|
September 2026 Newsletter |
|
|
|
Bard currently has more than 150 active student clubs! Photo from the Club Fair last week by Gaspard Bason ’29 |
|
Dear Bardian,
Back to school! Campus is full again–yay! There are cool old Volvos driving about, a student on a unicycle, music blaring from Stone Row. We are excited to have everyone back. This fall, we welcomed 442 first-year and 114 transfer students to Annandale, including 25 transfers from Simon’s Rock and 25 BardBac students. Our newest students include 41 international students from 19 countries, along with 22 visiting students in Annandale and 19 at Bard NYC. That makes a grand total of 1,883 Bard undergrads!
My resolution this academic year is to go to everything that is happening on campus! Impossible–but I will try. This week, a great panel was put on by CCE, Voting Rights in the Age of AI, followed up by pianists Angelica Sanchez, associate professor of music, and her close friend, Marilyn Crispell, with An Evening of Jazz– a fundraiser for Jazz at Bard. Today the Bard CEP hosted a talk at lunchtime, Outcomes of the Himalayan Glacial Outburst Flood of 26 August, 2026, with a leading Nepalese glacial hydrologist, and this afternoon a Nobel Prize winning chemist,Venki Ramakrishnan, will be on campus to talk about Why We Die - another topic of great interest. You can find the full Bard events calendar here.
On September 30th, Bard's Lifetime Learner Institute (LLI) will present a talk in-person (Starr Library, Rhinebeck) and online entitled Rigged: Why We Pay Taxe$ and Billionaire$ Don't with Boston College law professor Ray Madoff, author of The Second Estate: How the Tax Code Made an American Aristocracy. The talk will be moderated by Bard College trustee, Hilary Pennington.
Any golfers out there? There's still time to sign up for the Fourth Annual Golf Tournament on October 9th. (All proceeds support Bard Athletics.)
And I'm thinking about starting a table tennis club–I just joined one in Kingston and tonight will be my second visit!
We are on the road this fall–it's Cities Parties season (see below) and hope to see you out and about. I will be in California next week.
I'll be back for the 20th anniversary of the Hannah Arendt Center and The Arendt Forum 2026: Solidarity: What Are We Fighting For? October 15th-17th. This conference is open to all, registration is required. This year, I was excited to see that an author I read at Bard in my very first Women's Studies class, the amazing Carol Gilligan. I loved my class with Professor Emerita Suzanne Vromen. Reading In a Different Voice at 17 changed everything.
And then we have Alumni/ae Weekend (October 23rd-25th). Everyone is invited. Classes, tours, students, the farm, the new Performing Arts Lab, performances, Spirits of Annandale Cemetery tour, student and faculty art auction, Montgomery Place, the Sugar Shack, athletics, varsity games, tailgates, apples, pumpkins and a chance to see your school for yourself and meet the next generation of Bardians.
So as usual, never a dull moment. Please stay in touch, let us know what you are doing.
Happy Fall.
Be seeing you,
Jane '89
Director of Alumni/ae Affairs |
|
P.S.
|
![]()
Please save the date for the All Alumni/ae Zoom with Acting President Jonathan Becker on Tuesday, September 29th.
Also, we’re looking for committee members for Bard Reunion 2027! If your class year ends in 2 or 7, that’s you! E-mail us if you’d like to get involved, and make your plans to join us in Annandale May 28th–30th, 2027.
|
|
Board of Governors Update
Save the Date: All Alumni/ae Zoom with Acting President Jonathan Becker
Tuesday, September 29 | 4:30–5:30 p.m. ET | Zoom
Join Acting President Jonathan Becker for the inaugural event in a new series of conversations with alumni/ae and members of the Bard community, organized by the Communications Committee of the Alumni/ae Association Board of Governors.
All alumni/ae are invited. Watch your email for more information and the Zoom link.
Coming Up: Board of Governors Meeting
The next Board of Governors meeting will take place on campus during Family and Alumni/ae Weekend, Saturday, October 24, from 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. All Bardians are welcome to attend. |
|
Books by Bardians
|
Books by Bardians
|
|
Save the Date: Family and Alumni/ae Weekend
|
Mark your calendars: Bard Alumni/ae Weekend will be held from Friday, October 23 – Sunday, October 25, 2026.
Get ready for a weekend packed with everything that makes Bard, well, Bard. Spread the word to your friends and classmates.
