Dear Alumni/ae,

The scary season is upon us, so fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride. Thanks to everyone from the Affinity Groups who sent in their favorite horror movies, stories, books, and music for our social media. 

Here in Annandale, we are just coming off an epic Family and Alumni/ae Weekend—the fall showcase of the best of Bard. This year I was both; my son Alberto is back on campus, driving around his 1994 Volvo, staking his claim to an unused carrel on the top floor of the library, but still coming home to do laundry. 

Family and Alumni/ae Weekend drew 938 family members and 92 alumni/ae. (It really is one of my favorite weekends at Bard, I hope you will come sometime.) It's the best time to see your professors from way back when, hear and see what's new at Bard, meet the students, or taste apples and walk in the woods. You can see the full schedule here. Save the date for next year: October 24-26, 2025.

New this year—Bardian Birdians tour of the Tivoli Bays led by Board of Governors member Juliette Zicot '23. Thank you, Juliette! International students were special guests at the Alumni/ae Lunch and had a chance to share their stories and meet alumni/ae; there was an alumni/ae Tea with Leon at his house and the highly attended Hudson Valley Cities Party that was held right here, in the Anne Cox Chambers Alumni/ae Center. Thank you to our co-hosts of the Cities Party Catherine Dickert '94, Joel Griffith MFA '03, Bill Hamel '84 and Chad Kleitsch '91. 

Thank you also to the alumni/ae who participated in the Spirits of Annandale Tour of the Bard Cemetery, where everyone had a chance to taste the homemade limoncello (Adolfas' recipe of course) and take home a souvenir shot glass. 

And speaking of Cities Parties, there is one more to go this fall—in Portland, Oregon—on Tuesday, December 10th, 5:30-7:30, at the Steeplejack Brewing Company-Broadway. 

November 4th - 8th is Bard's First Generation College Celebration Week. A week of events to highlight students, faculty and staff who are the first in their families to go to college. At Bard, approximately 15% of the student body identifies as first-generation. If you are first gen and would like to send a note of support, or share your story with the first-generation students in Annandale, please fill out this form here. They would love to hear from YOU! Thank you!

Classes ending in 0s and 5s—it’s your reunion! Save the date, May 23-25. If you would like to join your class committee, let us know.

And the Bard Career Network is up and running! We have partnered with the Career Development Office to bring all alumni/ae together to connect with current students, recent graduates, and fellow alums to develop your network, give advice, get advice, be a mentor, be a mentee, and much more. To date, over 900 Bardians have signed up, and students are about to join. If you have been waiting for an easy way to connect with fellow Bardians, or help students with life after Bard, this is it. Click here to sign up…be seeing you there.

Jane ’89

P.S. On campus we are working towards 100% voter participation from students. I hope we have 100% alumni/ae participation wherever you are! Send us your voting selfies to [email protected] and win some Bard merch.

P.P.S. On Monday, November 4th, at 5:00pm, Bard will host a screening and discussion for the public premiere of the documentary film, “A Poll to Call Our Own: The Bard Voting Story,” to be followed by a discussion with key actors, including Bard alumni/ae Sarah deVeer '17; Jonian Rafti '15, Seamus Heady '22 (producer/director), lawyer Yael Bromberg and Bard’s Vice President for Civic Engagement Erin Cannan and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jonathan Becker. The event will take place at the Weis Cinema in the Bertelsmann Campus Center and broadcast as a webinar for those who wish to attend virtually. Registration is required for the webinar.

Bard Alumna Joanna Haigood ’79 Honored with Dance Magazine Award

The 2024 Dance Magazine Awards honor Bard alumna Joanna Haigood ’79, alongside George Faison, Liz Lerman, Mavis Staines, Shen Wei, and Mikhail Baryshnikov, whose work with Baryshnikov Arts earned him the Chairman’s Award. The theme for this year’s awards is “the stage and beyond”—the dancers, choreographers, and educators recognized are invested in work that often transcends the proscenium.

Profile of Gia Coppola ’09 in the Sunday Times

The Sunday Times profiled Bard alumna Gia Coppola ’09, whose feature film The Last Showgirl premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Coppola spoke about her family, her path toward being a director, and how the film and Pamela Anderson's casting in it came together like a “divine intervention."

Film by Steve Bonds-Liptay MS ’10 Valve Turners Wins Climate Action Award

Valve Turners, a documentary feature film directed and produced by Steve Bonds-Liptay MS ’10, premiered and won the Climate Action Award in this year’s Climate Film Fest. Valve Turners follows a small group of activists from the Pacific Northwest as they turn the valves and halt the flow of five oil pipelines entering the United States from Canada to spotlight the climate emergency.

Bard Alumni/ae Rosa Polin ’16 and Ryan Rusiecki ’20 Featured in Cultured Magazine’s List of Young Photographers 2024

Bard alumni/ae Rosa Polin ’16 and Ryan Rusiecki ’20, graduates of the photography program, have been featured in Cultured magazine’s Young Photographers 2024, a list highlighting the next generation of image makers who have dedicated themselves to photography as an art form.

TEDxBard Organizer Emily O’Rourke ’25 Shares Her Lessons Learned from Organizing a Conference

Emily O’Rourke ’25 shared her experiences working on Bard’s TEDx organizing team in an article for Bard CCE News. TEDx events are independently organized conferences that bring together speakers to give short talks with the aim of sparking conversation and change. The upcoming TEDxBard conference, "Building Bridges," will focus on topics from structural issues in the global coffee supply chain to building a sustainable lifestyle.

WXBC Director Liam Dwyer ’26 Interviewed About Tape Decks in the New York Times

The New York Times interviewed Bard student and WXBC director Liam Dwyer ’26 for an article about the revival of tape decks. Modern artists have increasingly been releasing their music on cassette, capitalizing on listeners with old cars as well as younger music fans who are discovering cassettes for the first time. One of them is Dwyer, who originally got interested in cassettes because of how musical artists use tapes in experimental music.