Program Guide
Summer 2026
Welcome to Vassar Pre-College.
We set out to create a uniquely liberal arts college experience for pre-college students: one where academic work is balanced by conversation, community, creativity, and the freedom to explore ideas from different perspectives. Every part of this week—from your course and residential community to campus activities and student life experiences—has been designed with that goal in mind.
This program is the result of a collaboration among faculty, student mentors, college leaders, and campus partners, all working together to create an experience that is distinctly Vassar: intellectually ambitious, welcoming, and grounded in the liberal arts.
We hope this week sparks new questions, new friendships, and a clearer sense of what college—and your future—might become.
Vassar Pre-College Team
Program Leadership
Bill Blake | Program Director
Nahom Abayneh | Site Director
Hunter Edkins | Assistant Site Director
Aja Ashford | Office Manager
Demilade Omotoso | Office Assistant
Aaron Engelhardt | Program Photographer
Faculty & Instructors
Kimberly Williams Brown | Law, Justice & Civic Life
Josh de Leeuw | Exploring AI: From Code to Robot
Amanda Potter | Art, Museums & Social Impact
Neil Curri | Hudson Valley Ecology
Christie VanHorne | Health Access, Community Practice & Care
KP Taconi | Entrepreneurship for Changemakers
Chris Molina | Leadership Workshops & College Readiness
Academic Fellows
Isaac Rudnick
Anna L. Philippe
Paloma Oteiza
Jazmin-Adriana Vargas
Julián Aguilar
Emma daRosa
Student Life Coordinators
Ian Saunders
Angela Moon
Nicole Gao
Residential Staff
Sophia Arias
Naomi Cope
Charles Ozoke
Connor Le
Tobias Homann
Your Week at Vassar
Each day combines academic study, hands-on learning, conversations with faculty and students, and opportunities to explore campus and the Hudson Valley. While your course provides the foundation for the week, many activities outside the classroom are optional, allowing you to shape your own experience.
SUNDAY
10AM-4PM | Arrival, Check-In, & Residence Hall Move-In
Arrive on campus, get settled into your residence hall, meet other students, and complete program check-in. Fellows and residential staff will be available throughout the afternoon to help you get oriented and answer questions as you begin your week at Vassar.
Pre-College students will live together in Davison House, one of Vassar’s historic residence halls. Built in 1902, Davison completed the College’s iconic quadrangle of Elizabethan-style residential houses. Named for Eliza Davison, the mother of trustee John D. Rockefeller, the residence hall was recently renovated to preserve its historic character while adding bright common spaces and modern amenities
2PM | Powerhouse Theater
An opportunity to experience one of Vassar’s signature summer arts programs. Each summer, the Powerhouse Theater season brings together professional actors, directors, playwrights, and emerging artists to develop new work in front of live audiences. Students attending the performance will get a glimpse into one of the country’s premier centers for new theater. Optional activity. Sign up in advance. Ocean Walk | Session I (July 5) A new play by Gianfranco Lentini exploring memory, resilience, and the meaning of home as two generations confront the aftermath of climate change on Fire Island. Godfriend | Session II (July 12) Part theater, part live music, and part communal gathering, this original performance explores questions of identity, belief, family, and belonging through the true story of the Public Universal Friend, an eighteenth-century Quaker preacher who rejected traditional ideas of gender.
4PM | Student Spaces & Campus Traditions
Rather than beginning with a traditional campus tour, you’ll explore Vassar through the places that shape everyday student life. Led by members of the Vassar Student Association (VSA), this team-based scavenger hunt introduces campus traditions, favorite gathering places, artistic landmarks, and a few hidden corners that students come to know over four years. Along the way, you’ll work together to solve challenges, meet new classmates, and begin navigating campus like a Vassar student.
5:30PM | Dinner at Gordon Commons
Your first shared meal together takes place in Gordon Commons (“Deece”), Vassar’s all-campus dining center and one of the primary gathering places for students throughout the academic year.
7PM | Orientation & Opening Gathering
Meet the Fellows and residential staff as we officially launch the program. We’ll introduce the week ahead, share what to expect academically and residentially, and begin building the community that will define the next seven days through interactive activities and conversation.
Location: Rocky 200
8:30PM | Residence Hall Social Time
Spend time getting to know your floor, play games, explore common spaces, continue conversations from orientation, or simply settle into your new home on campus before classes begin Monday morning.
MONDAY
8AM | Breakfast
9:30AM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Seminar
Instructor-led seminar introducing new ideas, concepts, and questions through discussion, close reading, and conversation.
