TLS Brochure 2005

TLS 2005 Trustee Leader Scholar Program

Community Service and Social Action

Bard College, PO Box 5000, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504-5000 845-758-7056, service@bard.edu, http://inside.bard.edu.tls

Bard College

In TLS we believe that positive energy and decency create lasting change.

In the face of despair we strive for the human response, bringing grace, humor, and even good-natured iconoclasm to a challenged world.

Bard College’s Trustee Leader Scholar Program supports undergraduate leadership development in the context of hands-on, student-initiated community service projects.

Founded in 1860, Bard is a four-year college of the liberal arts and sciences.

It offers the bachelor of arts degree with concentration in more than 40 academic programs in four divisions. In addition to its residential undergraduate college, Bard provides many innovative study-abroad opportunities, administers several research institutes, and has six accredited graduate programs. For more information about Bard College, visit www.bard.edu.

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Theme for the Year: Crazy Wisdom Many Native American cultures have a stock character called Coyote. During the most solemn ceremonies Coyote (dressed in some furry kind of headgear) moves about breaking wind, sneezing, tickling the backs of people’s legs with feathers.

Tibetan Buddhists call this “crazy wisdom,” and it is based on the realization that life is essentially quirky, miraculous, and goofy.

In the Western canon crazy wisdom lives in Shakespeare’s holy clowns (Lear’s Fool and Falstaff, for instance). Currently we have the insightful brilliance of Laurie Anderson and the Guerilla Girls. Listen to Tom Waits’s “Chocolate Jesus” or Randy Newman’s “Short People” and you’ll understand what I mean. Here at the College the Bard Space Program was an example of crazy wisdom. The engineless old VW Sirocco covered with bathroom tiles looked fabulous, rakishly silhouetted against the Catskills. But though it was securely bolted to steel I-beams sunk into the ground and wasn’t about to get airborne, 800 people came out, ate popcorn, marveled at the intricate ground crew maneuvers and waited breathlessly for the “launch.”

We deal with some of the most poignant aspects of life on the planet in TLS. I am challenging us all to tug out the joy, the oddness, the screwball, the loving disjuncture in things. Let go of cynicism and darkness as primary filters. Instead of commiserating with prisoners about what a crappy world we’re in, let’s write comic poems about prison food or about the stupid colors they paint the bars. In this way we move actively toward compassionate living.

Exercising crazy wisdom does not trivialize; to the contrary, it directs attention in a particular way. The marriage of solemn and silly often creates deep poignancy.

For example, The Surrealist Training Circus—a mix of apocalyptic puppet play and stupid clown stunts—brought performers and audience into a state of collective awe.

Crazy wisdom is not a forgetting, a whitewash, an erasure of scarcity, depravity, evil, or despondency. Crazy wisdom simply recognizes the fragile and fundamentally whimsical nature of life on this planet.

This is a worldview consistent with the principles of liberal arts education.

Each of us has the ability to affect our world. We are not merely subject to the depraved forces of darkness that swirl in our midst. Our choices—the daily ones and the long-range ones—have significant consequences. We can create a kinder, gentler world (with due respect to the elder Bush). The incomprehensible scale of the cosmos means that ultimately what we do does not “matter.” But, as long as there are humans around, the quality of life on this planet is dependent on our actions.

The responsibility to make the world good rests directly on each of us. Let us act with grace, humor, delight, even transgressive, good-natured iconoclasm.

Paul Marienthal, Director 3

The Trustee Leader Scholar Program What is TLS?

The Trustee Leader Scholar Program (TLS) is the leadership development program for undergraduate students at Bard College. Leadership development in the TLS Program takes place in the context of hands-on community service projects.

Who’s in TLS?

TLS students come from every academic discipline on campus. There are about 50 TLS students in the leadership development program and approximately 250 participating in TLS projects each year. Most of them remain active in the program throughout their college careers.

What do TLS students do?