This year’s Family and Alumni/ae Weekend highlights include:
- An open house at the new Maya Lin-designed Performing Arts Lab
- The opening of the Ralph Ellison Center
- Tours of Campus Center North
- A Spirits of Annandale Cemetery tour
- Alumni/ae lunch in Blithewood
- Sample classes
Come explore, learn, reconnect, and experience all that makes Bard special. Registration will open soon.
|
|
|
Bard Cities Parties are where alumni/ae around the country (and the world) get together. Come out and meet the Bardians in your town.
This is just the beginning of our list for 2026. Watch your email and socials for more events.
If you want to help host a party where you are, just let us know at [email protected].
LA Cities Party
Tuesday, September 22nd from 6–8 pm
The Edendale
2838 Rowena Ave, Silverlake, CA 90039
REGISTER FOR LA
Boston Cities Party
Thursday, September 24th from 6–8 pm
Blackmoor Bar & Kitchen
1 Chelsea Street, Charlestown, MA 02129
REGISTER FOR BOSTON
Save the Date
San Francisco Cities Party
Friday, September 25th from 6–8 pm
Philadelphia Cities Party
Tuesday, September 29 from 6–8 pm
Ballers
1325 N Beach St, Philadelphia, PA 19125
REGISTER FOR PHILADELPHIA
Other Upcoming Regional Events
Cocktails & Conversation in Washington, DC
with Acting President Jonathan Becker
Wednesday, September 16th from 5:30–7:30 pm
Barkada Wine Bar
1939 12th St NW, Washington, DC 20009
REGISTER FOR DC
Save the Date
Cocktails & Conversation in NYC
with Acting President Jonathan Becker
Wednesday, October 7th
Make sure you're on the list when Bard comes to your city.
UPDATE YOUR INFORMATION
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tschabalala Self’s sculpture Lady In Blue.
|
Visiting Artist Tschabalala Self’s ’12 Lady In Blue Unveiled in London’s Trafalgar Square and Featured in the Guardian
A sculpture by Visiting Artist Tschabalala Self ’12 was unveiled in London’s Trafalgar Square on September 10. Lady in Blue will stand prominently on the Square’s fourth plinth, one of the world’s best-known commission spaces for public art. Self described the sculpture as an image of an everywoman striding forward into the future, and “a beacon that could shed light into a possible future."
|
|
Jimi Hendrix performing in 1967. Photo used under Creative Commons BY 2.0.
|
Bard Alum Captured Never-Before-Seen Footage of Jimi Hendrix’s 1969 Woodstock Performance
Alumnus Albert Goodman ’71 captured footage of Jimi Hendrix's famous performance at Woodstock in Bethel, New York in the summer of 1969. The footage, which includes Hendrix’s infamous rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, was covered in Rolling Stone.
|
|
|
Launching in the 2027 Spring semester, “A Republic, If You Can Keep It” will introduce new curricula, foster partnerships with other colleges and universities, and encourage public service. Photo by Kay Bell ’26
|
Bard Vice President Malia Du Mont ’95 and Professor Chris Gibson Discuss How Students Think About Civic Responsibility and Public Service on Radio Kingston
On Radio Kingston, Malia Du Mont ’95, senior fellow at the Hannah Arendt Center and Bard’s vice president for strategy and policy, was joined by former New York Congressman Chris Gibson, HAC senior fellow and professor of political practice, to discuss the HAC’s new initiative, “A Republic, If You Can Keep It.” They discussed the initiative’s mission to help students think deeply about citizenship, civic responsibility, public service, and productive engagement at a time of intense polarization.
|
|
Scene from Alexa West's Occasion, occasion, occasion, 2023. Photo by Kayhl Cooper
|
Alexa West MFA ’14 Included in ArtNews’ “New Talent 2026”
Choreographer Alexa West MFA ’14 was featured in ArtNews as part of their “New Talent 2026” series, following the staging of her immersive dance performance Jawbreaker, which was staged in August at the New York Museum of Modern Art. “[Jawbreaker] is a near-perfect distillation of what makes West one of America’s most exciting choreographers: kinetic movement, a hypnotic soundtrack, and props that serve as objects for the dancers to work against." ArtNews writes.
|
|
|
Our August Supporters
|
![]()
Thank you to everyone who supported Bard in August. Your generosity powers the work of this community — helping students thrive, empowering faculty, and sustaining the programs, spaces, and opportunities that define the Bard experience. Every gift, whatever its size, makes a genuine impact, and we're deeply grateful for your continued partnership. Thank you for your belief in Bard and your investment in its future. For all ways to give, click here.
