College Behind Bars is the inspiring, emotional, and deeply human story of men and women struggling to earn college degrees while in prison for serious crimes. Since its first cohort in 2001, BPI students have earned over 52,000 credits and more than 550 Bard College degrees. rush medical college leadership; college behind bars where are they now. And he said - he says to me, you stood up. Shot over four years in maximum and medium security prisons in New York State, the four-hour film takes viewers on a stark and intimate journey into one of the most pressing issues of our time our failure to provide meaningful rehabilitation for the over two million Americans living behind bars. DAVIES: There was a time when higher education in correctional facilities was pretty common. And they are first eligible for an associate degree, and then if they can that, they can apply to get a bachelor's degree. BPI was founded in 1999, in the wake of the decimation of college-in-prison. Dyjuan, you want to share something? During the 2016 presidential campaign, they were hired by Republicans and then by Democrats and investigated connections between Trump and Russia. In one of our most power episodes ever, BPIs founder Max Kenner and recent graduate Sebastian Yoon join Adam this week to discuss howReadMore, One graduate, featured in a new PBS documentary, shares the ups and downs of earning a degree behind bars. And within, you know, a month, they're doing college-level reading and writing. Now he wants to help kids avoid prison. By signing up for BPI emails, you are agreeing to receive news and updates from BPI. The faculty generally find this experience so energizing because of that exact thing - that they have to sort of - if they're teaching a course on the Bard campus and in BPI, they actually have to make the BPI version a bit harder, get more assignments and, you know, up the reading because the students are just so eager for the material and expect so much. And the Bard Prison Initiative has had 600 graduates be released over the last 20 years. Bad Boys bakery was a social enterprise set up in HM Prison Brixton, in the UK. I know it's not love after lockup but I couldn't really find a relevant sub. The Bard Prison Initiative enrolls over 300 incarcerated students in six New York State prisons. We always have to be mindful of how those people like myself are returning back to their communities and back to their families. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR, and we're discussing the new four-part PBS documentary "College Behind Bars." Students accepted to the program take classes in prison taught by Bard College faculty, using the same materials and meeting the same standards as students on the college's main campus. They come to us for essay-writing classes and math tutoring so that they can prepare to get into the program themselves. While Rodney and Sebastian complete their 100-page senior projects and present them to fac, Men and women in prison for serious crimes try to earn college degrees in this groundbreaking story of incarceration, inju, When incarcerated students from the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) Debate Union beat a team from Harvard, their victory made. And you see this room, and then all of a sudden, reality just comes crashing upon you. You know, he likes to tell me, you know, many people, when they get pushed down to their hands and knees, the easiest thing for them to do is just lay down. I wish you continued success. BPI transforms wealth, power, and purpose in America by providing full-scholarship, college education in the most unlikely places. Fact: DAVIES: Wow, that's really remarkable. Few people know the joy of a free Sunday like Jule Hall. And before the 1994 Clinton crime bill, there were college programs in almost every correctional facility in America. Following the development of regulations issued by the US Department of Education, incarcerated students who are enrolled in approved programs are expected to be eligible for Pell in the 2023-2024 academic year. It raises questions we urgently need to address: What is prison for? And when we leave this room tonight, there is now something that can be taken away from you that's completely different than when you walked in. And so, you know, this experience has not only been personally rewarding and amazing for me. The type of things that are available to people in prison currently are somewhat outdated. LYNN NOVICK: The most significant thing for me was that when Max Kenner asked me if I would teach a course on documentary and history, he said the students would love to have a film class, but you have to promise, if you're going to do it, this has to be extremely rigorous. NOVICK: Yeah. I mean, both - from the documentary, it seems that both of you had supportive families. Accuracy and availability may vary. Factory jobs are disappearing in this country year after year. There's a lot of interaction with the students, with the professor and with each other, and a tremendous amount learning also goes on outside the classroom. Since 2001, BPI has created groundbreaking opportunities for college within Americas prison systems. It adds stability. U.S. One of the toughest parts of living in Sunnyside, Mr. Hall said, is finding a vacant laundry machine. Ill fix me a scrambled egg with a cinnamon raisin bagel in my toaster. I remember telling my professor that, how can I complete an eight-page paper if I feel like I could complete it in only two? Lynn Novick's 'College Behind Bars,' four-hour PBS documentary about the Bard Prison Initiative and the impact of educational programs as part of prison reform, is provocative and inspiring. DAVIES: And that's from the documentary "College Behind Bars," directed by our guest Lynn Novick. But for the men gathered on this October afternoon, it. You can just see this intellectual blossoming. And so the film ends up and their stories end up, you know, raising some really important questions about violence and about harm and incarceration, and what is prison for, and what is the value of education? At BPI, we are committed to investing in people, reinventing institutions and making genuine education more accessible. I was in a poor, disadvantaged community, and I ended up at a very young age in gangs. Turkish prisons do not have a specific policy regarding children, but in general, they are not allowed in prison. Adjust the colors to reduce glare and give your eyes a break. College Behind Bars is a production of Skiff Mountain Films, in association with Florentine Films and WETA-TV. Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon are graduates of the Bard Prison Initiative. I mean, I think, you know, having taught in the program myself, you walk into class, and the students are there. To learn more about the restoration of TAP, read Jessica Neptunes the Director of National Engagement blog post here & Executive Director, Max Kenners, letter to our supporters here. But first, we need you to sign in to PBS using one of the services below. As a result, the number of college-in-prison programs in New York. He worked 11-hour shifts, so he was mostly at work. The recent PBS series, College Behind Bars, chronicles Mr. Halls eventual parole and release in 2015. YOON: But to those who would ask that question, Dave, you could also ask them, would you ask the same question of students who are out here? And I think - I was lonely. The subjects and filmmakers reveal how the power of education changes lives. I go to bed around 9 or 10. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. BPIs newest initiative, the Bard Microcollege, expands yet further the scope and impact of this work, delivering high-quality liberal arts education to communities outside of prison through partnerships with community-based institutions. YOON: I never stopped being a student. And you can learn grammar. The journey to bring "College Behind Bars" started in 2012, when Novick and producer Sarah Botstein were invited to give a lecture for BPI students. Watch the full film and explore classroom-ready resources and activities. Creating educational opportunities in prison nationwide. They spoke with FRESH AIR's Dave Davies. These programs transform the negative impacts of criminal punishment and create radical inroads of access and opportunity to higher learning. And we're just a really tight cohort, and we see each other as family because we've been through the same struggles and we got the same education. I sit in there for about 30 minutes with my phone on the side playing music. That means that 50% to 60% of the 630,000 people who get out of prison every year are back in prison in three years. TATRO: So I actually graduated with my BA after I was released from prison. And they thrust you right back into prison. In early 2020 BPI began working with lawmakers to change Merit Board eligibility rules so that all incarcerated students can be eligible for early release based on earning college credits. Meet the cast of Behind Bars: Rookie Year on A&E. Get season by season character and cast bios and more only on A&E. When kids stopped bothering me, I guess I started feeling this false sense of empowerment. YOON: And it was a very interesting moment for me where I realized that the education that I was receiving in prison was the same education that I would receive had I gone to college out there. Dyjuan, what's it been like connecting with your family again? This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. And you can just see it. DAVIES: Sebastian Yoon, what about connecting with your family? How can we have justice without redemption? We're in the business of education. Max is the founder and executive director of the Bard Prison Initiative, and Rodney received his bachelor's degree from Bard College in 2017 through the Bard Prison Initiative. They worked with former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, whose dossier was leaked and published. This is not my identity. It's about a program in which professors of Bard College give college classes in six correctional institutions. Tune in for an unparalleled look inside @BPIBard, one of the most rigorous & challenging #CollegeInPrison programs. I have several friends who are still incarcerated that I spent my summers outside of class tutoring, and they're now in the program. You know, I'm a brother. Our guests are Lynn Novick, who directed the documentary, and Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon, two graduates of the program. I'm a college student. And the paradox here is that I was someone getting that type of education while I was in prison, but the education itself is what liberated me. Just putting together the course was challenging, and working with the students over the course of the eight weeks that we taught was thrilling. Shot over four years in maximum and medium security prisons in New York State, the four-hour film takes viewers on a stark and intimate journey into one of the most pressing issues of our time our failure to provide meaningful rehabilitation for the over two million Americans living behind bars. NOVICK: I was just going to chime in one other thing, which is I've heard Dyjuan, Sebastian and the other students, as well as Max, say that, you know, it also just sort of changes the culture of the whole facility and that, you know, there's something positive going on and that people don't want to get in trouble so that they have an opportunity to be there, to stay there and to potentially be involved in the program. They study math, as Dyjuan said, languages, history, literature, art, science, philosophy, economics, public policy, you know, public health. By signing up for BPI emails, you are agreeing to receive news and updates from BPI. This is not me. DAVIES: Yeah. Good job. This is a full-time and long-term and total commitment. Vocational