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Families

Families

Welcome to the Bard Family Network!
Our online network is designed to connect current Bard parents, grandparents, and guardians. Annandale Insider, a monthly e-newsletter containing the latest campus news, notifications of family events, and volunteer/mentorship opportunities, keeps our families informed about student life in Annandale.

Annual Events

  • Family Weekend
    Family Weekend
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  • BardWorks
    Bard Works
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  • Commencement
    Commencement
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Family Leadership Council

Family Leadership Council

Members of the Family Leadership Council (FLC) play a leadership role in the Bard community through a range of activities. FLC members develop and participate in on-campus and regional recruiting and mentoring events, promote and provide career opportunities for students, and participate in peer-to-peer fundraising. Parents on the FLC play a role in the success of the Bard College Fund through annual gifts. The Family Leadership Council meets twice each year: once during Family Weekend in the fall and once in the spring. These meetings are open so all Bard families are welcome to attend.   
Visiting Us

Visiting Us

Bard College campus grounds in Annandale are open to the community. Visitors who are vaccinated and boosted are welcome in campus facilities (except residence halls and the gym, which remain off limits to visitors) with advance approval from the Response Team.
Learn More + Plan Your Visit →

Faculty in the News
Donna Ford Grover, visiting associate professor of literature and American studies. Photo by Chris Kayden

Faculty in the News

Bard’s extraordinary faculty are dedicated to the philosophy of teaching. Today and throughout Bard’s history, members of the faculty have effected change in medicine, the arts and letters, international affairs, journalism, scientific research, and education, among other endeavors.
Learn More →

Academic Calendar

Academic Calendar

The Bard Academic Calendar is an important resource for use throughout the year.
View Calendar →

Stay in Touch

Stay in Touch

Keep your records up to date. If you have updates or changes to your contact information, please email [email protected]. 

The Family Programs Office sends out a monthly e-newsletter, Annandale Insider, as well as important messages from the College and news on networking events, student and faculty achievements, and more. 
Email [email protected] →

News and Events

Left, A woman in a pink shirt stares ahead. Right, a man plays accordion surrounded by lush woods

Bard College Alumni/ae Catherine Lamb MFA ’12 and Ben Richter ’08 Collaborate on New Work With Faculty Member Matt Sargent

“A vast, resonant world of sound, where every listening reveals infinite layers of beauty.”

Bard College Alumni/ae Catherine Lamb MFA ’12 and Ben Richter ’08 Collaborate on New Work With Faculty Member Matt Sargent

Left, A woman in a pink shirt stares ahead. Right, a man plays accordion surrounded by lush woods
L–R: Catherine Lamb MFA ’12; Ben Richter ’08, photo by Kyoung Eun Kang
Bard College alumni/ae Catherine Lamb MFA ’12, Berlin-based composer, and Ben Richter ’08, director of Ghost Ensemble, have released a new collaborative album called interius/exterius, which was engineered by Bard music faculty Matt Sargent and mixed at Bard’s recording studio. The work, which Igloo Magazine calls “a vast, resonant world of sound, where every listening reveals infinite layers of beauty,” is currently in first-round Grammy consideration in the categories of Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance, Best Contemporary Classical Composition, and Best Engineered Album, Classical. “A stellar recording,” wrote Peter Margasak for Bandcamp’s Best Contemporary Classical roundup about Catherine Lamb x Ghost Ensemble’s LP. “This stands as one of more electrifying accounts of [Lamb’s] sound world. It’s thrilling to witness over the last few years how Lamb’s harmonic imagination and compositional voice have been reinforcing one another as they grow inexorably more refined and powerful.” The first round of Grammy voting ends on Oct 15.
Read more about the album

Post Date: 10-14-2025
A black and white photo of Jedediah Berry ’99 in a newsboy hat.

The Naming Song by Jedediah Berry ’99 Wins Massachusetts Book Award for Fiction

“Winning it was just an astonishing thing. I felt incredibly grateful.”

The Naming Song by Jedediah Berry ’99 Wins Massachusetts Book Award for Fiction

A black and white photo of Jedediah Berry ’99 in a newsboy hat.
Jedediah Berry ’99. Photo by Tristan Morgan Chambers
The Naming Song, the newest novel by author and Bard alumnus Jedediah Berry ’99, was awarded the 2025 Massachusetts Book Award for fiction. The Massachusetts Book Awards recognize works by current Commonwealth residents in multiple categories. “I was so pleased to see my book included among a list of so many extraordinary writers’ works who I admire,” Berry said to the Daily Hampshire Gazette. “Winning it was just an astonishing thing. I felt incredibly grateful.”

