And that's not to say that it's not challenging, but that is to point to the fact that, if we support people transitioning back in society in the right way, they'd be capable of almost anything, you know? Become a BPI supporter today and join a passionate community that believes in the power of education. Men and women seek college degrees - and a chance at redemption - while incarcerated. And you see this room, and then all of a sudden, reality just comes crashing upon you. Rodney, Sebastian and Giovannie embark on yearlong senior, The debate union faces Harvard. Men and women earn college degrees - and a chance at new beginnings - while incarcerated.MoreMore. DAVIES: This school also has graduation ceremonies, and this is very moving. And, you know, spending time in the classrooms - as Sarah Botstein, the producer, and I did - I kept thinking, I wish I could go back to college and have this experience because it is - the classes are small. BPI transforms wealth, power, and purpose in America by providing full-scholarship, college education in the most unlikely places. People were invested in this. I may watch Netflix, but I generally just read. You don't have the Internet. So I was charged at the age of 16 for manslaughter in the first degree, and I was sentenced to 15 years. If this kind of opportunity were widely available and the sort of foundational skills made possible, a lot more people could take advantage of it. NOVICK: Yes, indeed. DAVIES: You know, I was going to ask about relations with, you know, other prisoners. And I was bullied a lot. One of the things I used to do is kind of put my headphones on with classical music, and that's how I would get my reading and get my work done. DAVIES: Wow. But the Allens still have mixed feelings about free degrees for inmates. Let's start with a clip from the documentary. Theres not many bathtubs that can accommodate me, but I have a bathtub that partially can, as long as I put my legs up on the wall. After the 94 Crime Bill, state lawmakers followed the federal lead and rescinded state-level tuition assistance programs. Who has access to educational opportunity? It's about a program in which professors of Bard College give college classes in six correctional institutions. fevereiro 17, 2023; Posted by nene leakes father alan; 17 . Of course, I recognize where this comes from: I wasnt around children for 22 years. College Behind Bars (two hours) begins Monday at 9 p.m. with Parts 1 and 2 on WETA and MPT. They come to us for essay-writing classes and math tutoring so that they can prepare to get into the program themselves. While I have little tastes for things, I dont make an elaborate breakfast. After graduation, there were like, 30, on each side of the shower room just waiting for you. That kind of thing. I'm a college student. DAVIES: You know, some might think that prison inmates would have an easier time focusing on all this rigorous schoolwork because they're literally, you know, captive in the institution and are not distracted by parties or dating or football games like, you know, students on a traditional campus. 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. You've just tried to add this show to My List. You know, I am originally from Albany, N.Y. You got to go back to your - I guess to your cell - right? In 1993, Mr. Hall, then 17, was involved in a gunfight in Brooklyn, when a bullet fired toward him killed his neighbor instead. 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. 2023 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). NOVICK: You know, Sarah and I, when we got into the project, we were focusing on the transformational aspect of it, power of education, and what did it mean to get this education while in prison? 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. You are Korean American, right? Part 2: 'I'm Trying to Get Home to My Family, Too.'. This movement took on renewed urgency following Congresss reinstatement of Pell Grant access to incarcerated students in 2020. So it's just - it's really an open question. Both of you went into prison as teenagers and came out as young men. My father was in Vietnam, came home drug-addicted and has never really recovered from that. Once enrolled, BPI students engage with the college full-time, embarking on a course of study that is ambitious and matches the breadth and intensity of any undergraduate learning experience. And it's just really, really - has been so emotional for me to see their reaction and have their support through all this and be able to share so much positivity with them after having gone through so much darkness in life. And I think the answer is no. Lynn Novick, Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro, welcome to FRESH AIR. You know, it's interesting. These programs transform the negative impacts of criminal punishment and create radical inroads of access and opportunity to higher learning. This is five times a day, right? Since its first cohort in 2001, BPI students have earned over 52,000 credits and more than 550 Bard College degrees. It raises questions we urgently need to address: What is prison for? DAVIES: There was a time when higher education in correctional facilities was pretty common. You know, what's striking about this program is that - I think a lot of people who think about ways that prisons can help incarcerated people get jobs when they get out of prison is to provide vocational training - you know, teach people to be welders or auto mechanics or, you know, stuff like that. How can we have justice without redemption? BPI was founded in 1999, in the wake of the decimation of college-in-prison. My father never saw me as a bad person. In four years of study they become accomplished scholars, shatter stereotypes, reckon with their pasts, and prepare to return to society. 