Are they right about that, Dyjuan? But I had no life experience to bring to that. And so I was a little bit intimidated by that. And then you address your father directly. "I had a fundamental shift in what I think about incarceration," she said. And that totally allowed me to reimagine myself. I just committed a bad act. DAVIES: And if you're in class when it's time for a count, what happens? Let's listen. And one day, we went to a karaoke bar, and a fight erupted, and somebody ended up losing his life. You know, Lynn Novick, I believe this project grew out of your own experience teaching a course, right? I believe that me having committed a crime doesn't make me a bad person. And so, you know, this experience has not only been personally rewarding and amazing for me. They appear in the PBS documentary "College Behind Bars," directed by Lynn Novick. Do they have a place as opposed to, you know, this really rigorous academic program? She hasnt been involved in any legal matters since. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. The four-part series premieres on PBS over two nights -- Nov. 25 & 26. Josie Duffy Rice and co-host Derecka Purnell are joined by Dyjuan Tatro '18 andReadMore, The Bard Prison Initiative is a revolutionary program that provides a rigorous college education to men and women in prison. I'm done. YOON: Two more years after my bachelor's degree in 2017. It focuses on the lives and academic careers of 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: Oh, yeah, without a doubt. Most had circumstances early in their life, which were really, really tough, heartbreaking in many cases. ALBANY,ReadMore, Tags: CCF, College in Prison, Press Release, TAP, Turn on the Tap, In this episode, listen to an in-depth conversation with Max Kenner '01, alumnus Dyjuan Tatro '18, and Vivian Nixon, Executive Director of College & Community Fellowship who discuss the impact of federal Pell Grant restoration; what's next for TAP restoration in New York; theReadMore, The Appeal featured several segments about BPI in two Justice in America podcast episodes, as well as an op-ed. Novick directed the four-part documentary "College Behind Bars," which airs tonight and tomorrow night on PBS stations. And what the film shows and the work at BPI shows is that that cannot be more untrue. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Zarriah moved in with her godmother upon leaving prison and began rebuilding a relationship with her estranged mother. Because when people ask that question or that question's being asked, that's usually the implicit assumption, that they are only capable of this level of education. DAVIES: And that's from the documentary "College Behind Bars," directed by our guest Lynn Novick. Hold on. And then, you know, you're approaching this search area, and you're in this liminal place. In four years of study they become scholars, shatter stereotypes, reckon with their pasts, and prepare to return to society. Tell me how the experience compared with what you expected. As the title suggests, that is precisely what Netflixs Girls Incarcerated highlights by revolving around the young females who are serving time behind bars for their once reckless actions. Otherwise, you're not doing them any favors. And I just wonder if you could reflect a bit on how it might have changed you - Dyjuan. They work in business, the arts, and media; they attend graduate school; they have careers in human services. Adult learners are, you know, much more mature and have life experience. However, the 17-year-old was still one of the most low-risk juveniles at the facility, especially owing to her hilarious, mature, hardworking, and bubbly personality when sober. So there was this kind of seamless movement from one setting to another. 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. My father was in Vietnam, came home drug-addicted and has never really recovered from that. They become the support system that we need to rely on. They spoke with FRESH AIR's Dave Davies. We see him, don't we? WebAnd 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. Carisa was then arrested on a domestic battery, arrested for the charges of marijuana possession as well as public intoxication, Decatur County police apprehended her again. YOON: There's this moment where you walk past his door, and all you see is curtains and officers waiting in, like, rows. The students have a quite impressive breadth of curriculum. The PBSand Emmy-nominated documentary College Behind Bars seeks to showcase the students of BPI as well as the need for more prison college programs throughout the country. Like most people, Emmy-winning filmmaker Lynn Novick had not been inside a prison before she began lecturing and teaching at the Eastern Correctional Maximum Facility for men in New York State. And when I actually started my courses, I was shocked by how rigorous and how demanding the program was. Were they all like that, Lynn? Sometimes, it could take six hours. GROSS: FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. It's about a program in which professors of Bard College give college classes in six correctional institutions. In other words, the 15-year-old didnt really have extremely positive or ideal influences to look up to growing up, which affected her overall behavior and actions in a way no one couldve ever imagined.

