Bard's philosophy same as in 1860: Learning as a way of life

By Mark Primoff
For the Poughkeepsie Journal

While there are no written records of the founder’s attitude toward the Civil War, a passage from the college’s catalog of 1943 may properly be applied to the time of the institution’s establishment: ‘‘While the immediate demands in education are for the training of men for the war effort, liberal education in America must be preserved as an important value in the civilization for which the War is being fought... Since education, like life itself, is a continuous process of growth and effort, the student has to be trained to comprehend and foster his own growth and direct his own efforts.’’

This philosophy molded the college during its early years and continues to inform its academic aims.

John Bard, who founded St. Stephen’s in association with the New York City leadership of the Episcopal church, came from a family of physicians and teachers whose country estate, Hyde Park, lent its name to that Hudson River town.

For its first 60 years, St. Stephen’s offered young men a classical curriculum in preparation for entrance into the seminaries of the Episcopal church. In support of this venture John Bard gave the Chapel of the Holy Innocents and part of his riverside estate, Annandale, to the college.

With the appointment in 1919 of Dr. Bernard Iddings Bell — educator, writer and churchman — as warden, St. Stephen’s began a period of transition to a broader, more secular mission. Social and natural sciences augmented the classical curriculum, and the student body was recruited from a more diverse population.

In 1928, the college opened a radically new chapter in its history when it became an undergraduate school of Columbia University.

Donald G. Tewksbury of Columbia was appointed dean in 1933, and in 1934 the name of the college was changed to Bard in honor of its founder.

Dean Tewksbury’s program, inspired in part by what he saw as best in the great English universities, encouraged students to pursue intensive study of their already established interests and abilities as the basis for achieving a broad cultural outlook and understanding; the program demanded of them disciplined and independent study.

One of the hallmarks of the program was an emphasis — unique at this period in American education — on the fine and performing arts in a liberal arts curriculum.

In 1944, Bard became a coeducational institution. As a result, it severed its relationship with Columbia University and became independent as a secular, nonsectarian liberal arts college affiliated with the Episcopal church.

Bard’s 14th president, Leon Botstein, took office in 1975. Since then, the college has expanded its program, building on the strands of its curricular history: the progressive tradition developed from the Tewksbury program and the classical tradition of general education emanating from St. Stephen’s.

In addition to its scholarship program, Bard’s Excellence and Equal Cost program enables students graduating from public high school among the top 10 of their class to attend Bard for the cost of attending a four-year public college or university in their home state. In recent years, more than two-thirds of Bard students — who come from 48 states and 35 countries — have received scholarship support.

In November 1994, Bard announced a three-year capital campaign with a goal of $69.3 million, which was exceeded in two years. Still, the college lacked sufficient funds to construct a planned performing arts center, and the size of its endowment lagged far behind that of other prominent liberal arts colleges. The campaign was extended and in June 1999 had surpassed its goal of $137 million.

Plans are under way to construct the performing arts center, which has been designed by the internationally acclaimed architect Frank O. Gehry. This 100,000-square-foot facility will contain an 800-seat theater for music, dance and drama performances, a workshop theater, studios, classrooms, rehearsal spaces, offices and a scene shop. The college expects to begin construction of the center this fall and expects to complete the center by late 2001.

As the 21st century approaches, Bard seeks to strengthen its capacity to play a significant role in the revival of the humanities and arts in the United States and in the reform of American education.

Mark Primoff is director of communications at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson.