993 and 1998 stayed up late to represent the 1990s at the Stereo Moonrise Vinyl Lounge. Other highlights were the Big Noise listening party and Jazzfest, which included current students for the first time this year. Photos from Reunion and Commencement are here.

If you want to see U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock's commencement address or any of the other speeches, you can watch the livestream here. (I remember a protest at my graduation—and... there was one again this year.)

Throughout the weekend people said to me "You are Jane? You email me!" Well yes I do, and it is my pleasure to know you read them. I would prefer to send vintage postcards to everyone (see above), but that's a little impractical. Let me know if you want me to send you one.

Over the summer we will be working on Affinity Groups, events for alumni/ae, plans for Family and Alumni/ae Weekend (save the date: October 27-29, 2023) and Cities Parties* this year in September. If you want to host a Cities Party in your town, please email us soon!

SummerScape is in full swing and the Spiegeltent opens this weekend. There are 20% discounts for alumni/ae throughout the summer on select events and all Bard alumni/ae can get $5 tickets to see Nicholas Galanin and Ya Seen on Saturday, June 24th.

The Alumni/ae Association Board of Governors Events Committee is bringing alumni/ae together for an event next month as the tent welcomes Bard's very own multi-talented actor, singer, and performer, alumna Lola Kirke '12 on July 29th (special invitation coming soon).

Art is everywhere on campus. Don't miss the incredible CCS exhibition, Indian Theater Native Performance Art and Self-Determination since 1969, which also opens this weekend.

And SAVE THE DATE for the MFA Thesis Show: July 15th to 23rd at UBS in Red Hook. All are invited to the opening reception on Saturday, July 15th from 1-4pm.

I have a very short survey for you about the Alumni/ae Holiday Party**. Please fill it out here. 

Be seeing you,
Jane '89

P.S. For those of you who remember Professor Li-Hua Ying, her family has started a scholarship in her memory. If you want to support it, please click here for more information.

*Cities Parties are put together by volunteers who want to make things happen for Bardians in the cities or towns they live in. A Bardian walks into a bar… and asks to reserve a space. We tell people where and when to meet, and send you some swag to give away. Presto—a Cities Party—a longstanding Bard tradition, and maybe coming to a city near you.

**The Bard Alumni/ae Holiday Party is a pre-pandemic Bard tradition, hosted by the Office of Alumni/ae Affairs in NYC. It is usually in early December. Over 300 Bardians from all eras come out to celebrate the season and see their Bard friends dressed up in their finest attire.

New Book by Bard Alumna Keziah Weir ’13 Reviewed in the New York Times

The Mythmakers, the debut novel by Bard alumna Keziah Weir ’13, was reviewed in the New York Times. The book, which follows the story of a young journalist searching for redemption and meaning in the midst of her crumbling career, is a fresh addition to the category of self-reflective fiction about writers which explores various facets of appropriation, plagiarism, and the adoption of others’ personal experiences.

Bard College Professor Felicia Keesing Interviewed in Scientific American about Tick-Borne Illnesses

Dr. Felicia Keesing, Bard College’s David and Rosalie Rose Distinguished Professor of Science, Mathematics, and Computing, was interviewed about ticks and how to protect against the diseases they spread in Scientific American.

Claudia Cravens ’08 Interviewed by the New York Times about Her New Novel Lucky Red, among New Fiction “Reframing the West”

Lucky Red (Dial Press, 2023), the new novel by Bard alumna Claudia Cravens ’08, is among a cohort of new fiction that is reexamining the Western, writes the New York Times. For Cravens, the trope of the “mysterious stranger” was irresistible while drafting the novel. “I love that archetype,” Cravens said to the Times, “but I thought, ‘what if the stranger Bridget falls in love with is a woman instead of a man?’”‌

Bard Conservatory Faculty and Alumni/ae Tour China with Performances in Shanghai and Qingdao

From May 30 to June 16, Tan Dun, Leon Botstein, Frank Corliss, Kayo Iwama, and other Bard Conservatory faculty and alumni/ae toured China with programs in Shanghai and Qingdao that highlight Bard’s commitment to cross-cultural engagement in the arts. Leon Botstein, music director of the Bard Conservatory and president of the College, is the first major international conductor to return to China post-pandemic. 

Bard Conservatory Alumna Avery Morris ’18 Awarded Fulbright for Research in the Czech Republic

Bard Conservatory alumna Avery Morris ’18, who graduated with a BA in Mathematics and a BM in Violin Performance, has been selected for a prestigious Fulbright Study Research Award for 2023–24. Her project, “Gideon Klein’s Lost Works and the Legacy of Czech Musical Modernism,” aims to bring to light the early works of Czech composer and Holocaust victim Gideon Klein (1919–1945), which were lost until they were discovered in a suitcase in the attic of a house in Prague in the 1990s.