That's how I got my job at Open Society Foundations. This movement took on renewed urgency following Congresss reinstatement of Pell Grant access to incarcerated students in 2020. WebNovember 25( 2019-11-25)November 26, 2019( 2019-11-26) College Behind Bars is a 2019 American television documentary series, directed by Lynn Novick, which originally aired on PBS. 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. And the next year, you realize that you're writing 10-page papers with correct grammar. I thought he was crazy.". And I was bullied a lot. And you see people on this kind of, like, exponential learning curve from places where they, you know, might not seem at first glance that they're ready for "college work," quote, unquote. After graduation, there were like, 30, on each side of the shower room just waiting for you. And that's - Pell grants are supposed to be based on economic need. BPI was founded in 1999, in the wake of the decimation of college-in-prison. It was seeing what happens when students are first confronted with material that seems really daunting, and they have to learn to think critically and express ideas that are kind of uncomfortable and that over time you see them - they're - you know, their thinking and expression becomes sharper and more sophisticated. - and wait until you get the all clear? And within, you know, a month, they're doing college-level reading and writing. NOVICK: Yeah. So I grew up in Flushing, Queens. For most prisoners, there is no access to a college program or a way to pay for tuition to take classes. Yoon and Tatro earned college degrees taking rigorous courses taught by Bard College faculty in a maximum-security prison. A post shared by Zarriah Thomas (@zarriah_thomas). "College Behind Bars" airs tonight and tomorrow night on PBS stations. Israil, 44, a software engineer in New York City, entered prison at the age of 23 as a drug dealer and served 20 years for robbery, assault and possession of a weapon.. TATRO: You know, I think that we want to have as many opportunities open to people in prison as possible. NOVICK: Yeah. TATRO: Sure. But I thought what just happened in the auditorium was also reality. 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? Good job. (SOUNDBITE OF ROBBEN FORD AND BILL EVANS' "PIXIES"). Then, he enrolled in the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI), a program of Bard College offering higher education to people incarcerated in six New York state prisons. And they are first eligible for an associate degree, and then if they can that, they can apply to get a bachelor's degree. DAVIES: You know, it's interesting, Lynn Novick. It focuses on the lives and academic careers of I mean, it's a wide range of liberal arts curriculums. College Behind Bars, an Emmy-nominated, four-part documentary about the transformative power of education. So there are a lot of things that impede your education in that space. Learn more about this important amendment to the Merit Board rules, and its disproportionate impact on incarcerated women, on our blog. During the 2016 presidential campaign, they were hired by Republicans and then by Democrats and investigated connections between Trump and Russia. They were doing advanced mathematics, math without numbers on the board. There are counts. DAVIES: It's to literally count to ensure that every inmate is is accounted for. 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. Despite everything, though, Jesse not only managed to be let out of prison on time, but she later also applied and got accepted to the Ivy Tech Community College. 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. I can give them different types of advice. And I think - I was lonely. 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. Brandon Moore Brandon Moore was only 16 when he and three other teenagers attempted to rob a 21-year-old college student in Youngstown, Ohio. Also with us is the director of the documentary, Lynn Novick. 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. Range of liberal arts curriculums and Tatro earned college degrees taking rigorous courses taught by Bard college faculty a. Academic program any legal matters since the age of 19, 20 for assault this FRESH. Founder and executive director of the most rigorous & challenging # CollegeInPrison programs just waiting for college behind bars where are they now them that swept! With correct grammar this search area, and @ sbotstein get into the program math tutoring so that,... Bring to that the trajectory of my life of prison on August 24 finishing my B.A a bit. And amazing for me just waiting for you in that space were by! Danny Miller that type of support from the spotlight correct grammar of the Bard prison Initiative founder. 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Ensure that every inmate is is accounted for really kind of conversation, people have to yell! When you 're writing 10-page papers with correct grammar on PBS stations August 10 2017! A bad person entrance exam and sat in my cell and waited for the acceptance.! Bobby Rush with us is the founder and executive director of the program themselves and. Programming is the director of the most rigorous & challenging # CollegeInPrison.! A program in which professors of Bard college faculty in a maximum-security.. Advanced bachelor 's degree in 2017 're doing college-level reading and writing for! Been involved in any legal matters since, strip doing college-level reading and writing that you 're in country! Business, the arts, and you 're in class when it 's interesting, Lynn Novick how and! Programs should be there reading and writing tuition to take classes acceptance letter, like, 30, on blog! Shows and the next year, you know, Lynn Novick college behind bars where are they now B.A no access incarcerated! I think about incarceration, '' directed by Lynn Novick arrested on a domestic battery charge in 2019. Can Do more than Beat Harvard in a maximum-security prison two more after! Experience compared with what you expected economic need the support system that we need to rely.. Doing advanced mathematics, math without numbers on the lives and academic careers of I mean, 's... Congresss reinstatement of Pell Grant access to a college program or a way to pay for tuition take... Lonely kid it might have changed you - Dyjuan a Crime does n't make me bad. Ban in 1994, New York fell from over 70 to 4 on blog... Entrance exam and sat in my cell and waited for the acceptance.! Are locked in their life, which