Bard College - Campus Strictness

College Prowler Take

Primarily, Bard operates under a trust policy. Students are given both the freedom and responsibility to act with relative independence. There are no curfews, few restrictions, and a complete absence of an obtrusive police presence on campus. It’s the administration’s general hope that, without stringent regulations, Bardians will make the correct decisions concerning how they behave and in what ways they spend their time. For the most part, this policy works. On the infrequent occasions when Campus Security is required to step in, it’s typically in a non-threatening manner, so that student-security relations are seldom strained.

Students from other colleges might be surprised at the lack of strictness at Bard. While we do have rules, we also have a surprising amount of freedom. However, when students take advantage of this policy and test the administration’s trust, the result can be unfortunate. For instance, during a big and lavish soiree one year, an inordinate number of Bardians drank themselves into oblivion. Over the course of the night, ambulances were required to rush 15 drunk and disabled students to the local hospital, where some had to have their stomachs pumped. Clearly, these partiers had taken advantage of Bard’s generous policy on alcohol consumption to the extreme, and the result was obvious: Bard canceled the event once and for all. Responses from administration to delinquency can be polarized. Administrators value student freedom almost to a fault, but, ultimately they value student safety more. When the time comes, the gavel can fall hard. No matter how clichéd it might seem, it really is up to students to maintain Bard’s trust and to keep the level of campus strictness to a minimum.

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Students Speak Out

Anonymous says:

We can usually drink in the dorms... We can usually drink in the dorms as much as we want. Sometimes, somebody will complain (or maybe a few people), and security will come and tell us to quiet it down, or will try to get us to disperse, but usually it doesn’t work. We’ll just continue to drink—unfortunately for the people who complained. 12345 Campus Strictness Report

Anonymous says:

I’ve had long conversations with... I’ve had long conversations with security guards while being fully intoxicated. They are wonderful, friendly people. 12345 Campus Strictness Report

jb997 says: Bard College 2010 Other

Getting Stricter A When I arrived at Bard four years ago the school was not very strict. Over the years the campus has gotten stricter about parties and drinking around campus. 12345 Campus Strictness: March 08, 2010 Report

qgolder says: Bard College 2010 Social Sciences

Lenient but Fair B+ Security on campus is horrible, many of the officers are known to racial profile. Administration, however, is generally fair to students who usually get in trouble for drug abuse and other cases. Usually people are put on social probation. Unless you do something really awful, people are understanding. 12345 Campus Strictness: February 16, 2010 Report

Anonymous says:

Bard is not strict at all. Most... Bard is not strict at all. Most people get warnings or small tickets for dumb little things like parking or setting off a fire extinguisher during a party. I don’t ever see security guards chasing after people or anything dramatic. They do like to break up dorm parties, which they have to because it’s not fair to people sleeping, but it sucks anyway because there’s nothing to do besides drink. 12345 Campus Strictness Report

Facts

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