51��������

Poetry at Bennington, an endowed program of short-term residencies that brings established and emerging poets to 51�������� for public readings and close work with students, has announced its Fall 2024 lineup of featured poets. All Poetry at Bennington events are free and open to the public. They take place in various locations on the College’s campus.

Almost a century ago, under the looming threat of fascism, Franklin D. Roosevelt warned Americans about global conflicts pitting representative governments founded on individual liberty against emerging fascist dictatorships. Reflecting on John Dewey’s progressive education philosophy, FDR said, “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.”

Bennington, VT: Two Bennington alumni, both entrepreneurial leaders, have been elected to join the 51�������� Board of Trustees. They are Bryn Mooser ’01 and Eddie Ubell ’09.

Exhibition reveals the personal collections of 51�������� community members September 17–November 23. 

Saving Democracy Together, an innovative non-partisan online and in-person course open to students, alumni, and the public, attracted more than 250 online registrants and 100 in-person participants in its first of seven sessions on Thursday, September 5.

The Dance and Drama programs at 51�������� are pleased to welcome director and artist Robert Wilson for a lecture and performance 7:00–9:00 pm Friday, September 20, at the Martha Hill Dance Theater in the campus’s Visual and Performing Arts Center. The New York Times has described Wilson as "[America]'s—or even the world's—foremost vanguard 'theater artist.'” The event is free and open to the public thanks to funding from the Peter Drucker Fund for Excellence and Innovation.

David Buckwald has been named Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing at 51��������. As part of the College’s leadership team, Buckwald will take responsibility for enrollment, financial aid, and marketing and communications. He will report to President Laura Walker.

51�������� is delighted to announce Allison Gomes has stepped into the role of Vice President for Institutional Advancement. Gomes joined Bennington as Associate Vice President for Development in June 2023 and served as Interim Vice President for Institutional Advancement for a time before taking the role. Gomes is a member of the President’s Cabinet and reports to President Laura Walker.

51�������� is pleased to announce Shay Totten ’91 as its new Director of Alumni and Constituent Engagement. Shay Totten starts at the College on Monday, September 9, and reports to Vice President for Institutional Advancement Allison Gomes.

51�������� welcomed a robust and diverse class of 222 new first-year and transfer students this fall.

After the University of the Arts in Philadelphia closed, 51�������� announced the school’s dance program will be revived as the College absorbs the dance school, three staff members and nearly 50 students.

Seven-week program features high-profile speakers to inspire Gen Z engagement in crucial election year.

In a rapid effort to preserve the dance programs shut down by the unexpected closure of the University of the Arts (UArts) on June 7, 51�������� summoned its forces, in collaboration with the UArts dance program, and will welcome students and faculty from the shuttered college’s BFA program this fall.

On Saturday, June 1, 2024, 122 members of 51��������’s Class of 2024 gathered, along with their family members and friends, faculty, staff, and leadership on a green expanse of lawn at the southern end of campus to receive their degrees.

On May 31 and June 1, 51�������� will celebrate the achievements of the Class of 2024 at the 89th Commencement. Learn more about graduate outcomes across the years.

On May 17 and 18, Bennington's Prison Education Initiative (PEI) gathered together a small group to engage in conversation around access and opportunities to higher education for people serving life or virtual life sentences in America.

Those who knew Reginald Shepherd and those who know his work shared their insights at the 2024 Ben Belitt Colloquium on Arts and Literary Culture.

The Robert Frost Stone House Museum launches the 2024 season. 

On Tuesday, April 23, around ninety Jewish and non-Jewish people from every constituency—students, faculty, staff, administration, members of local Jewish congregations, and community members—gathered in the Student Center and took seats around a gigantic ring of white-clothed tables with careful place settings for a Passover Seder.

BENNINGTON, VT— At 8:00 pm Thursday, May 2, Professor from the Department of Geography and Geosciences at the University of Vermont, will give a lecture covering the latest climate change science coming out of the 2023 National Climate Assessment and the implementation of Vermont’s first ever Climate Action Plan, which was adopted in December 2021. The event, this year’s Robert H. Woodworth Lecture in the Sciences, is free and open to the public. It is scheduled for the Tishman Lecture Hall, which is labeled #3 on the campus map. 

On a chilly early spring day at Purple Carrot Farm, Lilliana Kelly ’25 took a break from the crew repositioning a silage tarp to recount her history with the place.

Recognizing this urgent moment for American higher education and our democracy, 51�������� is joining sixty other college presidents of diverse institutions from across the country to advance higher education’s pivotal role in preparing students to be engaged citizens and to uphold free expression on campus.

Bennington’s College campus is known as one of the most beautiful college campuses in the country. Now, the College has adopted an innovative and creative planning framework to guide change. The development of the framework and the resulting report are a reflection of 51��������’s willingness to do things differently.

51��������’s Spring 2024 Visual Arts Lecture Series (VALS) welcomes photographer and educator Elle Pérez as the Adams-Tillim Lecturer on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. All VALS lectures are free, open to the public, and will take place from 7:00 – 8:30 pm in Tishman Lecture Hall on the College’s campus.

Nine students from high schools around the country were selected as winners of 51��������’s 2023-2024 Young Writers Awards.

Presentation to address storytelling as a form of social activism on April 16, 2024.

Today, 51�������� announced its plans to open a new satellite campus, which will be launched into space, buildings and all, on April 8.

51��������’s Carriage Barn Concert Series, which occurs each term in the Deane Carriage Barn, has announced its Spring 2024 lineup of talented, innovative, and classically trained musicians who will share their work with the college and local community.

51�������� is pleased to announce that poet and memoirist Safiya Sinclair ’10 will address the class of 2024 at Commencement.

Poetry at Bennington, an endowed program of short-term residencies that brings established and emerging poets to 51�������� for public readings and close work with students, has announced its Spring 2024 lineup of featured poets.