10:30AM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Perspectives Session
Guest speakers, case studies, demonstrations, and other activities help connect ideas from that morning's seminar to real-world questions and different perspectives.
11:45AM | Lunch
12:40PM | Commons Experience: Arboretum Tree Walk
Vassar’s campus is a nationally recognized arboretum, home to hundreds of species of trees from around the world. Join Ken Foster (Director of Sustainability) and Kyra Hoffman (Jill Troy Werner Sustainability Fellow) for a walk exploring some of the campus’s most remarkable specimens while learning how the landscape has shaped Vassar’s history, sustainability efforts, and everyday student life. Optional activity. Meets outside Gordon Commons.
1:30PM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Experiential Session
Hands-on learning through fieldwork, labs, creative practice, campus resources, or other experiences connected to each course.
2:30PM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Project Development
Students work individually and in teams on the projects they’ll present during Saturday’s Academic Showcase, with guidance from faculty and Fellows.
4PM | Exploration Hour
Each afternoon students choose from several optional small-group experiences or enjoy free time exploring campus with friends.
Featured Experience: Scandinavian Fika
Go beyond Swedish Fish! Fika & Hygge, one of Poughkeepsie’s most distinctive independent shops, will be hosting our students for a specially curated tasting of Scandinavian candies paired with traditional Swedish beverages, all while learning about fika—the Scandinavian tradition of slowing down for coffee, conversation, and community. Learn the story behind the shop, explore small-business entrepreneurship, and create your own take-home assortment of favorite candies.
Vassar Preserve Walk
Used for teaching and research across the sciences, the Vassar Ecological Preserve is also where students go to hike, think, birdwatch, or simply get away from campus for an hour. Join a guided walk through forests, wetlands, and meadows while learning how the Preserve connects ecology, sustainability, and the liberal arts.
Pick-up Recreation
Every afternoon, Fellows and residential staff will set up a rotating mix of casual activities—soccer, volleyball, tennis, Spikeball, basketball, lawn games, and whatever else students are inspired to organize. Whether you’re looking for some fun or just a chance to meet new people, there’s always something happening on the lawn.
Independent Exploration
Read under a tree. Visit the bookstore. Meet new friends. College includes unscheduled time, too.
5:30PM | Dinner
6:30PM | Leadership Workshop: Building Community
Led by leadership educator Chris Molina, these interactive evening workshops invite students to reflect on how they communicate, collaborate, and lead within a community. Through discussion, activities, and small-group challenges, students explore leadership as a practice of curiosity, empathy, and personal growth while building stronger connections with one another throughout the week.
8PM | Vassar Evenings
Choose how you’d like to spend the evening.
Featured Experience: VSA Favorites – Bingo Night
When we asked current Vassar students what we absolutely needed to make sure we did during the week, one answer came back immediately: Bingo Night. Join VSA student leaders for one of the College’s favorite campus activities—who knew a room full of college students could get so invested in bingo? Snacks and prizes included. Hosted by members of the Vassar Student Association
World Cup Watch Party at Juliet Café
Watch the evening’s FIFA World Cup match with fellow students at a favorite neighborhood gathering spot. Play pool, watch the game, and experience a little of the local community just beyond Vassar’s gates. Limited capacity. Staff chaperoned.
Davison House Hangout
Sometimes the best part of college isn’t the scheduled event. Head back to Davison House to relax with new friends, challenge someone to table tennis or foosball, pull out a board game, play cards, or simply keep the day’s conversations going. Residential staff and Fellows will be around throughout the evening.
TUESDAY
8AM | Breakfast
9:30AM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Seminar
10:30AM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Perspectives Session
11:45AM | Lunch
Lunch Conversations: Faculty & Campus Leaders Tables
On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday over lunch, a handful of Vassar faculty members, administrators, and campus leaders will host informal lunch conversations on topics they’re passionate about. Sign up for the conversation that interests you—or simply choose the person you’re curious to meet. Groups are intentionally small (typically 4–6 students) to encourage genuine conversation. A chance to ask questions, exchange ideas, and experience the kind of conversations that happen every day on a liberal arts campus.
1:30PM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Experiential Session
2:30PM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Project Development
4PM | Exploration Hour
Choose from several optional small-group experiences or enjoy free time exploring campus with friends.
Featured Experience: Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center
Go behind the scenes at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center during a special tour created for Vassar Pre-College students. Explore highlights from the museum’s renowned collection while learning how Vassar faculty and students use original works of art as part of their teaching and research. You’ll also learn about how museums care for, interpret, and share their collections—and why museums remain places for conversation, discovery, and new ways of seeing the world.
