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Leaving And Coming Back

    A lot is made of Bennington’s small size. For some of us “small” is precisely what attracted us, misty-eyed, to Bennington in the first place; but for others it was shorthand for “there must be something missing, Bennington can’t possibly have it all.” Only in being here can you know— without romanticism or skepticism—how little is missing, how astonishingly complete this college actually is. It is the sentiment our graduating seniors recount every year at Commencement, and it an experience that holds true beyond these 400 acres, where the reverberation of a Bennington education is powerfully strong among our alumni. Peter Dinklage ’91 expressed it best when he said to last year’s graduates: “Everyone you need is here, under this tent. These are the shiny more important people.”

    Every spring at Bennington is punctuated with comings and goings. This year it is especially so. As we honor the legacy of Bennington’s longest-serving president, we prepare, with equal earnestness, to welcome her successor. As we celebrate the graduation of another class, we prepare to invite them—and every graduate before them—back for an all-class reunion on campus this fall. So in this issue of Bennington, we share with you stories of leave-taking and circling back, stories that reveal how it can possibly be that—on a campus with fewer than 1000 students—everyone you need is here.

Janet Lape Marsden
Vice President for Admissions and Communications