These are just a few ways to get started with civic engagement at Bard. Want to learn more? Stop by the CCE offices in the Resnick Family Gatehouse or email [email protected].
Democracy Day
Democracy Day features events and opportunities designed to educate incoming students on the importance of supporting democratic ideals and practices. The day typically features a panel discussion on topics related to preserving democracy and teach-ins in various classes. Students can also participate in local civic engagement opportunities or action-focused workshops.
Upcoming Events
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11/12Wednesday1:00 pm – 6:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Stevenson Athletic Center
Food Drive
Saturday, November 1, 2025 – Friday, November 14, 2025
1:00 pm – 6:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Stevenson Athletic Center
This fall, the Civic Ambassadors, Bard Athletics, and Red Hook Response are hosting a food drive! Donations from the Bard community will support residents in need in Red Hook and Rhinebeck.
ITEMS NEEDED- Non-perishable snacks
- Ready to Eat/Ready to Heat (not from concentrate canned soups; ready to heat rice)
Drop off Locations- Stevenson Athletic Center
- 32 Wood Ave, Red Hook NY, 12571
- Bard Nursery School and Childrens Center
- 1498 Annandale Rd, Annandale-On-Hudson NY, 12504
Contact: Panhavotey Chea
E-mail: [email protected]
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11/18Tuesday5:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Upstate Films, Rhinebeck
Upstate Films Hosts Youth Voting Rights Book Launch and Documentary Screening on November 18
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
5:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Upstate Films, RhinebeckIntroduced by Bard College President Leon Botstein, Event Features Conversation with Bard College Vice President Jonathan Becker, Alum Seamus Heady ’22, and Constitutional Rights Attorney Yael Bromberg
On November 18 at 5 pm, Upstate Films at the Starr Theater in Rhinebeck is hosting a special multi-media presentation of a book and four short documentaries focusing on the fight for voting rights on US college campuses. The event will feature a reading and conversation with book editors, Jonathan Becker and Yael Bromberg, and with documentary producer Seamus Heady. It will be introduced by Bard College President Leon Botstein. The event is free and open to the public. Tickets can be secured here.
The book, Youth Voting Rights: Civil Rights, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, and the Fight for American Democracy on College Campuses, coedited by Becker and Bromberg, uses the history of the 26th Amendment and the ongoing fight to promote and defend youth voting rights as a prism through which to teach the history of the struggle for the fundamental right to vote in the United States.
The book and the documentaries focus on case studies of four institutions – Tuskegee University, Prairie View A&M University, North Carolina A&T State University, and Bard College. These cases, which emerged from a joint course that united faculty and students from all four institutions, offer unique insights into the role of college communities in the fight for suffrage, and their contributions to the evolution of the right to vote.
Bard College President Leon Botstein says: “This remarkable and inspiring book and the accompanying documentaries tell us about the struggle for voting rights at Bard and at three Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Readers will learn how college communities can and must promote core democratic freedoms, rights and practices. The authors’ achievement testifies to the indispensable link between higher education and democracy.”
The book is coedited and includes chapters by Jonathan Becker, professor of political studies, vice president for academic affairs and director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College, and Yael Bromberg, Esq., a constitutional rights litigator, leading legal scholar of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, and election law professor at American University Washington College of Law.
Jonathan Becker says: “The book and film, A Poll to Call Our Own, have particular resonance in Dutchess County, where the fight for Bard and Vassar students to vote locally and have polling places on college campuses campus took place over nearly a quarter century. The lessons of the book are particularly important today, as we see the shadow of authoritarianism creeping across the country.”
Yael Bromberg says: “It is fitting that we are launching this book release in Dutchess County. What started as successful litigations to secure an on-campus polling site at Bard College, then motivated a state mandate to secure the mechanism on campuses across the state. These efforts evolved from litigation and advocacy into an ongoing national academic partnership and resulting book, which examines evolution of the right to vote from the perspective of college communities. We look forward to sharing these lessons in the midst of this moment of constitutional crisis.”
The films were directed by Seamus Heady ’22 and Mariia Pankova MA ’24 in Human Rights and the Arts. Heady says: “As a lifelong resident of Dutchess County, I was shocked and disheartened to learn of the barriers local students have faced in casting their ballots. The multi-campus collaboration allowed us not only to situate Bard's story in a national context, but to draw on the rich activist history of all four campuses. When you start making these connections across geography and history, the authoritarian playbook is really laid bare, and we get to see what strategies have prevailed in resisting that.”
For free tickets, go here. Books will be for sale courtesy of Oblong Books.
Further information on the event can be found here. More information on the book can be found at: https://cce.bard.edu/get-involved/election/youth-voting-rights-book/
Website: https://www.upstatefilms.org/youth-voting-rights
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12/05Friday1:00 pm – 6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Bertelsmann Campus Center, Lobby
BardMaker Art + Craft Fair
Friday, December 5, 2025
1:00 pm – 6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Bertelsmann Campus Center, Lobby
Join us to shop for unique, handmade items and support campus & local makers!
Contact: Cicily Wilson
E-mail: [email protected]
Civic Ambassadors
The Civic Ambassadors Program seeks to help Bard students, faculty, and staff better understand and connect with their communities. Whether you want to participate in our discussion groups, book clubs, community dinners, mutual aid support, volunteering opportunities, or simply wish to know more about what’s happening in the local, state, and federal government, the Civic Ambassadors can help!
Start or Join a Project
The Trustee Leader Scholar Program
The Trustee Leader Scholar Program (TLS) is a student leadership incubator at Bard College. Students design and run their own projects, from local partnerships with community organizations to annual international volunteer trips. You can join an established project or start your own with support from the TLS Office. Visit the second floor of the Campus Center or email [email protected].
Opportunities to Get Involved
Photo by Sarah Wallock ’19
Engaged Liberal Arts and Sciences Courses
Engaged Liberal Arts and Sciences (ELAS) courses bring theory to practice by linking coursework, critical thinking, and engagement activities. A form of experiential learning, ELAS courses allow students to test ideas in the real world and develop creative approaches to social, cultural, and scientific issues.
Student Action and Youth Leadership Conference
The annual Get Engaged: Student Action and Youth Leadership Conference, organized by Bard College together with partners from GHEA21, brings together student leaders to develop community leadership skills and to collaborate on solutions to local and global challenges.