Paul Marienthal (BardCorps)

Interviewee

Paul Marienthal

Files

Interviewee Role

Faculty/Staff

Interviewee Role

Faculty/Staff

Interviewee Title

Dean for Social Action and Director of the TLS Program

Years Active

1995-

Significant Quote

"Treat people well, show up, be a human being...If you commit and show up relentlessly, you’re going to get something done.”

Interviewer

Palash Bosgang ('93) and Eddie Rosato ('22)

Description

Equipped with a PhD and a resume that ‘looked like it came out of a shredder,’ Paul Marienthal was determined to get a “real job,” so he arrived at Bard in 1995 as a part-time squash coach. A year later, he was asked to assist with the TLS (Trustee Leader Scholar) program, which was originally instituted through the Admissions office as a recruitment method. But eventually, TLS emerged as a unique program at Bard with Marienthal’s guidance. “All TLS projects started with a person,” Marienthal explains. He talks about many of the projects instituted under TLS including the Community Garden (1997) which led to the Bard Farm (2011); the Bard Prison Initiative (1998); the Anna Jones Memorial Garden (2001); the Bard Space Program (2002); the New Orleans Project (2005); and the Bard Palestinian Youth Initiative (2009).

“Showing up, getting tired, doing the work, not freaking out, being relentless...these are not complicated concepts,” says Marienthal. Indeed, looking back on his work, it certainly seems that these are the keys to his success and the success of the TLS program.

This interview was conducted on May 19, 2021 by Palash Bosgang ‘93 and Eddie Rosato ‘22.

Keywords

TLS (Trustee Leader Scholar) Program; Palash Bosgang '93; Otisville Prison; Marlboro; New York; Dodge Dart; Eddie Rosato '22; Rabbi Jonathan Kligler; STEM; Mary Backlund; Adam Conover '04; Adam Ruins Everything; Angela Ross '01; FBI; George Santana; Randy Clum; Wisconsin; Jenny Stackpole; Rhinebeck; Astor Home for Children; Max Kenner '01; Nicaragua Project; BPI (Bard Prison Initiative); Palestinians; New Orleanians; New Orleans; Conservatory of Music; Colombia; South America; Venezuela; Rowan Puig Davis ‘21; Stephen Tremaine '07; BHSEC (Bard High School Early College); Hurricane Katrina; Lake View; Masa, Palestine; West Bank; Broadmoor, New Orleans; Loyola; Hal Rourke; Yale; LaToya Cantrell; Harvard; Annunciation Church on Claiborne; Education Committee of Broadmoor; Emily Wolff ‘10; Garden District; Stone Mountain Construction; Broadmoor Improvement Agency; Pittsburgh; IBM; Green Dot Cafe; Bard Palestinian Youth Initiative (BPYI); United World College; Mujahid Sarshur; Victoria, Canada; WWII; Lord Mountbatten; L&T (Language and Thinking); Google; Jordan; Palestine; San Francisco; Columbia; Washington, D.C.; AQB (Alquds Bard); Renad Bdair ‘19; GED; Episcopalian; Stuart Levine; Woodbourne Prison; Kline Commons; Amy Parrella '99; Briana Davis ‘03; Jenny Fowler '00; Andrea Davis; Oregon; Chuck Simmons; Staatsburg; John-Paul Sliva; Glens Falls; PAC (Performing Arts Center); Tewksbury; Felicitus Thorne; Jim Ottaway; Carter Vanderbilt; Union Theological Seminary; Leon Botstein; Albany; Jim Brudwig; Western Massachusetts; George Harrar '84; John Gall; Chris Kendall '82; Laura Battle; CCE (Center for Civic Engagement); OSUN (Open Society University Network); Chartwells Food Service; Rebecca Yoshino; Jamie O’Shea '03; Anna Jones Memorial Garden; Bard Space Program; Old Gym; Community Garden; SMOG (Student Mechanic Operated Garage)

Location

Campus Center

Interview Date

5-19-2021

Interview Duration

1:31:13

Recommended Citation

Marienthal, Paul, "Paul Marienthal (BardCorps)" (2021). BardCorps -- All Oral Histories. 78.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/oral_hist/78