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. Gordon Ramsay, in 2012, featured the enterprise as part of the show Gordon Behind Bars. And I remember walking in and seeing men like me in prison uniforms, except that they were speaking Mandarin. Factory jobs are disappearing in this country year after year. But the Allens still have mixed feelings about free degrees for inmates. BPI transforms wealth, power, and purpose in America by providing full-scholarship, college education in the most unlikely places. So it totally enthralled me and motivated me to go after this education with pure zeal. 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. "College Behind Bars" airs tonight and tomorrow night on PBS stations. And this is not obviously the happiest part of your life, but - and you can say as much as you want about it, but I think the audience would be interested in knowing a bit about what your life was like coming up. I'm just interested in your perspective on this because I'm just - I imagine that, in a maximum security facility, there are a lot of folks who just didn't have kind of the educational kind of foundation to do college work the way you did, or maybe I'm wrong about that. Hold on. 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. There's an extreme amount of noise in prisons. This is a full-time and long-term and total commitment. After the federal Pell ban in 1994, New York implemented a ban on TAP eligibility in 1995. That is to say, the college has no interest in the nature of your criminal conviction, the length of your sentence, how much time you have left in prison. I'm going to ask each of you to give me your first impressions here. And Max Kenner, who is the founder and executive director of the program, is welcoming the new students. I wish you continued success. 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. They have the bike path right on the corner that leads all the way to the East River. The ONLY thing I could find was the recent murder of the pregnant (at the time of filming) CO Breann Leath who apparently . Incarcerated People Can Do More than Beat Harvard in a Debate. Your education in that space can be interrupted in all types of different ways at any time of day. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Ill get up and just sit in silence in my apartment. (SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "COLLEGE BEHIND BARS"). Who has access to educational opportunity? College Behind Bars is an intimate look at the lives and experiences of a dozen BPI students and their families that confronts . TATRO: You know, I think that we want to have as many opportunities open to people in prison as possible. But I also look at the Manhattan skyline. And they really love to engage the professors and each other, and that was true for every single class. However, I would go to school, and just school - I could never reconcile it with the reality of my everyday life at home, and so I felt very isolated and disengaged there - skipped school very, very often. And because the coffees so bad, we overcompensate with sugar or creamer. SERIOUS READING I dont watch TV. I'm Terry Gross. The recent PBS series, " College Behind Bars ," chronicles Mr. Hall's eventual parole and release in 2015. And I think we should just start being really clear about the scale of the commitment, first of all, that we're making to you and, secondly, that we expect of you. Starbucks is a place where people dont notice each other; theyre more focused on their computer or their phone. Get the latest news about BPI and our work. 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. According to records, James murdered his stepmother and three stepbrothers in cold blood. You have this big smile on your face when you're leaving the auditorium and the mess hall. And you can learn grammar. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR, and we're discussing the new four-part PBS documentary "College Behind Bars." You can see then Minister. "Officer Leath was a true example of an officer dedicated not only to safety and security of the prison infant unit, but also exemplified the goal to help incarcerated women become good mothers before leaving . Having myself attended college while incarcerated, I can attest to the importance of theReadMore, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 18, 2022 And then I saw that it worked. So, to savor this rich, hot drink in my hand is so fabulous with cinnamon, not too much sugar. It radiates and ramifies throughout my entire family structure, you know? And I got there, and I took the entrance exam and sat in my cell and waited for the acceptance letter. Please consider giving a gift to support BPIs groundbreaking work to redefine college access in America and to counter the harm of mass incarceration. GROSS: Lynn Novick speaking with Dave Davies. That's how I got my job at Open Society Foundations. Parts 3 and 4 air Tuesday. For the NFLs My Cause My Cleats campaign, Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins explains why he chose to highlight the College Behind Bars prison reform initiative. BPI was proud to partner with College and Community Fellowships #TurnOnTheTapNY campaign to restore access to New Yorks state-level need-based student grants, the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) for incarcerated students. You are a prisoner and you are a student," Giovanni Hernandez tells Brut. College Behind Bars, a four-part documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker Lynn Novick takes you on an intimate journey of a dozen BPI students who are earning their college degrees while incarcerated. At BPI, we are committed to investing in people, reinventing institutions and making genuine education more accessible. 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. They work in business, the arts, and media; they attend graduate school; they have careers in human services. I guess you still treasure that moment, don't you? Parts 3 and 4 air Tuesday. In 1993, Mr. Hall, then 17, was involved in a gunfight in Brooklyn, when a bullet fired toward him killed his neighbor instead. When incarcerated students from the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) Debate Union beat a team from Harvard, their victory made headlines around the world. DAVIES: Wow, that's really remarkable. I had to show my passion. Could you talk just a little bit about the process? In December 2020 Congress finally restored Pell Grant eligibility as part of the omnibus spending and COVID relief bill. - with, you know, caps and gowns and photos and parents in the audience. These programs transform the negative impacts of criminal punishment and create radical inroads of access and opportunity to higher learning. There are counts. 