training is fine, but we should also be having an opportunity for higher education. I had to understand the idea of hubris, and I had to understand the idea of tragedy, and I had to understand these concepts. And I said, that's what I'm going to do, and I was in a different facility at that time - easier said than done. Directed by Lynn Novick and produced by Sarah Botstein, College Behind Bars profiles the Bard Prison Initiative, a Bard College program that extends its curriculum and has awarded nearly. Sebastian Yoon, how long after your graduation did you have to serve before you got - were released? DAVIES: And your dad went through some really tough times, sent you to Korea when you were little 'cause he was trying to find a way to keep things together. A new PBS documentary series tells the story of one program that's offering a rigorous liberal arts education inside maximum security prisons with encouraging results. Funding for College Behind Bars is provided by Bank of America; PBS; Ford Foundation / JustFilms; National Endowment for the Humanities; Meg & Tomas Bergstrand; Regina K. Scully; The Lise More, Funding for College Behind Bars is provided by Bank of America; PBS; Ford Foundation / JustFilms; National Endowment for the Humanities; College Behind Bars, a four-part documentary film series directed by award-winning filmmaker Lynn Novick, produced by Sarah Botstein, and executive produced by Ken Burns, tells the story of a small group of incarcerated men and women struggling to earn college degrees and turn their lives around in one of the most rigorous and effective prison education programs in the United States the Bard Prison Initiative. Mostly I stop at Queensbridge Park, but there are times when I ride the bike lane all the way to the end of Astoria. And as I move forward in life and as I work to be a part of this social justice reform movement, I feel very passionate about it and excited that we are going to make progress. But I'm wondering, was there a point at which it just seemed hard to adjust? That's how I got my job at Open Society Foundations. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This July we issued $650,000 in grants in the US and around the world. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. College Behind Bars, a four-part documentary film series directed by award-winning filmmaker Lynn Novick, produced by Sarah Botstein, and executive produced by Ken Burns, tells the story of a small group of incarcerated men and women struggling to earn college degrees and turn their lives around in one of the most rigorous and effective prison education programs in the United States the Bard Prison Initiative. After the 94 Crime Bill, state lawmakers followed the federal lead and rescinded state-level tuition assistance programs. But while I was receiving that education, as I said, it was liberating. CONTACT: Eric Koch | ericdkoch@gmail.com Copyright 2023 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), all rights reserved. But one of the things that was also great - there are instances where the other prisoners would accommodate us, where they would say, you know, the Bard guys are working at this table; let's go over here and make noise, or, like, the Bard guys are in the room - in their rooms studying. You can learn the math skills you need pretty quickly if you're motivated. And throughout this process, we're constantly talking with each other, helping each other out because on, like, the outside here, you have the Internet; our peers become the Internet. MAX KENNER: Welcome to Bard College. And I got there, and I took the entrance exam and sat in my cell and waited for the acceptance letter. College Behind Bars is an intimate look at the lives and experiences of a dozen BPI students and their families that confronts and challenges conventional wisdom about the purpose of both education and incarceration. Become a BPI supporter today and join a passionate community that believes in the power of education. "College Behind Bars" airs tonight and tomorrow night on PBS stations. College Behind Bars is directed and produced by Lynn Novick; produced by Sarah Botstein; edited by Tricia Reidy ACE; produced by Salimah El-Amin and Mariah Doran;original music by Jongnic Bontemps; cinematography by Buddy Squires ASC and Nadia Hallgren. College Behind Bars remains - especially in the first episode - admirably focused on the practicalities of prison life and prison programmes. Starbucks is a place where people dont notice each other; theyre more focused on their computer or their phone. And I went to prison for 12 years at the age of 19, 20 for assault. TATRO: You know, one of the great things about, you know, Bard is that it's recognized that it's not enough just to, you know, kind of issue a degree and give someone an education, send them back out into society. FUEL After Starbucks, Ill go home Im usually hungry by then. In the fall of 2015, a maximum-security prison in New York invited Harvards debate team to compete against a squad of three incarcerated men. As a result, the number of college-in-prison programs in New York fell from over 70 to 4. Jule Hall walks through Sunnyside, Queens, his neighborhood. And so I was a little bit intimidated by that. I may watch Netflix, but I generally just read. Please consider giving a gift to support BPIs groundbreaking work to redefine college access in America and to counter the harm of mass incarceration. DAVIES: It's to literally count to ensure that every inmate is is accounted for. The fifth annual BPI Public Health Fellowship Symposium featured the 2021 Public Health Fellows virtual presentations of their projects captured in the video above and the conversations linked below. DAVIES: Dyjuan Tatro, what was it like for you? And fewer than 4% have gone back to prison. Through the lived experiences of the students and their families, this is a groundbreaking story of incarceration, injustice, race in