The small university is becoming increasingly outspoken about government overreach. 

Bard College’s Levy Economics Institute hosted alumna Erika McEntarfer on September 16, in her first public appearance since her dismissal as director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) by President Donald Trump on August 1. Her lecture underscored concerns about the integrity of economic data, the role of nonpartisan agencies, and what happens when political power intersects with institutions meant to be independent.

McEntarfer compared the work of economic statistics to everyday tools for keeping society running. “Real-time economic data is like live traffic updates—helpful for making quick decisions—like adjusting interest rates quickly to avoid an economic downturn,” she says. She emphasized how those decisions by markets, governments, and investors affect ordinary lives. “The decisions they make, to adjust interest rates to avoid a recession, to build a new plant in your city, to sell stocks or bonds, impact how easy it will be for you to find a good job, how affordable it will be for you to buy a house and raise a family, and how comfortable your retirement will be.” 

Her very public firing however, politicized that tool. Undermining its objectivity, she contends, strips it of its usefulness to the nation. “Economic data must be free from partisan influence. That is essential to the mission of the agency,” She says. “Markets have to trust that the data are not manipulated. Firing your chief statisticians for releasing data you do not like will have serious economic consequences.” 

To the assembled students and faculty at Bard, McEntarfer voiced concern that her firing represents a dangerous precedent. She drew comparisons to other countries to illustrate the point. She notes that the list of nations that have taken similar paths, including Argentina, Greece, and Turkey, “is not a good list.” “The resulting loss of trust in economic statistics led these countries to worsening economic crises, higher inflation, and higher borrowing costs.” 

In her lecture she went on to use a metaphor to express what she sees as the chaos that follows when institutional data is undermined. “Messing with economic data is like messing with the traffic lights and turning the sensors off. Cars don’t know where to go, traffic backs up at intersections,” she says. 

“You’re Fired”

McEntarfer said she first learned of her dismissal when a reporter called asking for comment on a Truth Social post by President Trump announcing her firing. Later, she found an email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office, which stated: “Dr. McEntarfer: On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position at the Bureau of Labor Statistics has been terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service.” 

McEntarfer says she was taken by surprise. She said she did not get the sense anything unusual was happening after she briefed the White House prior to the July jobs report’s release, and that during that briefing, she fielded what she considered “normal” questions. 

The July 2025 jobs report showed the US economy added 73,000 jobs, and revisions to May and June together removed 258,000 jobs that had previously been reported. President Trump publicly accused the BLS of producing “rigged” job numbers, claiming without evidence that the data release was meant to “make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.” 

McEntarfer also raised issues about staffing and funding constraints at BLS, noting that the agency’s staff had declined by about 20 percent since January under hiring freezes and delayed onboarding, which she said had hampered certain operations though not, in her view, the accuracy of the data. 

National media coverage of McEntarfer’s speech at her alma mater has been widespread, appearing in the Financial Times, The Guardian, Reuters, Business Insider, and others. Many analysts and statistical experts expressed concern that McEntarfer’s removal could erode public trust in agencies like the BLS, which have long been considered nonpartisan. One concern is that agencies may be subjected to political pressure or replaced when they deliver results that are politically inconvenient, whether or not those results are accurate.

Bard President Leon Botstein.

Bard’s Ongoing Role in the National Conversation

Bard is beginning to establish a pattern of serving as a platform for forthright critique of the Trump administration. Earlier this month Bard President Leon Botstein wrote an essay for The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists where he accused the White House of autocratic tendencies in regard to its approach toward immigration and higher education policy.

Hosting Erika McEntarfer at this moment reinforces Bard’s bent toward institutional activism, providing space for those who challenge assertions of power, defend nonpartisan institutions, and press the public to measure not only policy outcomes, but the health of the systems that uphold knowledge and facts.