TLS students design and implement service projects of their own choosing. For example, they build schools in Ghana, run General Education Diploma (GED) programs in local prisons, lead environmental advocacy walks in Hudson River communities, and host innovative academic conferences. TLS students write extensive proposals, budgets, reports, and personal accounts of their activities.

They meet one on one with the TLS administrators and attend workshops and retreats to explore and discuss issues in leadership.

What makes TLS special?

The directors of the TLS program support students in taking substantial risks as they turn their own passionate interests into actions. We encourage students to truly challenge themselves—organizationally, ethically, emotionally, and politically.

This is exciting work that makes a difference in the world, often in surprising ways.

Leadership is a complex process

Leadership is never solely synonymous with power. While there are many ways to lead, all leadership styles are not equally worthwhile even if they appear to get things done. We ask students to experiment with ways of leading that help them advance toward their goals. Effective leadership often boils down to paying close attention to particular circumstances, people, personalities, body language, and histories. In any given situation there are multiple options for action.

What is the ultimate goal of TLS?

TLS strives to put capable, sensitive adults into the world who have the ability to design, plan, fund, and implement large-scale projects that matter to people.

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How does TLS differ from similar programs?

Unlike many other colleges that offer academic credit for service learning, Bard has chosen to keep community service and academic life separate. This makes it possible for students to plan and carry out ambitious projects that span multiple years. For their participation in the program students receive transcript recognition and stipends. It is worth noting that many TLS students have said, “I’d have done it anyway.”

How does one apply to the TLS program?

Bard students are considered by application on a rolling, year-round basis. The best way to start the process is to talk with the TLS Office staff, who are always open to hearing the words, “I have a TLS project.”

How can you help?

Making contacts, building networks, and creating webs of action are crucial to project success. TLS projects flourish because enthusiastic students, faculty, administrators, and citizens outside of the academic environment generously give time, creative energy, and financial support.

This project has been an incredible experience, which has immeasurably impacted my education. I have spent a majority of my time at Bard in the academic classroom. Classroom learning forms the foundation of liberal education, although there is enormous potential for learning outside the classroom. This is one of the main concepts that I have learned from my TLS project, which brought me out of the classroom and into an environment in which I was able to learn about and from my surrounding community. Having the chance to work with students from other institutions in the area was a huge part of that. Working with students from other colleges taught me that though the different institutions may promote varying philosophies and agendas, there are students and people from all walks of life that can be tapped to achieve a common goal.

—Jesse Cutaia, Intercollegiate Energy Audit

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Current Projects Want to make a difference?

You are invited to get involved in student-driven service projects that run the gamut from building houses in Nicaragua to tutoring Hudson Valley immigrants in English. The TLS Office advises and supports some 35 current projects that need volunteers like you.

Have your own idea for a project?

Meet with us to discuss how to make your project come to life.

Paul Marienthal, Director Jenny Fowler, Assistant Director

Academic Advancement Program (AAP)

The AAP guides juniors and seniors at Hudson High, in Hudson, N.Y., through the complex college admissions process, enabling them to pursue higher education at the institution of their choice. The program provides workshops and college student mentors to help, on a one-on-one basis, high school students prepare for college and to support them individually through a very challenging process.

Student Leader: Cesia Minemann Activist Training Conference (ATC)

The ATC fall conference brings together college activists from around the region to network for a stronger community and to become more effective in their various political struggles.

Student Leader: Josh Klein-Kuhn Aids and Reproductive Awareness Project

The AIDS and Reproductive Awareness Project works in the context of international AIDS awareness projects. Members of the group offer youth workshops and presentations on the AIDS crises and reproductive health in such places as Indonesia and Russia, where the rate of infection is on the rise. The focus is on AIDS myths and practical ways to prevent the spread of disease.

Student Leaders: Mariah Ernst and Genya Shimkin

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Astor Home for Children Bard Volunteers

The Astor Home for Children in Rhinebeck, N.Y., is a residential facility for emotionally disturbed children. Since 1997 hundreds of Bard student volunteers have been a part of these children’s lives by sharing their love of creative writing, arts and crafts, photography, gardening, and theater and musical performance.