Vassar Innovation Lab
Discover one of Vassar’s newest creative spaces. Experiment with 3D printing, laser cutting, prototyping, and digital fabrication while learning how students across disciplines use making as a tool for research, creativity, and problem-solving. Participants will create a small project of their own to take home.
Pick-up Recreation
Independent Exploration
5:30PM | Dinner
6:30PM | Leadership Workshop: Communication & Collaboration
7:45PM | Vassar Evenings
Choose how you’d like to spend the evening.
Featured Experience: The Movies That Changed Us
We all have a film that changed the way they see the world. Join Vice President (and former film major) Carlos García and members of the Vassar community for a conversation about movies that shaped them as teenagers—films that challenged their assumptions, sparked new interests, or simply stayed with them long after. Then stay to watch one of those films as a group while enjoying a selection of classic movie candy and popcorn.
Campfire Hangout
Pull up an Adirondack chair, roast a marshmallow, and hang out around the fire. Or grab a blanket, play lawn games, listen to music, read, or simply spend time talking with new friends. Fellows and residential staff will be around if you need anything.
Wednesday
8AM | Breakfast
9:30AM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Seminar
10:30AM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Perspectives Session
11:45AM | Lunch Conversations: Faculty & Campus Leaders Tables
Share lunch and conversation with Vassar faculty, administrators, and campus leaders in small groups.
12:30PM | Commons Experience: Library Archives & Special Collections
Explore Vassar’s Archives & Special Collections Library, home to the College’s rare books, manuscripts, archival records, and other unique research collections. Ron Patkus (Head of Special Collections & College Historian) and Emma Gronbeck (College Archivist) will introduce students to how archives and special collections support teaching and scholarship before sharing a selection of original materials—including rare books, historical documents, and highlights from the current exhibition, Asian Americans at Vassar. Optional activity. Meets outside Gordon Commons.
1:30PM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Experiential Session
2:30PM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Project Development
4PM | Exploration Hour
Choose from several optional small-group experiences or enjoy free time exploring campus with friends.
Featured Experience: Walkway Over the Hudson & Poughkeepsie in Context
Hosted by Harvey Flad (Professor Emeritus of Geography) and Leonard Nevarez (Professor of Sociology & Urban Studies), take a short trip to the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge while exploring the relationship between Vassar and the city of Poughkeepsie. Along the way, Harvey and Leonard will discuss the region’s history, changing landscape, urban development, and the different ways colleges and communities shape one another.
Portrait + Jewelry Making Club
Hosted by Nicole Gao (Vice President, Vassar Student Association) and inspired by collaborations between Portrait, Vassar’s AAPI arts and culture magazine, and the Jewelry Making Club, students create friendship bracelets, phone charms, and Polaroid keepsakes while learning about student organizations, creative life, and the communities students build outside the classroom. Also, cupcakes.
Mindfulness, Movement & Whimsy
Step away from the academic day for some movement, mindfulness, creativity, and play. Led by Amanda Munroe (Director of Restorative Practices & Engaged Pluralism), this session will include gentle movement, music, restorative practices, and reflection.
Pick-up Recreation
Independent Exploration
5:30PM | Dinner
6:30PM | President's Reception at the Heartwood
An Evening with President Elizabeth Bradley and members of the Vassar community
The President’s Reception brings together students, faculty, alums, and campus leaders for an evening of conversation about college, leadership, and the many different paths a liberal arts education can open. Small-group conversations, thoughtful questions, and the opportunity to meet people whose careers and lives have taken them in unexpected directions.
Hosted at Heartwood, home to Vassar’s Institute for the Liberal Arts, the reception features craft mocktails, an old-fashioned ice cream cart, a donut wall, music, and time to mingle and connect.
⸻
Where College Can Take You | Session I (July 8)
Meet Vassar alums as they reflect on the unexpected turns their lives have taken since college and discuss the experiences, mistakes, opportunities, and moments of curiosity that shaped their paths.
How College Can Take Shape | Session II (July 15)
Spend the evening with current Vassar students—including leaders from the Vassar Student Association (VSA) and student researchers from the Undergraduate Research Summer Institute (URSI)—for an honest conversation about college life from the student perspective. Hear what surprised them most about Vassar, how they found community, and what it means to pursue research, leadership, and creative work as an undergraduate.
Thursday
8AM | Breakfast
9:30AM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Seminar
10:30AM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Perspectives Session
11:45AM | Lunch Conversations: Faculty & Campus Leaders Tables
Share lunch and conversation with Vassar faculty, administrators, and campus leaders in small groups.