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. So that was, like, really, really kind of humbling to see that type of support from the general population. When incarcerated students from the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) Debate Union beat a team from Harvard, their victory made headlines around the world. And within, you know, a month, they're doing college-level reading and writing. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR. Your education in that space can be interrupted in all types of different ways at any time of day. I want that education. We will continue our conversation after this short break. YOON: There's this moment where you walk past his door, and all you see is curtains and officers waiting in, like, rows. What you see at the end is a testament to the power of education, and why it remains such a dangerous and underrated weapon against a racially and economically unjust status quo in this nation., The powerful new miniseries suggests we might find hope in the transformative effect of higher education., [A] nuanced look at education in the prison industrial complex., An important educational call to arms. Ill take care of the preliminaries, brush my teeth, get dressed, and I shoot straight to the Starbucks two blocks away. When that door closes, you're at Bard College. 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. You can learn the math skills you need pretty quickly if you're motivated. My family took care of me for 12 years while I was in prison, and now I'm in a position in life where I can support and be there for them. Incarcerated men and women in New York State are admitted to the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI), one of the most rigorous co, Sebastian, Dyjuan and Tamara reflect on the difficult circumstances of their childhood, while the debate team prepares to, The debate union faces their rival across the river, West Point. YOON: Well, classes usually happen in between counts. They study all the disciplines in the liberal arts. And at the age of 10, my family - once my dad made enough money, we moved to Long Island. And they understand that research shows inmates who earn masters degrees behind bars have a 0% recidivism rate. 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. So I walked out of prison on August 10 of 2017, and I was back in college on August 24 finishing my B.A. And I got there, and I took the entrance exam and sat in my cell and waited for the acceptance letter. Bard Prison Initiative graduate Sebastian Yoon, featured in the new PBS documentary College Behind Bars, shares how BPI changed him and the Eastern Correctional Facility, where he was incarcerated until March. GROSS: FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. 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 I never had really thought about going to college until, all of a sudden, there was this thing that I heard about in prison called the Bard Prison Initiative. The series College Behind Bars aired on PBS on November 25 and 26 and is now available for free streaming on PBS.org through the end of January. Few people know the joy of a free Sunday like Jule Hall. Most had circumstances early in their life, which were really, really tough, heartbreaking in many cases. So within the prison context, you know, people know who the guys are in BPI, and they come to us for advice. YOON: My family has been super supportive of me, as you'll see in the documentary, especially my father. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. And that had been true for over a generation, and it was well understood and accepted that education was an essential part of criminal justice and of rehabilitation. This is FRESH AIR. So when we start talking about what is best for people in prisons, Lynn said we should include them in that conversation. And so, you know, this experience has not only been personally rewarding and amazing for me. NOVICK: Yeah. DAVIES: Lynn Novick, congratulations on the documentary. So currently, I work as a program specialist with the Democracy Fund of Open Society Foundations, which is one of the biggest philanthropic organizations in the world. TATRO: You know, this - I'm the first person in my family who's ever gone to college. Part 1: 'No One Ever Taught Me Any of That.'. YOON: I never stopped being a student. COLLEGE BEHIND BARS, a four-part documentary film series, 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 (BPI). The majority were first arrested as minors. And then they're like, strip. My colleagues are aware of different types of cuisine and restaurants and whenever we travel together for work or have a lunch together, theres this tendency to talk about food and wine. Colleges or universities partnering in the Consortium. And I started to respond with violence because I thought I had no other option. Become a BPI supporter today and join a passionate community that believes in the power of education. 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? College Behind Bars, the four-part documentary about the transformative power of education, premiered nationwide on PBS in November 25, 2019. TATRO: So I actually graduated with my BA after I was released from prison. During the 2016 presidential campaign, they were hired by Republicans and then by Democrats and investigated connections between Trump and Russia. 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. You can see then Minister. After serving 22 years in prison, he is making up for lost time, with a job at the Ford Foundation, good coffee and a long soak in the tub. 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. I mean, both - from the documentary, it seems that both of you had supportive families. I'm an uncle. And, you know, one of the just greatest moments there is that when the BPI students were getting up to walk the stage, the president of the college, Leon Botstein, said - you know, he said these are some of our most distinguished and greatest students, and the whole student body stood and gave us a resounding round of applause. College Behind Bars is an intimate look at the lives and experiences of a dozen BPI students and their families that confronts . And they really love to engage the professors and each other, and that was true for every single class. And then you say, oh, this is my reality. Like, that's who I am. Men and women in prison for serious crimes try to earn college degrees in this groundbreaking story of incarceration, injustice, race in America, and the transformative power of education. You have this big smile on your face when you're leaving the auditorium and the mess hall. And that's - Pell grants are supposed to be based on economic need. What kind of courses are taught? college behind bars where are they now. Episodes. I mean, anybody who watches this film will think, gosh, I don't know if I could handle this stuff. (SOUNDBITE OF ROBBEN FORD AND BILL EVANS' "PIXIES"). So, you know, the - in the Greek, liberal arts education literally means education worthy of a free man. So I pedal pretty forcefully to get a workout. YOON: Two more years after my bachelor's degree in 2017. I'm going to ask each of you to give me your first impressions here. Recidivism rates skyrocketed for a variety of reasons, including this, and slowly, some privately funded programs started to come back in. College Behind Bars, an Emmy-nominated, four-part documentary about the transformative power of education. (SOUNDBITE OF MARCUS ROBERTS' "IT'S MARIA'S DANCE"). Celebrating 200+ degrees in six graduations back in person with Congressman Bobby Rush. They have both been to prison. By signing up for BPI emails, you are agreeing to receive news and updates from BPI. The ONLY thing I could find was the recent murder of the pregnant (at the time of filming) CO Breann Leath who apparently . But I also look at the Manhattan skyline. I'm Terry Gross. It teaches you how smart you are. Incarcerated men and women in New York State are admitted to the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI), one of the most rigorous college programs in America. Our guests are Lynn Novick, who directed the documentary, and Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon, two graduates of the program. Creating educational opportunities in prison nationwide. Everyone that we got to know well took full responsibility for what happened and explained the context in which it happened and how they are reckoning with it today. College Behind Bars is a production of Skiff Mountain Films, in association with Florentine Films and WETA-TV. College Behind Bars remains - especially in the first episode - admirably focused on the practicalities of prison life and prison programmes. They've earned college degrees and are now employed. YOON: For me, a liberal arts education cultivated in me conceptual and intellectual openness that invited me to consider worlds outside of my world from different times, thought and space. NOVICK: Yeah. DAVIES: You know, I'd like, Sebastian and Dyjuan, to hear a little bit about how - reconciling with your families. 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. Yoon and Tatro earned college degrees taking rigorous courses taught by Bard College faculty in a maximum-security prison. I mean, you both entered prison as teenagers, right? GROSS: Lynn Novick speaking with Dave Davies. Parts One & Two. 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. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NOVICK: And I think - just to put the button or the final note is that the recidivism rates for the general population are between 50% and 60%. Men and women earn college degrees - and a chance at new beginnings - while incarcerated. It's always a seminar style. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. The Bard Prison Initiative enrolls over 300 incarcerated students in six New York State prisons. This is a full-time and long-term and total commitment. That was not our experience at all. 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