Resources for Admitted Students

On Thursday, April 24th, Bard SJP met with administrators Taun Toay, Malia DuMont, Deidre d’Albertis, Dumaine Williams, and Hannah Zipple. We had the simple, ethically self-evident request that, given the heightened likelihood that students will be refused re-entery to the country, thus losing their access to education at Bard, the school would waive or reduce the current nightly fee for non-citizen students to stay on campus over summer break.

We do not want students to be financially unable to continue their education and stay in America. The lack of food, accessibility, and work opportunities on campus over summer puts many students in a position where it is extremely difficult to meet their basic needs. Our concern is that if students can’t afford to stay on campus, they will be forced to return home and risk losing re-entry. For this reason, reducing or eliminating the housing fee over summer was our only requestcoming into this meeting.

We did not ask Bard to to pay any money. We merely asked them to put aside housing that they already have, and stop charging an egregious rate of $20 per night from students who often struggle to pay for both food and shelter on campus over the summer. We asked them to sacrifice profit in order to protect their students.

They flatly refused. They gave up their opportunity to protect Bard students during this crucial moment. They failed us as students, and as people.

Bard’s administration proved again today that they do not care about international students. That they see us as dollar signs before they see as human beings. Bard students deserve better.