BARD COLLEGE HOLDS ONE HUNDRED FORTY-SIXTH COMMENCEMENT ON SATURDAY, MAY 20, 2006 Equal Justice Initiative Founder Bryan A. Stevenson to Deliver Commencement Address; Vassar College President Frances D. Fergusson, Economist and MacArthur

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.— Bard College will hold its one hundred forty-sixth commencement on Saturday, May 20, 2006. At the commencement ceremony, Bard President Leon Botstein will confer 327 undergraduate degrees to the Class of 2006 and 105 graduate degrees, including master of fine arts; doctor of philosophy and master of arts in the history of the decorative arts, design, and culture; master of arts in teaching; master of arts in curatorial studies; master of science in environmental policy; and master of science in environmental studies. The program, which begins at 2:30 p.m. in the commencement tent on the Seth Goldfine Memorial Field, will include the presentation of honorary doctoral degrees. The commencement address will be given by Bryan A. Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama and professor of clinical law at New York University. Stevenson will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree. Honorary degrees will also be awarded to Vassar College President Frances D. Fergusson, economist and MacArthur Fellow Nancy Folbre, composer Lukas Foss, computer scientist David Gelernter, and choreographer Mark Morris. Other events taking place during commencement weekend include class reunions; a concert by Bard student soloists and composers with the American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein, conductor; and the granting of Bard College awards for 2006. The Bard Medal will be presented to Stanley A. Reichel ’65; the John and Samuel Bard Award in Medicine and Science to Albert R. Matlin ’77; the Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters to Christopher Guest ’70; the John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service to Roy L. Herrmann ’76; the Mary McCarthy Award to Joan Didion; and the Bardian Award to Elizabeth “Betty” Shea. ABOUT THE COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER Bryan A. Stevenson is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama (EJI), and professor of clinical law at New York University School of Law. He has been recognized as one of America’s top public interest lawyers and has won national acclaim for his work challenging bias against the poor and people of color in the criminal justice system. Since graduating from Harvard Law School and the Harvard School of Government, he has assisted in securing relief for dozens of condemned prisoners, advocated for poor people, and developed community-based reform litigation aimed at improving the administration of criminal justice. Stevenson has represented capital defendants and death-row prisoners in the deep South since 1985, when he was a staff attorney with the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia. Since 1989 he has directed EJI, a nonprofit organization in Montgomery, Alabama, that defends the legal rights of the poor and people of color in Alabama. His work has won him national and international acclaim. In 1995, he was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship Award Prize. He is a 1989 recipient of the Reebok Human Rights Award and the 1991 ACLU National Medal of Liberty. In 1996, he was named the Public Interest Lawyer of the Year by the National Association of Public Interest Lawyers. In 2000, Stevenson received the Olaf Palme Prize in Stockholm, Sweden, for international human rights, and, in 2004, he received the Award for Courageous Advocacy from the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has also received honorary degrees from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law and Georgetown University Law School. Stevenson has served as a visiting professor of law at the University of Michigan School of Law and NYU School of Law, published several widely disseminated manuals on capital litigation, and written extensively on criminal justice, capital punishment, and civil rights issues. He earned his B.A. degree from Eastern College and is a 1985 graduate of Harvard University, with both a masters in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government and a J.D. from the School of Law. # # # 5/02/06

Website: https://www.bard.edu/commencement/

This event was last updated on 06-14-2006

Back to Top