Support for Afghan Students
Operation Allies Welcome Coordinator Jack Markell, Governor Kathy Hochul, President Leon Botstein, and Bard student Jalil Sadat spoke at a press conference following the White House roundtable at Bard College. During the press conference, Governor Hochul announced an additional $2 million in state funding to help Afghan evacuees resettle in New York State.
Bard College Hosts White House Roundtable on Afghan Resettlement
On Tuesday, December 7, the White House convened a roundtable discussion at Bard College on the resettlement of Afghan refugee students. The event was led by Jack Markell, White House coordinator for Operation Allies Welcome, the U.S. government effort to support and resettle vulnerable Afghans. New York Governor Kathy Hochul held a press conference following the roundtable, during which she, Markell, Bard College President Leon Botstein, and Bard student and Afghan refugee Jalil Sadat spoke. Sadat described his escape from Kabul in August and transition to life at Bard. President Botstein outlined Bard's efforts to evacuate and resettle Afghan students and scholars. To date, Bard has helped evacuate 177 students from Kabul, most of whom are now enrolled at Bard's dual-degree partner, the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Bard College has committed to admitting at least 100 Afghan refugees at its campuses in New York, Massachusetts, and Berlin. Several students from Afghanistan have enrolled at Bard this semester, and the College expects another 30 to begin in January.
A LETTER TO THE BARD COLLEGE COMMUNITY
As you know, the Afghan Student Transition Team has been preparing for the arrival of Afghan students to the Annandale campus over the course of the past few months. We are thrilled to be welcoming four new students this coming Sunday, November 7. Over 20 students have been accepted to arrive in January with still more applications being reviewed. Preparing a proper welcome has been the job of our team. Here are just a few updates on those preparations.
Student care packages are being prepared and the student services team is putting together a mini-orientation of workshops, campus tours, events and community meals. The Institute for Writing and Thinking has organized academic advisors (Derek Furr and Phil Pardi) to create programming to help students adjust to academic life at Bard and faculty have volunteered to open their courses as a bridge program to help finish out the term. We want to thank everyone who has raised their hand to help and welcome additional offers of support.
The College has identified a number of community partners including the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants office in Albany where we will be working on helping connect students to legal and financial benefits. Each student's circumstance is unique; connecting with the resettlement network is critical as we help students navigate through complicated legal systems. As a founding partner of the Consortium on Forced Migration, Displacement and Education, created by Bard, Vassar, Sarah Lawrence, and Bennington Colleges, we are working on securing resources and support for colleges who are accepting Afghan students. Bard has also been a very engaged member of the nationwide Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, and they've been a valuable resource for interpreting the State Department's evolving directives and connecting us to other colleges and universities working through similar real-time issues.
Experts in global mental health and services have volunteered to train members of the community on trauma informed practice and a number of mental health practitioners are working with our team on offering specific services needed to help support displaced people.
Fundraising and Time Banking (Donating Time)
We know you want to help. The best way to help right now is to join us at a Cocktail Reception and Silent Auction scheduled for Friday, November 12 from 3:00 -5:00 pm at the Ludlow Tent; suggested donation of $25. We will be at the reception prepared to discuss the financial and personal ways you can assist. A clothing drive is underway for a Thrift2Fight sponsored thrift sale scheduled for Friday, November 19 from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. Our new students will be eligible to pick up free items during the sale. All proceeds from our fundraisers will go to the Bard Afghan Student Fund giving page. More information about thrift sale donations coming!
This has been - and continues to be - an extraordinary learning opportunity for all of us, and we're grateful to the many organizations and community groups who've offered their knowledge, ideas for collaboration, and general goodwill. We'd also like to extend a very special thanks to the entire Bard community for your ongoing expressions of support.
Sasha Boak-Kelly, Senior Director of Development
Erin Cannan, Vice President for Civic Engagement
Lauren Cooke '18, Program Assistant, Bard Abroad
Erika Kaufman, Director of the Institute for Writing and Thinking
Paul Marienthal, Dean for Social Action
Alexa Murphy, Outreach and Education Librarian
Jennifer Murray, Dean for International Studies
Bethany Nohlgren, VP for Student Affairs/Dean of Students
Darnell Pierce, Assistant Dean of Students
Andrea Provan, Assistant Director, Health Services
Danielle Riou, Associate Director, Human Rights Project
Mackie Sibens, Director, Bard Admission
Tamara Stafford, Director of International Services
Micki Strawinski, Administrative Assistant, TLS Office
Joshua Tyler, Associate Director, Admission and Director of Transfer Admission
Community Update Regarding Afghanistan (October 20)
I am writing with an update to the Bard community about our efforts to support Afghan students and scholars. Nearly 200 Afghan students have made it to the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) since August, including 180 who made the challenging journey from Afghanistan (the rest went from third countries). This brings the Afghan population of AUCA to around 300.