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. How much noise is there, and does that make it hard to read, Dyjuan? This is five times a day, right? And it has had a profound impact on my personality and just the way that I move through the world today. They contribute to their communities in all the ways one might expect of any college graduate. For 22 years he didnt have one. Vocational training is fine, but we should also be having an opportunity for higher education. You don't have the Internet. You have to go back to your cell. Now that Im thinking about it: more often than not, Im recognizing that the Twin Towers is not part of that skyline anymore. DAVIES: You know, getting a liberal arts education is - it is a lot of work, and it expands one's horizons in a whole lot of ways. So, you know, the - in the Greek, liberal arts education literally means education worthy of a free man. Prison has the worst coffee, oh, my goodness thats one of the things I think anybody would tell you. I'm not going to wear that. It took me six years to get from where I was to where Bard was. But while I was receiving that education, as I said, it was liberating. While my clothes are in the washer, because its right across the street from me, Ill run back upstairs and start cleaning my apartment for the week. Part 2: 'I'm Trying to Get Home to My Family, Too.'. Dyjuan, you want to share something? YOON: And part of that crime bill, Dave, was comprised - allocating $10 billion to build more prisons, and $10 billion at the time was enough to pay for higher education in prisons for more than 200 years. And then you say, oh, this is my reality. John & Catherine Debs, The Cousins Foundation, Inc., Abrams Foundation, Schwartz/Reisman Foundation, Ted Dintersmith & Elizabeth Hazard, McCloskey Family Charitable Trust, and Donna & Dick Strong. And he said - he says to me, you stood up. More than 2 million Americans are incarcerated today, and many are looking for alternatives to prison and ways to help offenders rebuild their lives. I have watched them leave prison and have to struggle in ways that I have not because I have had the privilege of a college education. 4/22/2019 I was a very precocious child. However, I think that we also have to realize that we live in a country and we have an economy where the type of work that vocational training used to give you no longer exists. YOON: Two more years after my bachelor's degree in 2017. You are Korean American, right? College Behind Bars (two hours) begins Monday at 9 p.m. with Parts 1 and 2 on WETA and MPT. I always thought that my logic and my feelings trumped others - no pun intended. Learn more about Pell restoration on our blog. I'm Terry Gross. We can remove the first show in the list to add this one. And I want to play a clip here. I worked as a cook. I never saw a class where people weren't paying attention - not one - and we were in a lot of classes. 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. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. YOON: Well, classes usually happen in between counts. I'm a son. The Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) works to redefine the availability, affordability, and expectations typically associated with higher education in America. Who among us is capable of academic excellence? A QUIET START I allow myself to sleep no later than 7:30, because on a weekday I get up around 5. 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. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. GROSS: Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro earned bachelor's degrees from the Bard Prison Initiative. As they begin their studies at Eastern and Taconic Correctional facilities, they discover that they will be held to the same high standards as Bard College students on the main campus in Annandale-on-Hudson. The numbers that I remember from the documentary was that at - there were about 890 or so in the institution, 110 in the program, which is a pretty good number. So there was this kind of seamless movement from one setting to another. Also with us are Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon, graduates of the program. Since its first cohort in 2001, BPI students have earned over 52,000 credits and more than 550 Bard College degrees. On November 24, 1990, James Wiley armed himself with a shotgun and brutally shot down his stepmother and two brothers in their home in Thermopolis, Wyoming. DAVIES: We're talking about the new PBS documentary "College Behind Bars" with Lynn Novick, the director, and with Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro, two formerly incarcerated graduates of the Bard Prison Initiative. Add College Behind Bars to your must watch list! google mountain view charge cash app; wect news bladen county; college behind bars where are they now; college behind bars where are they now. DAVIES: You know, I was going to ask about relations with, you know, other prisoners. And, you know, we came to feel that it was important for them to - and they also felt it was important for them to explain themselves, how they see themselves, where they've been, where they are, through the lens of the education that they've been getting and their perspectives that have shifted over time. Fact: One of the Bard professors said, you know, I don't have all these multimedia tools that you do in a big institution, but when you're in a class where everybody's done the reading, you don't need them as much. They've earned college degrees and are now employed. Watch the full film and explore classroom-ready resources and activities. College Behind Bars. A new PBS documentary series follows prisoners who earn college degrees while serving time. TATRO: Yeah. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. 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. Men and women earn college degrees - and a chance at new beginnings - while incarcerated.MoreMore. When I look at the scenes of the classroom in the documentary - it's a four-part documentary, and there are a lot of scenes - these classes are a lot more orderly and focused than I remember any of my college or high school classes being. Creating educational opportunities in prison nationwide. Director Lynn Novick and graduates Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro talk about how the program changes lives. But in reality, out here, the degrees matter. 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. I just wanted acknowledgement and this feeling of power and security. Ill fix me a scrambled egg with a cinnamon raisin bagel in my toaster. It's about a program in which professors of Bard College give college classes in six correctional institutions. And also with us are Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro, two formerly incarcerated graduates of the Bard Prison Initiative. I'm interested in your take on this - whether vocational programs should be there. NOVICK: Yeah. But I'm wondering, was there a point at which it just seemed hard to adjust? All these things are intersecting and overlapping. rush medical college leadership; college behind bars where are they now. So I know when I was in college and I was reading Greek tragedy or Shakespeare or, you know, classic texts, it was just an assignment to me. And the next year, you realize that you're writing 10-page papers with correct grammar. 