Dear Families,

Greetings from my new role as Assistant Director of Development for Family Programs! I know many of you through my former role as Bard’s Director of Admission. I am looking forward to making new connections across the Family Network and offering support wherever I can from my position in the Development Office.   

In August, Bard welcomed 497 first-year students to campus, two of whom joined the College through a new partnership between Bard and Welcome Corps. An additional nine first-year students began their studies at Bard College Berlin. Bard also welcomed 76 transfer students and is hosting 23 visiting students on campus this fall.

Looking ahead this month, we are excited to see many of you on campus for Family & Alumni/ae Weekend from October 25-27. If you have not done so already, please RSVP here by October 18. The weekend’s festivities include sample classes, tours and walks, athletic events, concerts conducted by Leon Botstein, and seasonal activities such as pumpkin painting, a Bard cemetery tour, and apple gleaning at a nearby farm. Whether or not you are coming, some activities will be live-streamed, so please check the schedule here.

Also taking place on Family and Alumni/ae Weekend is Bard’s second annual golf tournament fundraiser at the Casperkill Golf Club in Poughkeepsie, NY, organized by Athletics and Recreation. All proceeds will go to Bard Athletics, helping fund team travel opportunities and other enhancements to the student-athlete experience. Click here for more information.

Finally, if your student is considering studying away and looking for work experience through Bard, Bard NYC is an innovative study away program for undergraduates eager to apply their liberal arts education to practical work experience in New York City. Students get a head start on their transition from college to career by combining interdisciplinary coursework, a professional internship, and co-curricular programming. A new dormitory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn offers students a multicultural co-living community, onsite classrooms, and convenient access to the entire city. The application deadline for the spring semester is November 1. For more information please visit bardnyc.bard.edu.

I look forward to connecting with many of you at these events this month. Please reach out to me if I can be of assistance!

Best wishes for a happy and healthy fall,

Mackie Siebens ‘12
She/Her/Hers
Assistant Director of Development for Family Programs
Office of Development and Alumni/ae Affairs
Bard College
[email protected]
845-758-7316

Art by Lucina Yue ’25, Student at US-China Music Institute, Exhibited at University of Pennsylvania

Yue’s work utilized two major Chinese calligraphy scripts: the clerical script, which was well-established during the Han dynasty, and the regular script, which reached its peak during the Tang dynasty.

Mahlia Slaiby ’27 Recruited to Lebanon’s National Women's Soccer Team

Bard student Mahlia Slaiby ’27 has been recruited to Lebanon’s Futsal National women’s soccer team. Slaiby will join Lebanon’s team as a defender and will accompany them to the qualifying match for the FIFA Futsal Womens’ Cup in May 2025.

Fisher Center Artist Justin Vivian Bond Named 2024 MacArthur Fellow

Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College artist and collaborator Justin Vivian Bond is named a recipient of a 2024 MacArthur Fellowship. One of this year’s 22 recipients of the prestigious “genius grant” awarded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Justin Vivian Bond, an artist and performer, has a long relationship with the Fisher Center and Bard College as a Fisher Center performer, Spiegeltent curator, and teacher in the undergraduate Theater and Performance Program.

Bard MFA Faculty Member Tony Cokes Named 2024 MacArthur Fellow

Bard MFA Faculty in Moving Image Tony Cokes has been named a 2024 MacArthur Fellow. Cokes, a media artist, is one of this year’s 22 recipients of the prestigious “genius grant” awarded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. In a statement about his work, the MacArthur Foundation says, “Tony Cokes is a media artist creating video works that recontextualize historical and cultural moments."

Interview: Raphael Bob-Waksberg ’06, Creator of Hit Show Bojack Horseman, Talks to A.V. Club

Bard alum Raphael Bob-Waksberg ’06 speaks with the A.V. Club about the lessons learned from his hit Netflix comedy BoJack Horseman and its ever-growing legacy. Ten years since its debut, Bob-Waksberg’s BoJack Horseman, a showbiz satire of life in Hollywood, is finding new fans who resonate with its parody while also continuing to capture the attention of its older fans.

Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College Hosts 16th Annual International Conference on “Tribalism and Cosmopolitanism: How Can We Imagine a Pluralist Politics?” October 17–18

Participants Include New York Times Bestselling Author Sebastian Junger, Cultural Commentator and Artist Ayishat Akanbi, Turkish-born American Philosopher Seyla Benhabib, Irish Journalist Fintan O’Toole, Arendtian Scholar Lyndsey Stonebridg

Presented by OSUN, the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities, and Center for Civic Engagement, the 2024 Hannah Arendt Center Conference responds to the undeniable fact that tribalism is real, appealing, and dangerous. Participants include New York Times bestselling author Sebastian Junger, cultural commentator and artist Ayishat Akanbi, Turkish-born American philosopher Seyla Benhabib, Irish journalist Fintan O’Toole, Arendtian scholar Lyndsey Stonebridge, and author Joseph O’Neill.

Bard High School Early College Brooklyn Opens with Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) celebrated the opening of its new Brooklyn campus with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Located in the Brownsville/East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, BHSEC Brooklyn is Bard’s fourth early college campus in partnership with New York City Public Schools and its 10th early college campus nationwide.

Bard College Receives $1 Million Grant from Burpee Foundation to Support the Creation of the Burpee Trial Garden at Montgomery Place Campus

Bard College has been awarded a $1 million grant to be paid over four years toward supporting the Burpee Trial Garden, which will be located at the Montgomery Place Campus. The trial garden will revitalize the fallow lawn beds at Montgomery Place that historically grew vegetables and flowers and will engage Bard students in horticultural research and hands-on scientific investigation with real-world applications.