Anonymous (7) • Peter Aaron '68 and Brooke Allen • Coleen M. Alexander '00 and Matthew Alexander • Claire Angelozzi '74 • Penny Axelrod '63 • Brenden E. Beck '07 • Hannah Becker '11 • Jennifer Bennett '84 • Corinne C. Blackford '07 • Jack A. Blum '62 • Connor C. Boehme '17 and Alana M Pagano '17 • Jane A. Brien '89 and Stewart Verrilli • Matthew L. Brophy '02 • Kelly Burdick '04 • Michael A. Burgevin '10 • Matthew D. Cameron '04 and Meredith Danowski • Beverly Canin '74 • Michael Chameides '01 • Susan L. Chang '65 and Luis Chang Hung • Anastasia Christman '90 • Chris J. Chung '06 • Noah T. Coleman '92 • Gary N. Comorau '68 • Peter J. Criswell '89 • Sophie M. Davis '14 • Matthew J. DeGennaro '96 • Lisa M. DeTora '89 • Sarah deVeer '17 • Saroj Dhakal '07 • Jeremy C. Dillahunt '97 and Natasha Dillahunt '98 • Jason P. Drucker '93 and Joseph Ortiz • Malia Du Mont '95 • Hildegard F. Edling '78 and Hildegard Edling • Monica C. Elkinton-Englund '03 • Olorin T. Etemad-Lehmer '19 • Jack Fenn '76 • Keith A. Fredrickson '00 • Jennifer M. Gaudioso '95 • Joel R. Griffith '03 • Catherine A. Grillo '82 and Gene Grillo • Daphne Grosett-Ryan '66 • Mikaela Gross '07 • Bethany A. Halford '97 • Zachary Hammond '10 • Lucien Harlow-Dion R. Harlow-Dion '22 • Martha A. Hart '04 • Jim E. Hart '83 • Tanessa S. Hartwig '95 • Jane M. Heidgerd Garrick '94 and Laurence Garrick • Andrea Z. Hilton '99 • Kaythee Hlaing-Kastenberg '06 • David W. Jacobowitz '65 and Linda Rodd • Bill K. Johannes '70 • Harry A. Johnson '17 and Ariane A Cruz '16 • Maryam Jowza '01 • Eben I. Kaplan '03 • Charlotte Kelly '90 and Robert Kelly • Max J. Kenner '01 and Sarah L Botstein Kenner • Hans Kern '14 • Rob E. Kimmich '21 • Ren A. Klein '78 • Shayna A. Koczur '18 • Janet Kraayenbrink Viader '20 • Svitlana Kukharuk '25 • Jake E. Lester '20 • Cynthia H. Levy '65 • Blake Logan '88 • Beppe Lovoi '04 • James E. Mahood '71 • Tom M. Maiello '82 • Sara E. Mannheimer '03 • Dionisio Martins '07 and Anna Neverova '07 • Jon Massey '85 • Ashleigh McCord '08 • Emily E. McNair '03 • Mollie G. Meikle '03 • Ryan Mesina '06 • Claire E. Michie '02 • Morgan E. Miller '95 • Sarah M. Mosbacher '04 • Lisa Mullenneaux '69 • Richard Nadeau '75 • Lisa A. Newmann '75 and Sandy Sanderson • Brianna Norton '00 • Kerri-Ann Norton '04 • Jenn Novik '98 • Zoe E. Noyes '10 • Amy B. Parrella '99 and Daniel S Parrella • Claire Phelan '11 • Tamara C. Plummer '02 • Tracy Pollock '07 • Reggie J. Raye '10 • Esteban Rubens '97 and Susan E D'Agostino '91 • Maro R. Sevastopoulos '00 • Daniel S. Severson '10 • Chase A. Sinzer '11 • Audrey M. Smith '78 • George A. Smith '82 • Raissa J. St. Pierre '87 • Kenneth S. Stern '75 and Marjorie Slome • Claire K. Surovell '84 • Walter E. Swett '96 • Kornelia Tamm '00 • Steven B. Tatum '12 • Christian Te Bordo '99 and Kathryn Te Bordo '99 • Valeri J. Thomson '85 and John B Ferguson • Maxwell R. Toth '22 • Tricia A. Travis '25 • Ioannis S. Tsakos '87 and Erin R deWard '86 • Joe Vallese '04 • Tanner Vea '07 and Matthew Kelly '07 • Alan M. Wallack '65 and Robin Liebmann Wallack '67 • Erin Weeks-Earp '01 • Dumaine Williams '03 and Erika van der Velden '04 • Jenn S. Woo '25 • Jehan S. Worthy '14 • Dexin Zhou '09 • Sahana B. Zutshi '20
|
|
|
|
|