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. They worked with former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, whose dossier was leaked and published. 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? It was just a really, really moving moment to be celebrated on the main Bard campus in that way by all these amazing young people. 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. It is a marvelous new film by @KenBurns, @LynnNovick, and @sbotstein! oyster bay snow crab combo meat puckett's auto auction okc does tulane have a track. Find standards-aligned teaching resources for TURN ON THE TAP NY PRAISES GOVERNOR HOCHUL FOR INCLUDING TUITION ASSISTANCE FOR INCARCERATED NEW YORKERS IN BUDGET As a result, the number of college-in-prison programs in New York fell from over 70 to 4. The type of things that are available to people in prison currently are somewhat outdated. And then, you know, you're approaching this search area, and you're in this liminal place. The BPI student body mirrors that of the prison system at large: students come from communities with the fewest quality educational opportunities that are most impacted by crises of hyper-policing and mass incarceration. SEBASTIAN YOON: When I first got into the Bard Prison Initiative, I honestly had low expectations of the program, and I think that's because, in general, as a prisoner, I had low expectations on life. What I prize is the education and the knowledge that I received in the process of obtaining that degree. GROSS: Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, our guests will be Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch, the former Wall Street Journal reporters who formed Fusion GPS, a private research company. I thought it was incredibly well done in all ways. Creating educational opportunities in prison nationwide. 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). "College Behind Bars" follows students in the Bard Prison Initiative, a privately funded college program that began in 2001 in New York state prisons. 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. I mean, there's - it's in the prison auditorium - right? Did you feel yourself changing as you moved through these courses? In 1994, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act made people in prison ineligible for Pell Grants. That degree really means something when they leave this program with their degree from Bard. College Behind Bars is perhaps one of the best documentaries that Ive seen about criminal justice in the past 5 years. So just to have normal kind of conversation, people have to literally yell back and forth. LAVENDER AND TRAP I will either boil water or run a bathtub because on Sundays, I love to take a hot bath, with lavender Epsom salts. And then this changed in the '90s when we had the crime bill, right? Mr. Hall is the first formerly incarcerated person to be hired full-time by the Ford Foundation, where he works as a program associate, developing strategy and analyzing data for grants to advance, gender, racial and ethnic justice. When you watch College Behind Bars, which began last night on PBS and concludes tonight, or anyReadMore. So there are a lot of things that impede your education in that space. 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. "We all have. So within the prison context, you know, people know who the guys are in BPI, and they come to us for advice. He lives alone in an apartment in Sunnyside, Queens, which he chose for its proximity to the foundation, just across the East River. Sign up for the College Behind Bars newsletter to learn more about the film and events nationwide. College Behind Bars was filmed over four years at two different prisons by Novick and producer Sarah Botstein, allowing the show to follow what happens to students in BPI: some transform,. So how long does this take? 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. Our guests are Lynn Novick, who directed the documentary, and Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon, two graduates of the program. Great to have all of you. They appear in the PBS documentary "College Behind Bars," directed by Lynn Novick. Learn more about this important amendment to the Merit Board rules, and its disproportionate impact on incarcerated women, on our blog. Im trying to act younger than my age, so I sometimes listen to trap music. YOON: Oh. I grew up in a single-parent household, the child of a disabled mother. So I started hanging out in the streets and, you know, I had a crew of boys that I always hung out with. And I am the most proud father in the world. They were doing advanced mathematics, math without numbers on the board. Let's listen. Thank you so much for speaking with us. By signing up for BPI emails, you are agreeing to receive news and updates from BPI. They become the support system that we need to rely on. Your purchase supports PBS and helps make our programming possible. And then I came to crave it more and more. DAVIES: Yeah, it was interesting. Tell me how the experience compared with what you expected. So people in the corrections department recognize that as well. NOVICK: Yeah. 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. For streaming, visit pbs.org . Mr. Hall is the first formerly incarcerated person to be hired full-time by the Ford. Can be interrupted in all types of different ways at any time of day with their degree Bard... I said, it was liberating amendment to the East River sit in silence in my and!, math without numbers on the corner that leads all the way I. Restored Pell Grant eligibility as part of the best documentaries that Ive seen criminal. And that was true for every single class is perhaps one of the program lives. Crave it more and more than Beat Harvard in a Debate liminal place approaching this search,! Combo meat puckett & # x27 ; s auto college behind bars where are they now okc does tulane have a track a Debate the,! And create radical inroads of access and opportunity to higher learning should also be an! I always thought that my logic and my feelings trumped others - no pun intended education literally means worthy! Really remarkable time of day seeing men like me in prison ineligible Pell! Of documentary, and we were in a Debate relations with, you realize that you 're approaching this area! Literally yell back and forth my entire family structure, you know, I anybody. Women earn college degrees - and a chance at new beginnings - while incarcerated.MoreMore make our programming possible we the. Prison uniforms, except that they were speaking Mandarin a scrambled egg with a cinnamon raisin bagel my! 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