Bard College Top Questions

The Bard student is an awkward individual who eschews normal social conventions of politeness and etiquette- he will often snub acquaintances out of a paranoia of social interaction. He maintains the jaded deportment of one who has been there and done that although at the other end of the spectrum lies the student who is so young and idealistic that he actually thinks selling chocolate chip cookies at a bake sale is really going to have some impact on the slaughter in Darfur. The Bard student enjoys talking about world travel and its enlightening possibilities and often a conversation between two people about a foreign locale will grow competitive as they both attempt to "out-culture" each other. They will inwardly sneer at the other's experience, smug in their knowledge that they alone possessed the true, authentic taste of whatever wild, exotic culture they at that moment chose to fetishize. They are seeking "authenticity" which leads many to delude themselves into believeing that their own histories are either much more grandiose, romantic or tortuous than the bland reality from which they have actually emerged. No one wants to be thought of as soft or "over privileged" since that would surely undermine their liberal credibility. The Bard student is a condescending individual who is intent on showing you the error of your ways while he sits righteously on his high horse- a sunshine crusader who is willing to fight as long as it doesn't involve relinquishing material comforts or a dinner date for sushi. (Anyway, sushi is good because it's "cultural" and "sophisticated" and therefore must find resonance on the palate of any good liberal arts student.) The Bard student is a collegiate watchdog of liberal causes and if there is no villain to fight in the immediate vicinity, he will invent one regardless of who he is attacking or how egregiously he is misdirecting his energies. At the same time, the student cloaks his petty agendas under the mantle of noble, unassailable causes while proceeding to subvert real issues for his own ignoble ends. Although the students claim to resist trends that affect the rest of society, they are just as prone to being seduced by what is chic at the moment or what advertisers suggest will facilitate a certain image. Of course, these "rebellious" students would deny it vehemently that they had been subconsciously coerced into their fashion trends and tastes but their collective efforts to pursue lofty goals of individual expression are still chained to the social norm. White guilt runs rampant at Bard where a low level member of the administration has stated that the white student population is inherently racist. There is not so much a motion to understand other cultures as there is to flagellate oneself with other cultures. Somehow through the fetishization of non-caucasian cultural modes the students hope to be able to absolve themselves of their inter-racial dating phobias and other repressed social instincts that prevent them from truly sympathizing with the racial "other." By suffocating themselves in what they perceive to be alien, they are atoning for their genetic material and the wrongs of a degenerate society. The Bard student in short is taking drastic measures to reverse the decline of the world- one Girld Scout cookie at a time.

most students feel out of place at bard

The only box you can put all Bard students is just that; Bard is about the only thing that all 1700 of us have in common. Most of us have political beliefs that fall left of center, though there are exceptions, as there are exceptions to every rule here. As far as the make-up of the student body: more than 10{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of students have international backgrounds, we have students from almost every state, we represent every rung of the socio-economic ladder and the whole of the gender and sexuality spectrum. We could be doing better on racial and ethnic diversity on campus, but there are programs in place to work on this issue.

The students on campus are a bit dumpy or hipster. There is a relatively large divide ethnically.

Bard students are mainly destined for lives of poverty working as teachers, artists, writers, and thinkers. Not surprisingly, they align themselves almost exclusively to the left of the political spectrum and not a few students to the far left, studying revolutionary art, politics, and revolution in an attempt to bring on the new world revolution. Yet Bard kids also have a big range of interests, and the ease with which students maintain friendships outside of their departments is amazing. While Bard works hard to diversify its student body, we're a long way off. Most students are white and upper-middle class/middle class, although Bard does provide scholarhships for students from bad high schools and economic areas. We do have a very diverse queer community that makes up all the stripes of the rainbow (as it were).

We are a bunch of atheists. We are extremely tolerant (for it's cool to be as liberal as possible here) but also tend to favor reason over faith. I feel as though I'm one of the few middle class students here. I work a job a few days a week and feel like I'm in the serious minority in doing so. There are a lot of young, affluent kids who seem to think the world is theirs for the taking, but an equal amount of rich kids who think that it's their job to save the world. It's a pretty funny mix of spoiled brats and activists, but it makes for an incredible educational experience, both socially and academically. No one talks about how much they'll earn unless they're trust fund babies. Most of us know that we're pursuing a liberal arts degree, which leads to either fame and fortune, or a starving artist kind of lifestyle. To be fair, most of the kids who choose to major in the arts have a rich daddy or mommy to fall back on. If that's you (and if your pride can take admitting it) then I encourage you to come here.

When going to Kline (dining hall), generally people might sit with different groups of friends every time. Students who would feel out-of-place at Bard: kids who are really only into sports/cars, that sort of thing. Also, girls here tend to be pretty low-maintenence: in GENERAL, but not neccessarily, no one straightens their hair and primps and puts on makeup all the time. There is a lot of unique style here. People make an effort to look "nice," but the standard of looking good here is really atypical. I would say that showering is not too important here.

Liberal-minded college kids, mostly from Los Angeles, San Fransisco, or New York City. Enough said? I think so.

A lot of students at Bard aren't initially that nice. Because Bard has a tendency to be so cliquey, people aren't exactly looking to make friends. Clearly, that's not the case with everyone here, but many have noticed that it's not the friendliest campus in the world. There are kids that are generally known as Hipsters, which are the extremely artsy students that have a bit of a haughty air about them. They're the kind of people that if you open a door for them, they'll open the other door themselves and walk by while glaring at you. You'll know one when you see one.

The diversity on campus is very strange. There are a lot of intenational students and a visible number of LGBT students, but almost no socio-econmoic diversity, political, or relgious diversity as well. This makes things pretty boring, especially around election time. I feel like a lot of the people here have never had to actually defend their beliefs--they just sort of assume that no intelligent person believes in God or the Republican party. Don't get me wrong, people got very excited about the primary and the local election and there were shuttles to the voting booth and poll stations, it's just everyone votes the same.