Wow—where did February go? I was in Nova Scotia last weekend and was walking on the bottom of the sea in the Bay of Fundy—when the forty foot tides were out, that is. We didn't have any snow up in Canada, but now we have a proper winter wonderland today in the Hudson Valley. 

Reunion registration will be opening in mid-March and you can see all the exciting details here for Commencement and Alumni/ae Reunion Weekend (May 26th-28th). Take a look at the full schedule to see the amazing Bard College Awardees, our longtime faculty being honored with the Bardian award, the Honorary Degree recipients, plus all the fab social events for returning alumni/ae. It might seem like a long way off, but before you know it, hundreds of alumni/ae, families, and new graduates will be on campus, and Saturday night the lawn at Blithewood will be a sea of Bardians on blankets. I can't wait!

Reunion classes (3s and 8s) please visit the reunion page and start connecting with your classmates. We are sending out committee letters, emails, and posting on socials. We need you! Dig out your photos, call your friends, make your reunion gift. Bard Reunion—Camp Bard is the best way to start your summer—whether it's your reunion or not. 

Speaking of Bard friends: the Hannah Arendt Center Fall Conference in October 2023 is on Friendship and Politics. “I have never in my life ‘loved’ any people or collective—neither the German people nor the French, not the American, nor the working class nor anything of that sort. I indeed love ‘only’ my friends.” (Hannah Arendt To Gershom Scholem, 1963). We want to hear about interesting Bard friendships out there; send your stories to us at [email protected].

If you don't know about the Hannah Arendt Center and their programs, take a look. Lots of events that alumni/ae can attend or tune into. For instance, Masha Gessen, Bard's Distinguished Writer in Residence, is giving a talk called "The Courage to Leave and the Courage to Stay" on March 14th in the Bertelsmann Campus Center. It is free and open to the public. 

2023 marks TWENTY years since the opening of the Fisher Center at Bard! The “Breaking Ground” 20th Anniversary Season will be a celebration of the artists, audiences, students, faculty, and communities that have written the Fisher Center’s story for its first two decades.

There are alumni/ae discounts for many of the events, including $5 tickets to Neil Gaiman: The Bard Lectures using discount code BARDALUM. Neil Gaiman tickets will be made available to the Bard Community starting this Friday, March 3rd. The general public sale is March 9th. Visit fishercenter.bard.edu or call 845-758-7900. 

A huge thank you to all the alumni/ae who joined us for BardWorks in January—it was a great success, with over 45 students from Annandale participating and 65 alumni/ae. Special thanks to our alumni/ae panelists and moderators: Edwar Aviles-Mercedes ’20, Sara Bosworth ’18, Tyrone Copeland ’01, Andrew Corrigan ’01, Jahsol Drummond SR ’20, Jeszack Gammon ’19, Hazel Gurland-Pooler ’99, Annah Heckman ’19, José Jiménez ’02, Maggy Kucera ’13, Zachary Kussin ’09, René Macioce ’15, Darren Mack ’13, Mia McCully’07, Levi Shaw-Faber ’15, Danielle Sinay ’13, Elijah Strauss ’11, Diana Saguilán ’06, Linda Tigani ’08, Eileen Kern Whitener ’09 MAT ’13, and thanks also to all those who attended the networking receptions in Annandale and New York City to share their expertise with the students. Watch out for information on BardWorks DC at the end of March; email [email protected] if you are in the DC-area and want to be involved. 

OK, that's it for me. Thank you as always for staying involved with Bard; all support is meaningful. 

Be seeing you,

Jane ’89

P.S. Bardians continue to make us proud everyday! You can click here to keep up on Bardians in the news or sign up for the What’s New at Bard newsletter. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram @bardalumni. I also recommend following @bardarchives for some fabulous Bard history and photos, and @bardathletics to stay up to date on all Raptors games. You can even watch live streams of most games with announcer Howard Megdal ’07. 

Bard Architecture Students Meet with Celebrated Community Organizers in East Village

Bard College students in Michael Cohen’s architecture course Designing Potential Histories of El Bohio Off Anarchy Row took a trip to the East Village on Friday, February 24. Over pizza at Two Boots, they met with activists Carlos “Chino” Garcia and Joseph “Slima” Williams, two members of the CHARAS collective, to discuss their community and cultural work on the Lower East Side (Loisaida). Between 1978 to 2001, CHARAS organized educational, arts, and social programming that primarily served the growing Puerto Rican community, operating mainly out of the vacated Public School 64 building which they renamed “El Bohio,” or the hut. Students in Designing Potential Histories are imagining the adaptive reuse of the now vacant school building and the appropriation of other sites on the block.

Bard College Named a Top Producer of Fulbright Students for 2022–23

Bard College is proud to be included on the list of U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2022–23 Fulbright students and scholars. Each year, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces the top producing institutions for the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government's flagship international educational exchange program. The Chronicle of Higher Education publishes the lists annually.

Bard Artist in Residence Tanya Marcuse SR ’81 Awarded MacDowell Fellowship for Work on Her Most Recent Project Book of Miracles

Tanya Marcuse SR ’81, artist in residence in the Photography Program at Bard, has received a MacDowell Artist Residency Fellowship for spring/summer 2023. Marcuse’s fellowship will support work toward the completion of her project, Book of Miracles, to be published by Nazraeli Press. This project, in direct conversation with the 16th-century Book of Miracles, a compendium of biblical, astronomical, and apocalyptic miracles, aims to visualize phenomena that seems to defy the laws of nature, using fire, paint, and the staging of fantastical scenes. Photography often walks a thin line between fact and fiction, or dwells in a realm where the two cannot be distinguished; the proposed work takes part in this pendulum swing between belief and doubt.

Kingston High Partnership with Brothers@ and Bard College Helping Teens “Take Charge of Their Educations and Their Futures”

Since first partnering with Brothers@ and Bard College in 2015, students at Kingston High who participated in the program have “achieved an overall graduation rate of over 90%,” writes the Daily Freeman. Brothers@, founded at Bard by Dariel Vasquez ’17 and Harry Johnson ’17, partners with institutions to improve the educational outcomes of young men of color through their “Our Space” methodology. At Kingston High, high school students are matched with current Bard students as mentees “to foster academic persistence as well as positive identity and character development.”

Opus 40 Set to Acquire House of Late Bard Professor, Alumnus Harvey Fite ’30, Bard Will Partner on Programming

Opus 40 has reached an agreement to purchase the historic home of Bard professor, alumnus, and artist Harvey Fite ’30. Bard College was a partner in the process, and will provide programming support in the house going forward, to include educational programs, workshops, and faculty residencies. Bard College President Leon Botstein said, “It’s an honor to participate in the preservation of this unique sculpture and land art made by an alumnus and long-time faculty member of Bard and our neighbor in the Hudson Valley. We look forward to expanding joint programming with Opus 40 in the future and are thankful to the Richards family for their efforts preserving Harvey Fite’s legacy.”

Bard College Conservatory and Film and Electronic Arts Alumnus Luke Haaksma ’21 Awarded Charles Ives Scholarship by the American Academy of Arts

The American Academy of Arts and Letters has announced the 16 recipients of this year’s awards in music. Among the winners, Bard College Conservatory and Bard Film and Electronic Arts alumnus Luke Haaksma BA/BM ’21 was awarded a Charles Ives Scholarship. Charles Ives Scholarships are $7,500 each and awarded to composers for continued study in composition, either at institutions of their choice or privately with distinguished composers.