Student Leaders: Vinny Taubner and Gaia Filicori Bard College Community Garden

Since 1997 the Bard College Community Garden has been a haven for agricultural enthusiasts from Bard and beyond. People gather in the garden for weekly potlucks and work parties during the growing season and help to maintain its fruits, vegetables, and abundant flowers. (Flower cutting is encouraged).

Leader: Paul Marienthal The Bard-Hudson Mentoring Program

The Bard-Hudson Mentoring Program seeks to create positive options for at-risk youth in Hudson, N.Y., through one-on-one mentoring relationships with Bard undergraduate volunteers.

Student Leaders: Marie Brown and Diana Vazquez Bard Buddies

Bard Buddies is a group dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with mental retardation. Pairs of adults from the Association of Retarded Citizens in Kingston, N.Y., and Bard students build real relationships through parties, outings, and recreational activities.

Student Leader: Patrick Murtagh Bard Prison Initiative Volunteers (BPI)

BPI is a collective of Bard College faculty, students, and staff that seeks to establishes a connection between educational institutions and correctional facilities in New York State. BPI Volunteers organizes volunteers for its educational programs for inmates including the Bard Degree program, General Education Diploma (GED) programs, and poetry workshops. BPI sponsors speakers, workshops, and conferences at Bard on topics relevant to prison life and the prison industry in New York.

Student Leader: Sascha Goldhor

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Care Bears

Care Bears is a group of students on campus who are dedicated to caring for the health of fellow students who have caught a cold or the flu by offering free Care packages containing chicken soup, water, cough drops, tissues, and more.

Student Leader: Kendra Rubinfeld Children’s Expressive Arts Project (CEAP)

CEAP provides disadvantaged children with artistic tools to help them cope with everyday life. Through workshops they conduct with children and their caregivers, CEAP volunteers lay foundations for constructive life change through the expressive arts. Students take part in ongoing training and offer workshops locally at the Astor Home in Rhinebeck. During the summer of 2004 they partnered with World Vision Myanmar’s Street and Working Children Project to offer workshops. This year, members will return to Asia and also work in conjunction with the Ghana Project in Africa.

Student Leaders: Kaythee Hlaing, Jivan Lee, Megan Kerins, and Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford

I’ve learned that with a dream, hard work, and a hell of a lot of love, support, and sound guidance (of the soul, logistics, and such), we can deliver miracles. Our work with children—be it in Rangoon or Rhinebeck—adds gravity to the way I understand things, life, people.

—Kaythee Hlaing, Children’s Expressive Arts Project

Conversations in Education

Conversations in Education is an experiential workshop that focuses on topics in education. Bard student participants facilitate workshops that range in topic from the impact of race on standardized test scores to expressive arts and creative movement. In this semester-long workshop, individual students participate by learning from the diverse teaching experiences of other members.

Student Leader: Anna Mojallali

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Eco-Discoverers

Eco-Discoverers is a fun, hands-on environmental education program for Hudson Valley children aged 8 to 10. In pursuit of social/community education and scientific exploration, the group visits environmentally relevant sites like the Hudson Valley Raptor Center to learn about birds of prey or a local maple tree stand to study sugaring operations. Eco-Discoverers takes children outdoors and puts them in contact with the vast ecological and community treasures of our area. This helps instill environmental awareness and stewardship in younger generations.

Student Leader: Annie Christian Ephemer

Ephemer is a magazine that incorporates art, photography, audio, writing, and happenings. Unlike traditional magazines that collect submissions over a period of several months, Ephemer gathers its content directly at a series of art happenings on campus, which are open to the general public.