12:40PM | Commons Experience: Greenhouse & Edith Roberts Ecological Laboratory
Join Margaret Ronsheim (Professor of Biology) and Alicia Contelmo (Greenhouse Manager & Science Support Technician) for a brief tour of Vassar’s greenhouse and the historic Edith Roberts Ecological Laboratory. Learn how Edith Roberts’ pioneering work in ecological restoration helped shape Vassar’s long-standing commitment to environmental research, conservation, and native plant communities.
1:30PM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Experiential Session
2:30PM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Project Development
4PM | Exploration Hour
Choose from several optional small-group experiences or enjoy free time exploring campus with friends.
Featured Experience: Understanding College Admissions
Join Vassar’s Sonya Smith (Vice President and Dean of Admission & Student Financial Services) for a discussion of what colleges look for, how admissions offices evaluate applicants in context, and how students can approach the process with curiosity, authenticity, and a clearer sense of their own goals. While hosted by Vassar, this session is designed to help students think more broadly and thoughtfully about the college search process, regardless of where they ultimately apply.
Pick-up Recreation
Independent Exploration
5:30PM | Dinner
7:30PM | Leadership Workshop: Leadership in Practice
8:30PM | Vassar Evenings
Choose how you’d like to spend the evening.
Featured Experience: Vassar After Dark
Observatory Night
Spend an evening at the Vassar Observatory exploring how astronomers study the night sky. Tour the historic observatory, learn about the telescopes and current astronomy research at Vassar, and hear how observations are planned and carried out. If skies are clear, we’ll head outside for guided viewing through portable telescopes, with the chance to observe the Moon, planets, stars, and other celestial objects visible that evening.
Campus Stories After Dark
Shay Humphrey (Vassar's General Counsel and '91 Vassar grad) takes students on an evening walk through some of Vassar’s history, traditions, and lesser-known stories. Less a formal tour and more a chance to hear the weird, memorable, and occasionally surprising parts of campus history while seeing a different side of the College after hours. Depending on Shay’s mood, this may or may not involve a cemetery.
Friday
8AM | Breakfast
9:30AM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Seminar
10:30AM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Perspectives Session
11:45AM | Lunch
12:30PM | Commons Experience: Loeb Art Center Highlights
Special highlights tour introducing students to selected works from the permanent collection at the Loeb, one of the first teaching museums in the country.
1:30PM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Experiential Session
2:30PM | ACADEMIC PROGRAM: Project Development
4PM | Exploration Hour
Choose from several optional small-group experiences or enjoy free time exploring campus with friends.
Featured Experience: Sushi-Making Workshop
Jessica Smith (Culinary Institute grad) and the Gordon Commons Dining Team give students a hands-on introduction to sushi making. Learn basic rolling techniques, work with fresh ingredients, and create your own sushi dinner.
Creative Makers: Knitwits Workshop
Inspired by one of Vassar’s many student organizations, this relaxed, beginner-friendly workshop introduces students to crochet and fiber arts. Also, Korean shaved ice bar. Hosted by Angela Moon (VSA Director of Services).
Pick-up Recreation
Independent Exploration
5:30PM | Dinner
8PM | Vassar Evening
Vassar Summer Social
Celebrate the end of the week with an evening inspired by the creativity, traditions, and student organizations that make Vassar unique. Wander between games, music, desserts, conversation, and interactive activities while meeting current students and experiencing a little of the energy that defines campus life.
Featured throughout the evening will be demonstrations and opportunities to participate with members of the Barefoot Fireflies, Vassar’s student circus and flow arts organization. Expect juggling, poi, spinning arts, and playing with fire.
Saturday
7:30AM | Residence Hall Check-Out
Students check out of Davison House, return room keys, and store luggage before breakfast and the morning program.
8AM | Breakfast
9AM | Academic Showcase & Closing Celebration
The week concludes with a celebration of everything students have explored, created, and accomplished.
Location: Villard Room, Main Building
⸻
Academic Showcase | 9-10:45AM
Each course shares its final project through presentations, demonstrations, discussions, and creative work developed over the course of the week. Faculty, Fellows, and invited guests gather to celebrate student learning while experiencing the wide range of ideas explored across the program.
Closing Celebration | 11-11:45AM
We’ll look back on the week together, recognize students and faculty, celebrate new friendships and accomplishments, and officially conclude the week's program before students head home.
12PM | Departure
Students sign out with residential staff and begin departures.
12PM | Lunch (Optional)
Students and families are welcome to enjoy one final meal at Gordon Commons before departing campus.