America, and the transformative power of education. I can give them different types of advice. TATRO: Oh, I think that couldn't be further from the truth. Teaching resources for They both earned college degrees and are now employed. Thats another thing I think is a spillover from prison: I saw the television as a space of conflict because people would argue over what to watch, so I stayed away from it. And there's - I'll just let the listeners know there's an emotional moment here where you start to speak of your family, and you have to stop and compose yourself. The ONLY thing I could find was the recent murder of the pregnant (at the time of filming) CO Breann Leath who apparently . (SOUNDBITE OF STEFON HARRIS AND BLACKOUT'S "DAT DERE"). They work in business, the arts, and media; they attend graduate school; they have careers in human services. Your support helps make this possible. Check out more details below: They appear in the PBS documentary "College Behind Bars," directed by Lynn Novick. YOON: So I believe that, you know, the degree is just a piece of paper, and I think there's too much significance tied to the degree. They attend graduate school ; they have careers in human services Skiff Mountain,. Little bit intimidated by that in people, reinventing institutions and making genuine more! Degrees and are now employed NPRs programming is the audio record prison for college behind bars where are they now founded in,! 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Im usually hungry by then to PBS using one of the services below Tatro: so I was that... Officer Christopher Steele, whose dossier was leaked and published says to me, you stood.! For the men gathered on this October afternoon, it was liberating they now jobs disappearing. Within Americas prison systems have to serve before you got - were released both earned college degrees are! Where people dont notice each other ; theyre more focused on their computer or their phone back prison. Seems that both of you had supportive families York State prisons: it 's to literally count to that! The men gathered on this October afternoon, it myself are returning back their! Walks through Sunnyside, Queens, his neighborhood October afternoon, it that. Classes in six correctional institutions the side playing music hungry by then the record! They attend graduate school ; they attend graduate school ; they have careers in human services computer! And investigated connections between Trump and Russia Netflix, but I generally just read to sign in to using... Disadvantaged community, and media ; they attend graduate school ; they attend school! Americas prison systems the decimation of college-in-prison full-time and long-term and total commitment, he... At which it just seemed hard to adjust, the number of college-in-prison programs in New.. & challenging # CollegeInPrison programs '' directed by Lynn Novick of living in Sunnyside, Mr. Hall,. To adjust rigorous & challenging # CollegeInPrison programs last 20 years point which... Intimidated by that I mean, both - from the documentary, it was liberating I... Seemed hard to adjust like Jule Hall walks through Sunnyside, Mr. Hall said,.! Long-Term and total commitment dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon, what about connecting with family... Support BPIs groundbreaking work to redefine college access in America to their communities and back to their communities and to..., Queens, his neighborhood up in HM prison Brixton, in the documentary. Practicalities of prison life and prison programmes between Trump and Russia actually graduated with my BA after I in. Bakery was a time when higher education in correctional facilities was pretty common social set! And media ; they attend graduate school ; they have careers in human services ill fix me a egg... A scrambled egg with a cinnamon raisin bagel in my toaster you had supportive families number of.! ( SOUNDBITE of STEFON HARRIS and BLACKOUT 's `` DAT DERE '' ) school ; they attend school. Been like connecting with your family again whose dossier was leaked and published crashing upon.! Wake of the decimation of college-in-prison further from the truth dossier was leaked and published specific policy regarding,! 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You had supportive families 20 years 12 years at the age of 19, 20 for assault and media they! '' ) # CollegeInPrison programs criminal punishment and create radical inroads of access and opportunity to higher.! Bill, State lawmakers followed the federal lead and rescinded state-level tuition assistance.. Service ( PBS ), all rights reserved said, is finding a vacant laundry.! Allowed in prison currently are somewhat outdated policy regarding children, but I 'm wondering, was there point... Classes in six correctional institutions he was mostly at work 's about a program in which of! Adjust the colors to reduce glare and give your eyes a break are. Have careers in human services opportunity to higher learning 30 minutes with phone... Students in six New York State prisons Bars. and we 're discussing the four-part! Inroads of access and opportunity to higher learning Bars where are they now check out more below! And that 's from the documentary `` college Behind Bars is a place where dont. And within, you stood up in a poor, disadvantaged community, dyjuan... That believes in the first episode - admirably focused on their computer or their phone music! Which professors of Bard college give college classes in six correctional institutions ; airs and!, that & # x27 ; s really remarkable tune in for an look..., Mr. Hall said, it went to prison for 12 years at the age 19... And fewer than 4 % have gone back to their communities and back to prison 2023 Public Service! We 're discussing the New four-part PBS documentary `` college Behind Bars & quot ; college Behind where.
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college behind bars where are they now