Student Leader: Gabe Shalom The Flying Fiddlers Mentoring Program

The Flying Fiddlers Mentoring Program links Bard student volunteers with the Flying Fiddlers String Chorale (FFSC), a nonprofit youth music program that encourages and supports a lifelong love of music. Bard student volunteers participate in the FFSC outreach program in Kingston, N.Y., which offers free comprehensive ensemble and solo experience to a culturally and economically diverse group of children from Kingston and Poughkeepsie. The Bard mentors act as private instructors and coaches for quintets, quartets, trios, and duets during weekly sessions for students studying violin, viola, and cello. The work culminates in a series of public performances in Dutchess and Ulster Counties.

Student Leader: Sophia Mak

After the Saturday session I would ask how the day went and I would hear stories about frustrations, struggles, and achievements that day. Most of the mentors were involved with what they were doing and really wanted to be able to teach well.

There were moments when I couldn’t believe how dedicated my peers were about something that had seemingly little to do with their crazy academic and social lives at school.

—Sophia Mak, The Flying Fiddlers Mentoring Program

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The Ghana Project

The Ghana Project was founded in August 2001 to provide opportunities for cross-cultural exchange through service work and to raise money for projects that benefit the community of Tetekope, Ghana. Students are preparing to return to Ghana in January 2005 to build a kindergarten classroom and library in Tetekope.

In preparation, the group is hosting an ongoing campus dialogue on the ethics of international service and continues to raise funds to support the education of the children of Tetekope.

Student Leaders: Sophie Friedson-Ridenour and Ryan Schwarz The God & Sexuality Conference

The God & Sexuality Conference is an annual public forum for research, debate, and education on the issues surrounding religion and its impact on sexuality and gender. The first three years of the Conference reviewed comparative reactions to homosexuality in Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhist traditions. The fall 2005 topic is “Virginity & the World Religions.”

Student Leader: Johanna Klotz Heal with Wheels

Heal with Wheels is a group of Bard students, faculty, and staff that encourages exercise, environmental sensitivity, community bonding, and generosity to those in need. The group organizes a series of bicycle rides throughout the year during which riders raise funds for various causes.

Student Leader: Kendra Rubinfeld HuTArt

HuTArt emphasizes innovative teaching methods to teach kids hip hop dance, graffiti art, and music. The group plans to build a yurt along with high school students for use in workshops, exhibitions, and performances.

Student Leader: Julia Webb-Payne La Voz

La Voz is a Spanish-language newsletter serving the Hudson Valley. It features articles that span the gamut from artistic to political to practical. It is published twice a semester and is widely distributed in Dutchess and Ulster counties, serving in particular the migrant labor population.

Student Leader: Emily Schmall

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Middle Eastern Dance Collective

Students learn traditional Middle Eastern dances and choreograph their own in these exciting, student-led belly-dancing workshops. Participants explore the history and social politics associated with belly dancing, whose origins are in childbirth training, not in overt sexuality. The ethos of the collective is abundant mutual support, and for many this is their first positive performance opportunity.

Student Leader: Victoria Jacobs Migrant Labor Project (MLP)

MLP is a student-based organization that works to improve the conditions of migrant laborers and their families in New York State, particularly the Hudson Valley, through community and campus education, direct service, research, and advocacy work. MLP also works with a coalition of organizations involved in the Justice for Farmworkers Campaign, which advances farmworker rights through a legislative agenda. Additionally, MLP works with local agencies and organizations dedicated to serving the migrant community. In doing so, the project helps spread awareness of services available to migrant workers and promotes student involvement in the expansion of these services.

Student Leader: Owen Thompson The Moderator

The Moderator seeks to cultivate erotic lifestyle within Bard’s student body through regular campus publications. Taking an expansive definition of erotic that includes not only the sexual, but also the sensual and artistic, The Moderator magazine features photo shoots, articles, music reviews, and food recipes.

