College News
![Bennington ACTS Student Volunteers 2010](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/ACTS_Volunteer_2010_600x450.jpg?itok=GDQHDvkR)
More than 60 Bennington students and staff members painted, gardened, cleaned, and beautified several sites in the local community last Saturday for the first annual Bennington ACTS Day.
![Sunfest at Bennington](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Bennington_Sunfest_600x450.jpg?itok=_yC52ko-)
Sunfest, Bennington's annual, all-day music festival, will begin on Saturday, May 1, at 12:00 pm. This year's bill features a number of student bands and incoming acts, including Real Estate—featuring Alex Bleeker '08 on bass—whose self-titled album was ranked among the top 20 of 2009 by Pitchfork.com.
![Image of Mitchell Lichtenstein](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/LichtensteinMitchell_600x450.jpg?itok=jxLXCBea)
"Be enthusiastic about your work, but always stay humble," filmmaker Mitchell Lichtenstein '78 told a room full of Bennington students as part of the "Beyond Bennington" speaker series, which invites alumni to campus to discuss their careers with current students.
![Image of Melissa Rosenberg](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/RosenbergMelissa_headshot_600x450_0.jpg?itok=fyZz_XtB)
Bennington is pleased to announce that screenwriter, producer, and alumna Melissa Rosenberg '86 will address this year's graduating class at the College's 75th commencement dinner on Friday, June 4, at 7:00 pm on Commons Lawn.
![Image of Clay Shirky](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/ShirkyClay_MotivationInAConnectedAge_600x450.jpg?itok=_HzpqUtx)
Author, consultant, and educator Clay Shirky, an expert on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies, will speak on "Motivation in a Connected Age" on Monday, April 5, at 7:00 pm in the College's Tishman Lecture Hall. The event is free and open to the public.