Kremlin declares New York College a 'threat to order and security' for Russia

The New York State American College of the Humanities, renowned for its many distinguished alumni, banned from working in Russia. On June 21, Bard College was declared "undesirable" and "a threat to order and security" in Russia, writes New York Post.

Bard College has an overseas program in St. Petersburg, Russia, but now it will have to be closed because, by decision of the Russian authorities, it "threatens the constitutional order and security of Russia."

Russian law prohibits groups with a legal label “undesirable” from operating within the country.

“Based on the results of studying the materials received on June 21, the Prosecutor General's Office decided to recognize the foreign educational non-governmental organization Bard College as undesirable on the territory of Russia,” the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation said. At the moment in junk list there are 34 organizations in Russia, most of them are American. Bard College is to be added there the other day by the Ministry of Justice of Russia, it will become the 35th.

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Notable alumni of Bard College include Saturday Night Live star Chevy Chase, Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys and journalist Ronan Farrow.

The main campus of the college is located in Annandale-on-Hudson in upstate New York.

Students enrolled in the Bard College Russia program study at St. Petersburg State University for one or two semesters. According to the college's website, this "program will not take place this fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic."

A spokesman for Bard College did not immediately respond to a request for comment.