You can read more about the exit from Afghanistan, which entailed multiple journeys over land and via plane, here. I want to thank particularly Bryan Billings from Bard, Omar Wairich from the Open Society Foundations, and Aselya Umetalieva from AUCA, for their extraordinary efforts in this process, as well as that of the many others who contributed to this effort. We were greatly aided by officials in Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan who recognized the importance of providing students (particularly, 60 percent of whom are women) with the opportunity to continue their education.
Around 100 of the students enrolling at AUCA come from the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF). This is part of a broader agreement between Bard and AUAF to help secure the education of AUAF students and to work, where feasible, to offer Bard-accredited degrees to AUAF students. A memorandum of understanding between Bard and AUAF was announced by President Botstein and AUAF President Ian Bickford (formerly Provost of Bard College at Simon's Rock) two weeks ago at a major event in Washington, DC. We will be working in coming weeks to implement concrete plans and pathways of study for impacted students.
As you know, President Botstein announced in August that we would be accepting as many as 100 Afghan students here at Bard institutions—Annandale, Simon's Rock, and Berlin. One student has arrived at Bard already, (this is a pretty extraordinary story), and we anticipate another dozen by the beginning of November and an additional 40–50 by the start of next term. BCB and Simon's Rock are also in the process of welcoming new students. I want to thank Jen Murray, Erin Cannan, Bethany Nohlgren, Sasha Boak-Kelly, Danielle Riou, Darnel Pierce, Tamara Stafford, Taun Toay, and Mackie Siebens for their efforts in bringing the students to Bard. I also want to thank the many faculty (special call out to the L&L Division), as well as David Shein and Timand Bates, who are working on issues of their academic transition.
Tom Keenan and Jackie Baillargeon at Bard in Annandale, Aysuda Koleman from BCB, and Sasha Shtokvych of CEU continue to work to support threatened scholars, and we will likely see some on campus in the coming months.
The transition for students and faculty will be difficult. Several of the students have experienced traumatic circumstances leaving the country and are separated from loved ones, many of whom face real peril in Afghanistan. It will take a long and sustained effort to help students transition, continue their education, and build a new life, wherever that may be, and the efforts of many in this community to help with that process is very much appreciated.
Jonathan Becker
Vice President for Academic Affairs, Bard College
Vice Chancellor, Open Society University Network
Community Update Regarding Afghanistan (September 24)
I am writing with an update to the Bard community about our efforts to support Afghan students here in Annandale, at Bard College Berlin (BCB), at Bard's long-time dual-degree partner the American University of Central Asia (AUCA), and at the American University of Afghanistan (AUAf), which is one of our Open Society University Network (OSUN) partners.
After much effort, we have successfully helped 115 students depart Afghanistan so that they can enroll at our partner institutions at AUCA, BCB, and American University of Beirut. I want to personally thank the staff here at Bard College and at AUCA, BCB and the Open Society Foundations for their deep commitment to the students and for working through many sleepless nights this past month. The need for helping the youth of Afghanistan is acute, as you can learn by this moving talk by Bard student Sonita Alizada '23 at the United Nations Ministerial Event on Afghanistan earlier this week.
President Botstein announced in August that we would be accepting as many as 100 students here at Bard institutions (Annandale, Simon's Rock, and Berlin), as well as threatened scholars. We have begun the admission process for Annandale to support AUAf students, who have already made it to the U.S., among others. Dean for International Studies Jen Murray is leading the support team in coordination with the Center for Civic Engagement, Human Rights Project, Dean of Student Affairs Office, and Office of Development and Alumni/ae Affairs to provide the appropriate support to students who have already begun arriving. We anticipate more students will arrive over the course of the academic year, both in Annandale and at Simon's Rock. We will be calling on members of the community to help us orient these students to campus life. Information about admission and student support can be found here.
Additionally, Tom Keenan and Jackie Baillargeon at Bard in Annandale, Aysuda Koleman from BCB, and Sasha Shtokvych of CEU are working on our threatened scholars program, which, alas, has limitless demand. We will share more about this in the coming weeks.
As ever, the Bard community has been generous with an outpouring of support. Many of you have asked how to get involved, either through donating funds or donating items for students who are arriving with very little. We have established a fund specifically to support Afghan students (see link below). Dean of Students Bethany Nohlgren is organizing a collection drive for items like clothes, hygiene items, bedding, etc. Please look for more information from the support team. Information about making a monetary donation can be found on the Bard Afghan Student Fund giving page.