Student Leader: Gabe Shalom The Nicaragua Project

The Nicaragua Project is a service project committed to helping families of Chacraseca, Nicaragua. Devastated by natural disaster nearly a decade ago, this impoverished community still has not reestablished many of the homes, crops, roads, and other infrastructure it once had. Student volunteers raise funds and expand awareness of the Chacrasecan culture within and around the Bard community. Annually, volunteers take part in a three-week trip to Nicaragua, where they live and work with the families of Chacraseca to build new, strong, and safe habitats. The project is organized in partnership with the Maryknoll nuns of New York and the village of Chacraseca.

Student Leader: Stephanie Wells

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Pro-Cambio Language Partners

Language Partners meet weekly to support each other in learning a foreign language. Working in pairs, native speakers trade off conversing in their own mother tongues and their partners’.

Student Leader: Liz Howort Red Hook ESL Center

The Red Hook English as a Second Language Center brings English-speaking and immigrant community members together through free drop-in English classes. There is a significant and growing Hispanic community in Dutchess County. The Center, staffed and organized by Bard students, meets in a local church and is open two nights a week.

Student Leader: Sara Carnochan Red Hook Math and Computer Science Club

The Red Hook Math and Computer Science Club provides a place for local high school students to explore computer science and mathematical applications with the help of Bard College students and faculty. The club meets weekly on the Bard campus to work on various projects, such as an investigation into the uses of fractals and the relationship between math and graphics. High school participants are encouraged to develop their own project ideas.

Student Leader: Joanna Fivelsdal Red Hook Residential Reciprocal Education Project

A group of Bard students leads weekly workshops for first offenders incarcerated at the Red Hook Residential Facility in Upper Red Hook, N.Y. The topics taken up are linked by the common theme of youth empowerment through creative verbal and written expression.

Student Leaders: Cynthia Mothersil and Azikiwe Mohammed Science Coffeehouse

The Science Coffeehouse provides an open monthly dialogue for Bardians to discuss current issues in science, such as genetically engineered organisms and subliminal messages.

Student Leader: Peter Milano

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Student Action Film Documentary (SAFD)

The Student Action Film Documentary project seeks to provide alternatives to corporate media. The initial SAFD production explored student participation in the intense global demonstrations just prior to the Iraq war. Project members are currently at work on an international film documentary focusing on human rights and refugees in political crises. They hope to travel to the Sudan during 2005.

Student Leader: Thalia Forbes Student Labor Dialogue Project (SLDP)

The SLDP educates and advocates for fair labor practices at Bard. The College is currently negotiating several key service contracts. The SLDP is assisting the College in the research of corporation practices, policies, and pricing. Through the SLDP students have a significant voice in the labor practices on campus.

Student Leader: Gus Feldman Sweat Lodge

This group creates a recreational space and ritual process for students to explore the use of sweating as a medium for healing and spiritual transformation.

Student Leader: Grace Kurland Wayfinder Experience

Using physical activity and sportsmanship, as well as traditional and improvisational theatrical devices, the Wayfinder Experience immerses participants in an environment of play and cooperation.

Student Leader: Patrick Paglen Visible/Invisible Disabilities Awareness Project (VIDAP)

VIDAP works to close the gaps between able and disabled people by raising awareness about disabilities through films, guest speakers, and discussions at Bard and beyond. During the summer of 2004, VIDAP’s student leader worked extensively with advocacy groups in Serbia.

Student Leader: Nina Bektic Young Rhinebeck Youth Programs

Young Rhinebeck Youth Programs support at-risk kids in Rhinebeck, N.Y., through tutoring and mentoring programs. This year a mentoring program aimed specifically at Hispanic children will be added.

Student Leaders: Jackie Stahl, David Martin, and Katriel Statman

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Selected Projects Supported by the TLS Office The TLS Office offers organizational and fundraising advice, facilitation, limited seed money, and transportation to student groups at Bard who are involved in service and action endeavors. These projects are organized by Bard students who are not members of the TLS Program, but who utilize the resources of the TLS Office. Your project could be on this list!

Autism Project

Support for students interested in volunteering at several institutions local to Bard that serve the autistic community.

