The Sanctuary Fund

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Bard’s History as a Refuge

Bard’s Program in International Education (PIE) was launched in 1991, in the wake of tremendous political transformations abroad. Since its founding, PIE has brought more than 400 students, representing 37 countries, to Bard for a semester or year of study. Currently, PIE serves as an opportunity for students from across the Bard Network to spend a semester at the College’s Annandale campus, Bard College Berlin, or in New York City. 

In 2004, Bard helped bring more than 50 students from European Humanities University in Belarus, which was closed by the Lukashenko regime, to complete their education at Smolny College, a liberal arts partnership between Bard and Russia’s St Petersburg State University, while EHU sought a more permanent refuge in Lithuania. Similarly, in 2012, Smolny, with Bard’s help, enrolled more than 50 Turkmen students from the American University of Central Asia (AUCA), who were barred from entering Kyrgyzstan due to political tensions in the region.

Bard’s current portfolio of academic programs serving displaced learners reflects an unusual combination of urgency, academic excellence, and collaboration in response to global crises that severely limit access to educational opportunity. These programs include responses to crises in:

• Afghanistan: After the Taliban's takeover of Kabul in 2021, Bard College committed to enrolling 100 Afghan refugees; in 2022 Bard had exceeded this in its campuses in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, Simon’s Rock, MA, and Berlin and continues to find safe havens for displaced Afghan students and graduates. Additionally, the American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan, which awards a Bard College undergraduate degree alongside a Kyrgyz university diploma, has enrolled over 340 Afghan undergraduate and graduate students who sought a safe place to complete serious university study.
• Myanmar: In 2021, a military coup in Myanmar forced the cessation of in-country activities of Bard partner Parami University. In response, Bard formally partnered with Parami to open up hundreds of online courses to Parami students. Bard now works with Parami to create new pathways for students in Myanmar to complete a rigorous liberal arts education using digital platforms. Through its extensive direct support of Parami, Bard is making an education possible for over 3,000 students impacted by the military coup in Myanmar, nearly 200 of whom are enrolled in degree programs.
• Ukraine/Eurasia: In 2022, Bard announced a scholarship program to Ukrainian students who are displaced, under threat, or unable to continue their education due to the Russian regime’s ongoing invasion. The program targets individuals impacted by the war and is designed to allow students to begin or continue their undergraduate education. Students are admitted to Bard College’s main campus in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, and its affiliates in New York City, Bard College Berlin, or Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
• Syria: Bard College Berlin has welcomed 66 displaced students through its Program for International Education for Social Change, with a primary focus on supporting students fleeing the war in Syria.
• Eastern Africa, the MENA region, and South Asia. Founded in 2020, Bard’s Hubs for Connected Learning Initiatives expand higher education and research opportunities to areas affected by crisis and displacement. Using a blended learning model, the Bard Hubs operate pre-college and college programs in UNHCR refugee camps in Kenya (Kakuma and Dadaab) and Bangladesh (Cox’s Bazaar). Since 2020, 31,000 refugee and displaced learners have participated in higher education and research opportunities through the Bard Hubs. In addition, the Hubs program will be participating in the UNHCR's 15 by 30 Roadmap initiative, which strategizes actions needed to increase enrolment in higher education of young refugee women and men to 15% by 2030.

 
Bard has established a robust structure of institutional support for these students, anticipating their extraordinary legal, academic, and psychosocial needs. 

Timeline:
1930s: Bard College gives refuge to distinguished writers, artists, intellectuals, and scientists fleeing Nazi Europe
1956: Bard welcomes more than 300 Hungarian students fleeing their country after the Soviet invasion.
1991: Bard’s Program in International Education (PIE) launches.
1990s–2000s: Bard establishes a global network of liberal arts institutions with the support of the Higher Education Support Program of the Open Society Foundations (OSF), including partners in Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Palestine, and Russia.
2004: Smolny College, a liberal arts partnership between Bard and Russia’s St. Petersburg State University, takes in around 50 displaced students as EHU seeks more permanent refuge in Lithuania. Other EHU students attend the American University of Bulgaria (AUBG), again supported by OSF.
2009: Al-Quds Bard College is founded through a dual-degree partnership between Al-Quds University in Palestine and Bard College in Annandale, becoming the first and only dual-degree liberal arts college in the Middle East.
2012: Smolny, with Bard’s help, enrolls more than 50 Turkmen students from the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) who were barred from entering Kyrgyzstan due to political tensions in the region
2016: The Sanctuary Fund is established to support displaced students and students in need by providing scholarships, living, legal, and other necessary student needs.
2019: Bard’s long-term partner, Central European University, is forced to move from Budapest to Vienna due to a politically targeted attack on liberal education and academic freedom in Hungary.
2021: Bard welcomes Parami Institute President Kyaw Moe Tun and opens up hundreds of online courses to Parami students following a military coup in Myanmar forces cessation of in-country activities.
2021–Present: After the Taliban's takeover of Kabul, Bard commits to enrolling 100 Afghan refugees, admitting 80 students to its campuses in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY and Simon’s Rock in Massachusetts, and Berlin.