Hi,

Here we go, countdown to Alumni/ae Reunion Weekend 2024—best and biggest weekend of the year in Annandale. (And this year it's my 35th reunion, so even more exciting for me.) The campus is ready, (thanks to amazing B & G and Bard Horticulture). Montgomery Place Farm Market is open, and senior boards are almost over. 

Thank you to everyone who registered for Alumni/ae Reunion Weekend online. If you missed the deadline, don't worry, you can still come back— just sign up on site. See the full schedule here.

It is going to be a pleasure to meet the Class of 2024, which this year includes fifteen displaced students, five students from the Bard Prison Initiative, thirty-six from the Bard Microcollege program, and 68 students who are first in their families to graduate from college! Thank you Nikkya Hargrove '05 for coming back.. (See photograph of celebration dinner above.)

There are also two-hundred and thirty-four Bardians getting graduate degrees.

If you can't be here on campus I recommend watching the Bard College Awards— look at the list of honorees here. It's inspiring to hear from your fellow Bardians. 

Graduation is streamed live here, as are many events throughout the weekend, including the Alumni/ae Memorial Service.

Since we were in touch last, I was on a trip to California. Thanks to all the alumni/ae who came out to our events, and to Emma Fernberger '11 and Adam Ferrucci '20 for hosting us at the cool new Fernberger Gallery in Melrose Hill, and Scot Moore '14 MM '18 for letting Bard into San Francisco's enigmatic Vita Brevis Club. That was my first time taking Leon to an underground speakeasy! Thanks also to underwriters of the event Christophe Chung '06, Meghan Cochran '93, Reina Murooka '15 and Bill Stavru '87.

If you aren't coming back for Reunion, perhaps you will come to check out the Fisher Center 2024 SummerScape and Bard Music Festival season —we are planning some alumni/ae events in the summer and will be in touch.

Happy Spring, 

Please stay in touch,

Be seeing you,

Jane '89

P.S. Did you ever want Bard socks? Check out our Dapper Donor Sock Appeal? Get 'em while they last. 

P.P.S. When you are on campus don't forget to pick up your own set of the card game ‘Bard Against Humanity.’ What's better than hanging out in Keen North trying to decide what card to put down when the question is “My friends and I have been really into _____ lately.”

Bard College Receives Nearly $2.8 Million Grant from New York State Department of Education for Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program

Bard College has been awarded a $2,790,494 grant from the New York State Department of Education for its successful Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP). This grant will provide funding over five years to significantly increase support of HEOP students at Bard. HEOP provides full-tuition scholarships as well as a broad range of services to New York State residents who would otherwise be unable to attend a postsecondary educational institution.

For NPR, Lexi Parra ’18 Photographs Girl Scout Troop 6000, Which Is “Giving Hope” to Migrant Children Whose Parents Are Seeking Asylum

Alumna Lexi Parra ’18 contributed photography and video to an NPR article about Girl Scout Troop 6000, a New York City–based troop composed of the daughters of asylum seekers. Parra’s photos and videos accompany the story of Troop 6000, whose members take part in traditional scouting activities, as well as supporting each other through the traumas associated with migrancy. “This is probably the only sense of stability they have right now,” Giselle Burgess, founder and senior director of Troop 6000, told NPR.

Two Bard College Graduates Win 2024 Fulbright Awards

Sara Varde de Nieves ’22, who was a joint major in film and electronic arts and in human rights at Bard, has been selected for a Fulbright Study/Research Award to Chile. Their project, “Regresando al Hogar/Returning Home,” aims to preserve the legacy of Villa San Luis, a large-scale public housing complex built in Las Condes, Santiago, Chile from 1971 to 1972. Jonathan Asiedu ’24, a written arts major, has been selected for an English Teaching Assistantship Fulbright to Spain. His teaching placement will be in the Canary Islands.

Bard Conservatory Student Hannah Park-Kaufmann ’24 Awarded Knight-Hennessy Scholarship

Hannah Park-Kaufmann ’24, who is graduating with dual degrees in piano performance and mathematics, has won a Knight-Hennessy Scholarship for graduate-level study at Stanford University. Park-Kaufmann will pursue a master's degree in computational and mathematical engineering at Stanford University School of Engineering. Upon completion, she will matriculate into the PhD program in applied mathematics at Harvard University. 

Bard College Student Sierra Ford ’26 Recognized on 2024 ALL IN Student Voting Honor Roll

Bard College sophomore Sierra Ford has been named to the 2024 ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge Student Voting Honor Roll. Ford, leader of the College’s student voting initiative Election@Bard, joins a group of 137 students recognized for their nonpartisan voter registration, education, and turnout efforts during the 2023 elections, which featured critical ballot measures and local and state races.