Catching Up with Raahim Waqas ‘27, Co-Founder of The Open Commons Project

By Lauren Rodgers ‘27

AA: When did the Open Commons Project come into existence?
RW: The Open Commons Project, started at the end of January 2026. It started because my co-founder Jaella and I thought there's so much research that happens at Bard— senior projects, BSRIs, individual research — but that research just stays within places like Bard and other private institutions. We thought, “Why is all of this great research just staying at Bard? It should have outward communication as well.” There’s research on the Sawkill, or on housing within Red Hook or Tivoli,
 and that's very relevant to people outside of Bard. That's where TOCP comes in. We act as a liaison between student researchers and the outside community. 


AA: How does TOCP link student research to networks outside of Bard?
RW: We recruit students. The research doesn't even have to be specific academic research — it can also be a civic engagement project. Then, we connect students to outside community members. We're actually recruiting students for our 1st cohort right now, and we're going to workshop with them and have a community showcase in November.

AA: Why should Bard students join this project? 

RW: My pitch is very conversational. You're doing so much hard work, you're doing research that should be put out there. But there's no avenue for it to be put out there. Students at Bard are passionate about the work that they're doing. It should be put out there, there should be more outreach on it, there needs to be more people who know about the work that you're doing. That’s why you should consider applying for TOCP. 
Another reason why TOCP was started is to break down barriers between academic language and everyday language. TOCP works to break down these big concepts into something tangible, into something that anyone can understand. 


AA: How big is the cohort?
RW: Because this is our first cohort, we're limiting it to 8 people. But our cohort is not just from Bard — we also have  partnerships with like, we have international partnerships with a private university in Bangladesh, who has this very similar problem that Bard is having with research staying within private spaces. So our cohort is going to be a mix of students from Bangladesh and Bard students.

AA: How does The Open Commons Project collaborate with the CCE?
RW: TOCP is a self-guided project that was part of our application for the Get Engaged Fellowship and Conference, which is organized by the CCE.

AA: What are some platforms where student research can be shared?
RW: We have established partnerships with institutions inside of the Red Hook area. For example, the Red Hook Library and the Red Hook Rotary. Those are academic spaces to some extent, but also spaces where business people come or researchers. People who have professional expertise attend those community events and visit those spaces. TOCP is tapping into those networks through community partnerships. The Red Hook library does a lot of work with local businesses and surrounding schools. So there's faculty, their staff, and those would be the people who would be in our audience. So professionals and the average consumer who wants to know what students are doing.

AA: What are some of the requirements for joining a cohort?
RW: Be passionate and have something that you're working on. It doesn't have to be a completed project. It can be research or an arts project— just your work that you want to be shared. Other than that, there isn't a strict requirement.

AA: Any final thoughts?
RW: Apply! This is a student-run organization that is by students, for students. The more interest that we're able to gauge, and the more people that are able to apply, helps to ensure that this program can exist in the future.

The Annandale Advocate would like to thank Raahim Waqas ‘27 for his time and responses.
 

Post Date: 10-02-2026