Newsmakers

The Open Society Foundations today welcome Bard College’s successful completion of a landmark endowment challenge first issued in 2021 by Open Society Founder George Soros. By meeting the challenge, Bard has established the first endowment in its history, positioning the College to sustain and expand its mission as an independent institution of higher education centered on the liberal arts and sciences and dedicated to the public interest for generations to come.

The challenge invited Bard to match a $500 million commitment from Open Society by raising an additional $500 million from other donors, securing a $1 billion endowment to support the college’s undergraduate and graduate programs, faculty, student scholarships, the arts, and international engagement. Bard’s success marks a significant moment for an institution long recognized for its commitment to educational access, academic rigor, and public service. It also reflects Open Society’s historical support for higher education and the role of critical thinking in public life.

At a time when American democracy is under strain and colleges and universities face growing political and financial pressure, Bard’s endowment underscores the importance of investing in independent higher education as a cornerstone of democratic life.

“Higher education is essential to the future of American democracy,” said Alex Soros, chair of the Open Society Foundations. “Bard will continue to be a place where critical thinking flourishes and students learn why the liberal arts are more important to freedom and the rule of law than ever in today’s embattled moment.”

Located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, Bard College has played a leading role in advancing liberal arts and sciences education and expanding access to higher education. Its programs include the Bard Prison Initiative, which provides college education to incarcerated students; Bard Early Colleges, which enable public high school students to earn college degrees tuition free in supportive environments; and a wide range of international partnerships focused on expanding educational opportunity for underserved communities.

“Bard is profoundly grateful to George Soros, Alex Soros, and the Open Society Foundations,” said Leon Botstein, president of Bard College. “The response of our donor community, which has given and pledged over $500 million to meet the OSF challenge, affirms George Soros’s belief in Bard and its mission. This outpouring of support endorses Bard’s excellence and innovation and bodes well for the future of the College.”

The Ask, a podcast by Bard alumnus Waise Azimi ’05, brought Bard Chief of Staff Malia Du Mont ’95, Vice President for Student Affairs Dumaine Williams ’03, and Associate Director of the Human Rights Project Danielle Riou to discuss the ongoing detention of Bard student Ali Faqirzada ’28. Alongside Anwen Hughes, director of legal strategy for refugee programs at Human Rights First, the five discussed the ongoing efforts to advocate for Faqirzada’s return to his studies at Bard, the current legal and political environment for asylum seekers, and more. Speaking to the College’s support of Faqirzada, Du Mont said, “Nobody here at Bard thought twice about any of it. There was no question in my mind.”

To learn more about Faqirzada’s case and to share media coverage of his story, visit go.bard.edu/take-action. With initiatives like the Human Rights Program, the Center for Human Rights and the Arts, and the launch of GHEA21, Bard has a storied history of supporting academic freedom and human rights around the world. To learn more about how Bard supports displaced students and students in need, please visit cce.bard.edu/engaged-learning/the-sanctuary-fund.

Three Bard College alumni/ae will be among the 56 artists and collectives selected to participate in this year’s Whitney Biennial, the 82nd installment of the longest-running survey of contemporary art in the United States. Works by multimedia artist Sula Bermudez-Silverman ’15, sculptural artist Cooper Jacoby ’11, and artist and filmmaker Jordan Strafer MFA ’20 will be featured in the exhibition series. The Whitney Biennial 2026, which opens on March 8, offers a vivid atmospheric survey of contemporary American art shaped by a moment of profound transition by inviting visitors into environments that evoke tension, tenderness, humor, and unease. Together, the works capture the complexity of the present and propose imaginative and unexpected forms of coexistence. “We are giving platforms to artists that we felt were making major contributions to the field,” curator Drew Sawyer told the New York Times.