The Naming Song, also a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, is a fabulist novel that takes place after an apocalyptic event makes names disappear. The novel’s protagonist works for “the Names Committee” as a courier, delivering names to their proper places. “I came to love these characters and the strange journey that they’re on in the book,” Berry said. “Living with that for so long and knowing that it’s finally out of the world is kind of a strange experience. It’s like finally introducing people to these old friends.”
Read the Full Article

Post Date: 10-07-2025
Erika McEntarfer speaking at a podium wearing a black blazer and black framed glasses.

Former Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Erika McEntarfer ’95 Spoke at Bard College in First Public Remarks Since Dismissal

Hosted by the Levy Economics Institute, Bard alumna Erika McEntarfer ’95, former commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), spoke to an audience of Bard students, faculty, staff, and community members in Olin Hall on September 16.

Former Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Erika McEntarfer ’95 Spoke at Bard College in First Public Remarks Since Dismissal

Erika McEntarfer speaking at a podium wearing a black blazer and black framed glasses.
Erika McEntarfer ’95. ©Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. Photo by Karl Rabe
Hosted by the Levy Economics Institute, Bard alumna Erika McEntarfer ’95, former commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), spoke to an audience of Bard students, faculty, staff, and community members in Olin Hall on September 16. She recounted the day of her abrupt dismissal following the release of the July jobs report and discussed the ways that nonpartisan statisticians affect our everyday lives as Americans. McEntarfer compared the efforts of the BLS to the work of city planners involved in transportation infrastructure. “Real-time economic data is like live traffic updates—helpful for making quick decisions—like adjusting interest rates quickly to avoid an economic downturn,” she said. The data produced by BLS is used widely, from top officials in the federal government to traders on Wall Street, whose decisions have real consequences for Americans. “The decisions they make—to adjust interest rates to avoid a recession, to build a new plant in your city, to sell stocks or bonds—impact how easy it will be for you to find a good job, how affordable it will be for you to buy a house and raise a family, and how comfortable your retirement will be.”

Introducing McEntarfer, Pavlina Tcherneva, president of the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, noted that this event was more than just an academic talk. “This is our community gathering to champion a vital idea: that truth and rigorous analysis matter,” Tcherneva said. “That our ability to solve problems and find common ground depends on a shared commitment to facts and honest inquiry.” She emphasized that the work done at the Levy Institute relies on “reliable, trustworthy data,” and that without that, “We would lose our capacity to truly understand the economic forces shaping our communities and our country.”

McEntarfer warned of the potential costs of politicization of economic data. “Economic data must be free from partisan influence. That is essential to the mission of the agency. Markets have to trust that the data are not manipulated,” she said. “Firing your chief statisticians for releasing data you do not like will have serious economic consequences.” After the talk concluded, she took the time to answer questions from the audience, including from current students on topics ranging from data science, job prospects, and their Senior Projects. The talk was widely covered across all major news outlets, from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg to CNN.

The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy research organization that encourages diversity of opinion in the examination of economic policy issues while striving to transform ideological arguments into informed debate. The Levy Institute is home to two Master's degree programs—a one-year MA and two-year MS—in Economic Theory and Policy.
Watch Now

Read More
  • New York Times: “Fired by Trump, a Former Labor Official Warns Against Politicizing Economic Data”
  • Wall Street Journal: “Fired BLS Chief Breaks Silence, Calls Her Dismissal a ‘Dangerous Step’”
  • CNN: “Former BLS commissioner says firing her was a ‘dangerous’ step for the US economy”
  • Financial Times: “Fired BLS chief calls Donald Trump’s attack on US data agency a ‘dangerous step’”
  • Bloomberg: “Former BLS Chief Recounts Shock of Getting Fired Over Jobs Data”
  • Politico: “Ex-BLS chief said she was blindsided by Trump firing Erika McEntarfer said she is fearful about the possible loss of the statistical agency’s independence from political actors.”
  • The Hill: “BLS chief fired by Trump over jobs report comments publicly for first time”
  • The Guardian: “Labor statistics chief fired by Trump sounds alarm over White House’s ‘dangerous’ interference”
  • Daily Mail: “Fired federal employee warns Trump he made a 'dangerous' misstep when he publicly terminated her”
  • Business Insider: “The fired head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics is warning about data manipulation”
  • Reuters: “Ex-BLS chief says her firing by Trump marked 'dangerous step' for economy”
  • The Independent: “Former BLS chair breaks silence on being fired by Trump and going from unknown to ‘household name’”
  • The Huffington Post: “Official Fired By Trump For Poor Jobs Report Breaks Silence On Shocking Ouster”


Post Date: 09-17-2025
Bard Families
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