College News

North side of Commons on a autumn evening Takeaways from the Student Town Hall

On Wednesday, November 4, more than 80 students and a dozen staff members gathered for a Student Town Hall in Tishman Lecture Hall. The purpose of the meeting was to increase transparency and include student voices in the College’s decision-making processes. I was grateful for this opportunity to meet with students, provide updates, and answer questions.

Frankenthaler and classmate Ruth Lyford in Paul Feeley’s painting class at Bennington College in 1949. “Helen Frankenthaler in Her Time and Now”

Art at Bennington in Conversation is pleased to welcome Elizabeth Smith, executive director of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, to present at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, in Tishman Lecture Hall. 

Arial view of Bennington College's Visual and Performing Arts center on a winter evening. Yellow light flows from the north-facing windows. Bennington's Fun Palace

by Joseph Murray

In 1929, Bennington College was slated to look like Thomas Jefferson’s University of Virginia. The Boston firm Ames and Dodge had drafted an elegant colonial quadrangle for “the serious education of women,” centered around a grand lawn. Then the stock market crashed. The plans were shelved, and the young institution instead accepted the donation of 140 acres of working farmland outside town on what had been the Jennings Estate. Out of financial necessity, cow barns, chicken coops, and carriage houses were adapted to meet the needs of the young College.

Student gets a kiss from President Egan's dog Petey The Month in Pictures: October 2026

October was filled with foliage, creative inquiry, and, of course, a few treats. It started with Fall Weekend. 

Julia Chow Forbes Highlights Bennington's Emphasis on Internships

Every student. Every year.

Bennington is the only college that has, since its founding, required students complete an internship or work experience every year. Forbes covered the impact of Field Work Term internships on students' education at Bennington.