Dear Alumni/ae,

Ahh… the Club Fair. So many things to get involved in. This year 189 clubs were represented including the Korean Drumming Ensemble, the Economics Society, the Girls Go Lifting Club, the Debate Society, the Surrealist Training Circus and my personal favorite, the Ringo Starr Appreciation Society.  

Classes are in full swing. I wish I had signed up for one this semester. I would have loved to be studying my hometown in London's Burning: Britain in the Seventies. If you want to know what is being taught this fall and remember why you loved Bard classes, they are all found here.

Shout out to Kevin Schreck '11 and Dr. Samantha Monier '12 for coming back this week to show their film Antarctic Voyage. What a great Bard story. Samantha, a field biologist, was applying for an NSF grant and needed to prove how she would get her current research (seabirds) out to the public. Enter Kevin, a friend from Bard and a documentary filmmaker. The journey from grant application to the high seas of South Georgia spanned seven years. At the Q&A, Kevin acknowledged the influence Peter Hutton's films had on him, as well as the films he saw in Peggy Awhesh's classes. Samantha credited the interdisciplinary approach of Bard in helping her adapt to new situations, communicate with different people, and think creatively about problems that arise—like when their luggage was lost en route! 

Things are starting to shift from green to red and gold up here, so that means Family and Alumni/ae Weekend (October 25th-27th). Classes, tours, performances, Spirits of Annandale Cemetery walk, Women's Volleyball, Men's Soccer, woodland walks, and new this year, the weekend includes the Hudson Valley Cities Party at the Anne Cox Chambers Alumni/ae Center.*

SAVE THESE DATES! 
    •    Cities Parties - Boston (September 25th), Philadelphia (October 9th), Portland (December 7th) 

    •    Family and Alumni/ae Weekend - October 25th-27th (Registration opens next week)

    •    Holiday Party NYC - December 5th (Invite coming soon!)

    •    Alumni/ae Reunion Weekend May 23rd-25th, celebrating 0s and 5s


It's been a great summer here in the valley and I hope it was good for you, too! Right now it's perfect—still warm enough to night swim at Twin Lakes, still time to get my wood stacked, and still a weekly bounty from the Bard farm. 

Hope to see you back here soon. 

Jane

* The Hudson Valley Cities party is cohosted by the Center for Civic Engagement and will offer an opportunity to not only meet and mingle with fellow alumni/ae, but also connect with students who are interested in meeting alumni/ae to expand their network. Stay tuned for more information. 
 

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.

Alumna Mona Merling ’09 Wins Association for Women in Mathematics 2025 Joan and Joseph Birman Research Prize

The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) has awarded Bard math alumna Mona Merling ’09 the 2025 Joan and Joseph Birman Research Prize in Topology and Geometry. “I would not be here today without the many amazing women I was lucky to have as role models at every step of the way,” she says and cites “my undergraduate mentor at Bard College, Lauren Rose, who early on inspired me about both research and teaching.”

R.H. Quaytman ’83 Interviewed About New Works Created for Frieze Magazine

Celebrated artist R.H. Quaytman ’83 was invited to create new works for Frieze magazine's September issue to accompany an essay about Gertrude Stein’s poem, “If I Told Him: A Portrait of Picasso.” She responded with a series of images using abstract and photographic elements, which she discusses with Marko Gluhaich, associate editor of Frieze.

Rikki Ducornet ’64 Reviewed in the New York Review of Books

The novella The Plotinus by Bard alumna Rikki Ducornet ’64 was reviewed in the New York Review of Books. Ducornet’s fifteenth work of fiction, The Plotinus incorporates an authorial style the NYRB calls “[something] between astringent honesty, madcap fantasy, and rapturous lyric.”

Bard Professor Felicia Keesing Receives Award From American Society of Mammalogists

Felicia Keesing, the David and Rosalie Rose Distinguished Professor of Science, Mathematics, and Computing at Bard College, is the recipient of the 2024 C. Hart Merriam Award from the American Society of Mammalogists.