Biodiesel Project

Students are working to set up an on-campus biodiesel manufacturing station.

Using reclaimed cooking oil from local restaurants, students will produce and refine a sufficient amount of fuel to run service vehicles at the College.

Catskill Animal Sanctuary Volunteers

A group of students intern at this animal shelter across the river in Ulster County.

The shelter specializes in the care of aged and abandoned farm animals.

The Great River Sweep

Every year Bard mounts a contingent of workers to help clean up the shores of the Hudson River. This annual event is organized by Scenic Hudson, the most active environmental organization in the region.

Habitat for Humanity

Groups of students help build affordable homes in Ulster and Dutchess Counties.

Many of the students are preparing for building trips to Ghana, Nicaragua, and other countries.

SMOG

The Student Mechanic Operated Garage has been converted into a student-run performance space. The Surrealist Training Circus and many student bands are housed there.

Theater Fest

An instant theater event in which seven playwrights create seven plays overnight.

Actors are randomly assigned to rehearse and perform the plays the next day.

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We Need Your Support!

There are many creative ways for you to get involved in TLS projects.

Volunteer

Spend a day picking up trash from the banks of the Hudson River, help make it possible for kids to go to school in Ghana, be a mentor to a local child in need, or host a benefit for a project. Volunteers are the backbone of TLS projects.

Charitable Contributions

Many TLS projects rely on the generous financial support of people who want to make a difference in the world. With your support TLS students have helped to build two schools, more than a dozen houses, and many projects that link people of all ages with valuable assistance.

Making a charitable contribution to Bard College, the Trustee Leader Scholar Program, or a specific TLS project is easy. Many of our projects also benefit from donations of goods and professional services, such as books and bikes for raffles, printing services, and well-maintained cars.

Making a Gift by Check

Checks can be made payable to Bard College. Please note TLS and a project name on your check if you would like your donation to go toward a particular project. Checks and other correspondence should be sent to: The Trustee Leader Scholar Program Bard College PO Box 5000 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504-5000 Making a Gift by Credit Card

Bard College accepts VISA, MasterCard, and AMEX. To make a contribution over the telephone, please contact the Office of Development and Alumni/ae Affairs at 845-758-7415 or 1-800-BARDCOL. The TLS Program gratefully acknowledges the support of many individuals and foundations whose generosity makes our program possible. For further information, please contact Paul Marienthal, Director of Trustee Leader Scholar Program and Associate Dean of Student Affairs, at 845-758-7056 or e-mail service@bard.edu.

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Selected Project Archive Bard-Aid Bard High School Early College Play/Mentoring Program Bard Space Program Chiapas Solidarity Project Children’s Gardening Program Contra Dance Club Disabilities Awareness Dorm Composting Free Press Grace Smith House (shelter for victims of domestic abuse) Hudson Tutoring Human Rights Film series Intercollegiate Energy Audit Iraq Watch Kosher-Halal Kitchen and Prayer Space development Linden Avenue Middle School Drama Project Mexico Solidarity Network Delegation No Exceptions: Children’s Rights are Human Rights, Amnesty International Conference One Year Later (conference focusing on the current antiwar movement) Outdoor Club Purple Bikes Register to Vote (Bard students successfully sued the state of New York for the right to vote in Dutchess County) Roving Readings Senior Citizen Writing Project STD of the Week Campus Education Project Sui Generis Surrealist Training Circus The Thailand Project Understanding Arabs and Muslims Volunteers for Communities For the entire project archive, visit the TLS website, http://inside.bard.edu.tls.

Published by the Bard Publications Office Photography by TLS students

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In TLS we believe that positive energy and decency create lasting change.

In the face of despair we strive for the human response, bringing grace, humor, and even good-natured iconoclasm to a challenged world.

TLS 2005 Trustee Leader Scholar Program

Community Service and Social Action

Bard College, PO Box 5000, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504-5000 845-758-7056, service@bard.edu, http://inside.bard.edu.tls

Bard College