TEDxBard: Students Build Bridges Across the Bard Community

Written by Lauren Rodgers ‘27

TEDxBard held its second annual conference, “Building Bridges,” on February 8. This year’s theme explored how seemingly unrelated topics often intersect and share a goal of advancing toward a better future. “We wanted our conference to be forward-looking. We wanted to seek innovation and experience. We realized that ‘Building Bridges’ has that forward-looking output and gives an edge to the conference that it didn’t have before,” said Thanasis Kostikas ‘26, a founding member of the TEDxBard initiative. Led collaboratively by Thanasis Kostikas, Emily O’Rourke ‘25, Jay Siegal ‘26, and Masoma Shoayb ‘25, TEDxBard is a student-run organization that provides a platform for the Bard community to share their ideas on a broader scale. With the goal of amplifying student voices, TEDxBard creates a reciprocal space where students can share their own ideas, listen to the thoughts of their peers, and critically engage with one another’s perspectives. “Giving the Bard community a platform to share their ideas and to reflect is very important. Words can’t even begin to capture its significance,” said Kostikas. TEDxBard provides an environment where students can build bridges together, bridging the gap between each other’s ideas and stimulating important conversations about the ways in which we can improve ourselves, the Bard community, and beyond.

This level of student engagement and coalition building is becoming increasingly rare and evermore important in a world where critical thinking has become seemingly dispensable and even discouraged. This emphasis on critical thinking and the importance of coalition building was a central theme of Simon's Rock student Raahim Waqas ‘27 talk, titled, “Why Us, Why Now?: Gen Z’s Call for Change.” Waqas noted, “I was reflecting about when I came to America and was thinking about my experiences with racism and Islamophobia. That gave me a large push to be so passionate about ensuring that everyone around me is in a safe, comfortable environment.” Waqas spoke about collective action and responsibility between generations as a method for shaping a better world. “I was thinking about how we can achieve a world which is peaceful and breaks stereotypes within the sphere of advocacy and activism by building bridges between GenZ and the generations before us.”

As an international student at Simon's Rock, TEDxBard gave Waqas a unique platform to share his perspective on reconstructing activism as a space encompassing all generations. At first, Waqas was skeptical about the idea of presenting at TEDx. “I thought, ‘Oh, they're not going to have a college student be their speaker,’ but in the spur of the moment, I was like, ‘let's just apply.’” Though an understandable fear, Waqas later realized that his skepticism of applying to speak on the TEDx stage as a student is the very thing that makes TEDx such an exceptional environment. By amplifying student voices, it provides an equal opportunity for anyone to share and consume intellectual conversation. “Being a student on a stage which is as prestigious as TEDx comes with some responsibility,” he said, “At Simon's Rock, many people were asking me about TEDxBard. Just the fact that people were so passionate about learning more about it and how people were so enticed by the idea of TEDx was really refreshing to see,” he said.

This sense of excitement centered around TEDxBard was felt across all of Bard’s student body. Bard College senior Henry McCullers ‘25 was inspired to attend this year’s conference in support of both his soccer coach, TJ Kostecky, and his housemate, Ifigeneia Gianne ‘25, who were both speaking. He was left feeling a sense of revitalization and hope similar to that of Waqas’. “For me, TEDxBard was very inspiring and made me feel proud to be a part of the Bard community. All of the talks inspired me to think more about my story and the impact that I want to have in the next stage of my life,” reflected McCullers. “While the speakers are extremely hard-working people doing unique things in the world, the talks made me wonder how many other people in the Bard community have amazing stories to tell. TEDx seemed like a great platform where speakers could feel free to tell their story in any way they wanted.” This is a quintessential aspect of TEDxBard: to provide an environment where students can be in dialogue with one another without judgment.

Student organizer Thanasis Kostikas agreed with McCullers sentiment, saying, “We wanted TEDx to be student-run because we wanted to focus on the Bard community and Bard students. That’s one of the main reasons why it’s student-run and will stay student-run.” Since TEDxBard is student-oriented, the team is always looking for ways to engage with Bard’s wider student body. If you’re interested in getting involved with TEDx, Thanasis Kostikas encourages you to reach out. “There's a lot of potential for involvement in our team,” said Kostikas. “We encourage anyone to apply to be a speaker or join our team. Even if it's just a simple email or text message, we would love to hear from any student.”

TEDxBard is a perfect example of what student-led initiatives can accomplish when Bard students come together to co-create a thought-provoking, critically engaged environment. Students have the opportunity to talk with one another, hear each other’s stories, and amplify each other’s voices. Naturally, organizing TEDxBard has positive effects on the founding members as well; “TEDx gave me a platform to express my non-academic drive and build skills that apply to my academic life. For example, leadership skills, time management, discipline, confidence, and public speaking. In any job or career I end up doing, learning how to talk to people and navigate situations diplomatically is essential. These skills are all very much interconnected, like building bridges,” Kostikas said regarding his experience as a student organizer.

The Annandale Advocate thanks Thanasis Kostikas ‘26, Henry McCullers ‘25, and Raahim Waqas ‘27 for their time and thoughtful responses, as well as the wider team of people who were essential in bringing this article together. If you’re interested in becoming involved with TEDxBard, reach out to the TEDxBard team: [email protected].

Post Date: 02-21-2025