We are especially grateful to the Bard community, students, faculty, and administrators alike, who jumped to action in response to what is really a tragic and overwhelming crisis. I want to express special thanks to Bryan Billings, who was the linchpin of the evacuation effort on the Bard side. We navigated many difficult decisions and I am truly proud that an international team, spread out across six countries, gelled so well to come up with creative solutions to challenges none of us had ever imagined we would be addressing. The work reflects the type of deep partnerships that my colleague Susan Gillespie has written about, and what we had in mind (though certainly not the circumstances) when we created the Open Society University Network.
What is taking place in Afghanistan is a tragedy and will affect students and colleagues for a long time to come. We will continue to stand with our Afghan students for as long as it takes.
Community Update Regarding Afghanistan (August 15)
To the Bard College Community,
With the situation in Afghanistan deteriorating quickly we wish to express, on behalf of the College, our deep concern for our Afghan students and their families at Bard here in Annandale and in Berlin, at Bard's long-time dual-degree partner, the American University of Central Asia (AUCA), and at our Open Society University Network (OSUN) partner, the American University of Afghanistan (AUAf).
We are working now to find safe havens for students and graduates. President Botstein has offered that Bard would immediately take in as many as 100 students here in Annandale, as well as threatened scholars. Jonathan Becker, vice president for academic affairs at Bard and vice chancellor of OSUN, has arranged for The American University of Central Asia to offer scholarships through OSUN to up to 120 graduates in addition to its 120 Afghan undergraduates, and a home to another 100+ AUAf students. Several other OSUN partners have stepped forward and offered to take students and faculty through OSUN's Threatened Scholars program.
While we were optimistic of getting hundreds of students out as recently as yesterday, and herculean efforts were taking place through the Open Society Foundations and other NGO partners to arrange for planes and third-party countries to house students during the visa process, conditions have worsened and made our efforts far more difficult in recent hours. It is extremely challenging for universities and NGOs to succeed when governments fail to demonstrate a sufficient will to act swiftly, and take the basic steps that might allow them to succeed. We are pleased to note that Ian Bickford, AUAf's president and former Provost of Simon's Rock, has just safely left Kabul.
The College is also working to help Bard students with family members in Afghanistan in any way we can. Several Bard faculty and administrators have joined in these efforts, and we have not given up hope for the students and faculty still in Afghanistan. We will continue to work through OSUN, the Open Society Foundations, and other partners to find ways to welcome the students to whom we made scholarship commitments. We will also work with the growing network of institutions in the United States now gearing up to welcome those who are fortunate enough to make it to the US.
What is taking place now in Afghanistan is a tragedy. It affects students and colleagues we have worked with over many years. We stand with the Afghan students from AUCA, AUAf, Bard and across the globe. Bard has a long history of helping students and faculty fleeing conflict and persecution, and we will continue to engage and help in every way possible.
Leon Botstein
President, Bard College
Chancellor, Open Society Network
Afghan Student Transition to Campus
The application for admission and scholarship support for undergraduate studies at Bard College and partner institutions is available here. The College continues to work with the American University of Afghanistan and network partners to secure a safe pathway to a Bachelor's degree for displaced Afghan students. The application deadline is February 16, 2022. Questions may be directed to afghanresponse@bard.edu.
The Afghan Student Fund at Bard College
Bard has created the Afghan Student Fund to provide living, legal and other necessary support to Afghan students who come to Bard. The College has committed to providing a full package to each student, including tuition (which is being waived), room & board, books, and a stipend. The Afghan Student Fund provides a clear way forward for educational opportunity and accessibility, and continues Bard's legacy as a place of refuge in dark times. We can all take pride in the work we are accomplishing together.
Give to the Afghan Student Fund
"I need this": Afghan Student Jalil Sadat Settles Safely at Bard after Terrifying Journey from Kabul
Jalil Sadat escaped Kabul during the Taliban takeover and has settled safely at Bard College after a long and arduous trip from Afghanistan. "A month ago I had never imagined living somewhere else besides Kabul," he told a reporter from NBC News. His life changed in a matter of hours as he watched Kabul fall, and his family scrambled to find help.
Bard College Student Sonita Alizada '23 Addresses United Nations Ministerial Event on Afghanistan
Bard College junior, rapper, and international human rights activist Sonita Alizada spoke at a virtual United Nations Ministerial Event on Tuesday, September 21 focused on supporting women's rights in Afghanistan. Alizada is an Afghan refugee who narrowly escaped being sold into marriage as a young girl. She has become an outspoken advocate for women and girls globally, using her music to call for an end to forced marriage.