Bard College senior Annie Trowbridge, from Peterborough, New Hampshire, has been awarded the prestigious Thomas J. Watson Foundation 2015–16 Fellowship, which provides for a year of exploration outside the United States. Each Watson Fellow receives a grant of $30,000 for 12 months of travel and independent study. Trowbridge has won for her proposal “Wool: A Tactile Tradition of Meaning and Ritual.” She will spend the 2015–16 academic year traveling through Iceland, Scotland, Peru, Chile, Nepal, and Laos studying wool working. 03-31-2015 http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2676
Nineteen student-athletes from Bard have qualified for the Liberty League's 2014–15 All-Academic Teams in their respective sports. Commissioner Tracy King announced that 228 athletes earned the distinction across the league. Winter championship sports include men's and women's basketball, men's squash, and men's and women's swimming and diving. To be recognized as a member of the All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must be a sophomore or higher in class standing with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.20. 03-04-2015 http://bardathletics.com/news/2015/3/5/MBB_0305150927.aspx
A paper by Bard College Berlin student Dylan Davis (B.A. 2016, USA) on the relationship between hate and equality has won an essay contest across several Bard-affiliated campuses. In the fall of 2014, students at Bard College and its partners at Al-Quds University in the West Bank, the American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan, and Bard College Berlin participated in the Academic Initiative on Hate and the Human Condition. Courses that explored and reflected on the problem of hate were offered at participating campuses, and final papers written by students in these classes were eligible for the essay contest. Following the evaluation by a panel of judges from the four institutions, Dylan Davis's paper "Beyond Hate: Exploring the Relationship Between Hate and Equality" was selected as the winner. 02-26-2015 http://www.berlin.bard.edu/news/view/archive/2015/march/article/student-paper-selected-winner-in-essay-competition-across-bard-campuses/
Bard students Julia Minin '16 and Jared Rabinowitz '16 participated in the 56th Annual U.S. Air Force Academy Assembly, held February 2–4 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The topic for this year's assembly was "U.S.-Russia Relations: Refocus. Rebuild. Reenergize." Convened annually since 1959, the Academy Assembly is a student-planned, undergraduate conference held by the Air Force Academy and cosponsored with Columbia University's American Assembly. This year's conference focused on the current crisis in Ukraine. Student delegates are divided into small roundtables moderated by senior representatives from academia and government. Distinguished speakers provide expert perspective and information on the topic at hand. This year's keynote speaker was Michael McFaul, the former U.S. ambassador to Russia. The Bard students' attendance was supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation. 02-12-2015
Bard senior, voting rights activist, and aspiring lawyer Jonian Rafti looks back on his time at the college. Jonian came to Bard from a large high school in New York City and was looking for a different kind of educational experience: a small college where he could get to know his peers and professors. Four years later he's working on a joint Senior Project in economics and history, serves as student body treasurer, and is a leader in the Election@Bard Initiative. 01-08-2015 http://www.bard.edu/news/news.php?id=117
Facilities
The campus contains more than 70 buildings of varied architectural styles, from 19th-century stone houses and riverfront mansions to structures designed by noted contemporary architects. Most of the College's facilities are clustered at the center of campus: Kline Commons, with its main student dining hall and meeting places for students and faculty; classrooms; libraries; the computer centers; science labs; art studios; and the gymnasium. The Bertelsmann Campus Center provides a spacious setting for social and intellectual exchange among members of the Bard community. The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts contains two theaters and offers student performances and professional music, dance, and theater. Several residence halls are located in the central campus area, while others are within easy walking or bicycling distance. A free shuttle provides regular service between the campus and the neighboring towns of Red Hook, Rhinebeck, and Tivoli.