Dear Alumni/ae,

Hope this note finds you well—greetings from spring in Annandale!

Reunion Weekend is just about 50 days away! This is the time when the world speeds up, the weather gets crazy and we are all on the lawn at Blithewood in the blink of an eye.

Please sign up today! 0s and 5s, this is your time! We all need some Bard now, more than ever. The campus is yours—we’ve got you covered. Camp Bard is open!

Full schedule here.

The Commencement speaker was just announced: Michèle Pierre-Louis, former president of Haiti and a global leader in education, social justice, and economic development. We are thrilled to welcome a woman who has done so much for Haiti and communities worldwide. Other honorary degree recipients include Cindy Sherman, Justin Vivian Bond, Maja Hoffmann, Yaron Tomer, and Jack Blum '62

The Bard College Awards Ceremony and cocktail party will honor exceptional alumni/ae and retiring faculty. See the full list here.

Jazz Fest will return on Saturday, May 24, and this year, it will be dedicated to the memory of Richard Gordon, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, a beloved faculty member and jazz pianist.

If you want to see more jazz at Bard, on April 15, the Richard Gordon Jazz Series presents a night of music with Eri Yamamoto’s Colors of the Night Trio. Click here for more information.

Last week Bardians in the Capital Region attended the world premiere of My Town by Jack Ferver. Thanks to everyone who came out, and a huge thanks to Jack for inviting us and being so gracious. Jack is a writer, director, dancer, and choreographer, as well as an assistant professor of theatre and performance at Bard.

Earlier in the month, I also hosted a Fireside Chat with Leon—it had been a while! Thanks to everyone who tuned in. If you missed it, you can watch it here.

We are planning another online event in the near future with Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jonathan Becker to discuss Bard’s international programs and international students at Bard. Stay tuned for a date. 

I said before it was almost 50 days to graduation - so we are celebrating that on Friday, April 4th with a new event our office is planning for Bard seniors. The goal is to celebrate them, prepare them and connect them to the Bard alumni/ae community. It's not easy to leave Bard, especially now - so we want to help! If you want to connect with the newest Bardians to be - please join our Bard Career Network. 

Another way to help students - if you are an alum in NYC, I have a special request from the Center for the Study of Hate. They are looking for housing for students doing internships in the summer this year. I am happy to share more details if you might be interested.

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in the Raptors' Call to Give! It was an epic 24 hours, and all you Raptor enthusiasts stepped up—raising over $40,000!

Be seeing you,
Jane ’89

PS. Senior and graduate shows are coming up. This Saturday, April 5th the CCS student thesis exhibitions open. There's an opening reception for what will be an incredible show. You can see more here. To see the schedule of the undergraduate studio arts shows follow @bardstudioarts, they start going up on xxxxx. Shows will be up through Reunion Weekend. 

P.P.S. Another fantastic show leading up to graduation is currently on view in Stevenson Library—Critical Collage: Janet Malcolm, "Why Are Your Collages Art and Mine Not?" 

Bard College Holds One Hundred Sixty-Fifth Commencement on Saturday, May 24, 2025

Former Prime Minister of Haiti Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis to Give Commencement Address

Former Prime Minister of Haiti Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis will give the 2025 Commencement address. Bard President Leon Botstein will confer 485 undergraduate degrees on the Class of 2025, 192 graduate degrees, and 53 associate degrees from its microcolleges. The program will begin at 2:30 pm in the commencement tent on the Seth Goldfine Memorial Rugby Field.

Benjamin Barron ’15 Interviewed in W Magazine

Bard alumnus Benjamin Barron ’15 was interviewed in W Magazine about All-in, the fashion brand and magazine he founded with Bror August Vestbø. Their annual collections are based on a storyline featuring a female character and inspired by vintage fashion. The brand's growth is "driven by a fan base of insiders who recognize and prize originality,” writes Alice Cavanaugh for W Magazine.

Sasha Skochilenko ’17 to Give Talk on April 7 at Bard College Berlin

Alexandra “Sasha” Skochilenko ’17, Bard and Smolny College alumna and Russian artist who was imprisoned in 2022 for opposing the war in Ukraine, will speak at Bard College Berlin on Monday, April 7. Her talk, How a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences Helped Me in Jail, which will take place from noon to 3 pm EDT and be accessible via Zoom, will be moderated by her academic advisor, Ilya Kalinin, of Smolny Beyond Borders and visiting scholar at Bard College Berlin and Humboldt University.

Bard College Senior Blanche Darr ’25 Wins Prestigious Watson Travel Fellowship

Bard College senior Blanche Darr ’25 has been awarded a prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, which provides for a year of travel and exploration outside the United States. Darr, an anthropology major and violinist in the Bard College Conservatory, will spend a year expanding her musical vocabulary for her Watson project, Reimagining Music-Making as a Way of Life.

Bard Student Grace Miller-Trabold ’26 Awarded Davis Projects for Peace Grant

Grace Miller-Trabold ’26, a junior art history and visual culture and human rights major at Bard College with a concentration in Latin American and Iberian Studies, has been awarded a Projects for Peace Grant for $10,000 by the Davis Foundation. Miller-Trabold’s project, “Connecting Threads: Reciprocity and Gratitude as Pedagogies of Peace in Oaxacan Textile,” will provide resources for youth workshops on Indigenous Oaxacan textile traditions, which will take place in Oaxaca, Mexico, and in Poughkeepsie, New York.