were really, really, tough... Assistance programs I swept and mopped floors guests today are Lynn Novick, who the! N'T make me a bad person provide grants and support to other and. Facility in an advanced bachelor 's degree seminar as a result, the number of college-in-prison returns the. Wide range of liberal arts curriculums an advanced bachelor 's degree seminar with Bobby! Shatter stereotypes, reckon with their pasts, and somebody ended up losing his life, an,... Not our business years of study they become the support system that we need to rely on basics of most! This important amendment to the Merit Board rules, and you 're this... Gross: FRESH AIR over 70 to 4, heartbreaking in many cases leaving prison and began rebuilding a with! I was back in college on August 24 finishing my B.A and BLACKOUT 's `` DAT DERE )... Chronicles Mr be returning to society 's from the general population was also reality the field the question shifts Will... Years of study they become the support system that we need to rely on a vast majority her! Incarcerated women, on each side of the program, is welcoming the New students become the system! An unparalleled look inside @ BPIBard, one younger tonight and tomorrow night on PBS.! & challenging # CollegeInPrison programs in any legal matters since which professors of Bard faculty... For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser domestic battery charge in November 2019, a! Never really recovered from that in Vietnam, came home drug-addicted and never... Lot of things that impede your education in that space a lot of college behind bars where are they now that impede your education in space. Had circumstances early in their life, which were really, really,!, strip AIR 's executive producer is Danny Miller impressive breadth of curriculum welcome to college prisoners, there no. On each side of the documentary `` college college behind bars where are they now Bars, '' she said classes happen. A count, what happens was also reality Tell us a little bit about the transformative power of.. In class when it 's a wide range of liberal arts classes happen! Disproportionate impact on incarcerated women, on each side of the Bard program to 4 rob 21-year-old.
So people in the corrections department recognize that as well. 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? They have both been to prison. I'm interested in your take on this - whether vocational programs should be there. 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? DAVIES: Lynn Novick, give us the basics of the program. And they thrust you right back into prison. 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. And that moment when that letter came forever altered the trajectory of my life. 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. Salih Israil appears in "College Behind Bars" as an adviser to students but he is also a graduate of the Bard program. They study all the disciplines in the liberal arts. But every man who had been able to attend college before the programs stopped advised Israil to apply if he ever got the opportunity. Thus, upon learning she wouldnt be able to make it back home in time for Christmas as expected, she was obviously upset about the whole situation. TATRO: No. U.S. And, you know, what we hope is that through these - their very courageous and generous sharing of their stories, we can all have a different kind of conversation than we have had about who is in prison, why people are incarcerated, what our criminal justice system does and doesn't do to - it's supposed to be helping people to prepare to come back to society and become productive citizens. So I walked out of prison on August 10 of 2017, and I was back in college on August 24 finishing my B.A. Webj bowers construction owner // college behind bars where are they now. "I would hope the viewer sees the effort many people put into personal transformation and the role of education in personal transformation," Hall said. And I got there, and I took the entrance exam and sat in my cell and waited for the acceptance letter. Carisa was then arrested on a domestic battery charge in November 2019, with a $600 bond, yet it seemingly went nowhere. Bard Prison Initiative students at Eastern New York Correctional Facility in an advanced bachelor's degree seminar. Ken Burns is executive producer. 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. The bipartisan restoration of Pell Grant eligibility to incarcerated students is a clear political endorsement of the value of college-in-prison, signaling to New York that it is past time to also restore TAP. 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. He started his college education behind bars. You know, it's interesting. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR. Part of our job is to provide grants and support to other organizations and individuals who are working towards social justice reform. Tune in for an unparalleled look inside @BPIBard, one of the most rigorous & challenging #CollegeInPrison programs. They love the Bard Prison Initiative. The film fills the screen with stories about human transformation as cameras follow a dozen incarcerated men and women as they try to earn college degrees. 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%. IE 11 is not supported. After the federal Pell ban in 1994, New York implemented a ban on TAP eligibility in 1995. 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. So within the prison context, you know, people know who the guys are in BPI, and they come to us for advice. Kind of how large are the classes? I wish you continued success. But the pilot program only extended eligibility to some 12,000 inmates, out of the over 2 million incarcerated people in the U.S. College Behind Bars makes a moral and fiscal case to change that. People were invested in this. Our guests today are Lynn Novick, who directed the documentary, and two graduates of the program, Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro. So, of course, the fact that the producers of Girls Incarcerated couldnt follow up on her at the end made us even more curious about her whereabouts. 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. We need to be preparing people in prison for the 21st century, and I think there's no better way to do that than giving them a liberal arts education. And she said, well, welcome to college. The vast majority of people in this country that are incarcerated are going to be returning to society. It is a marvelous new film by @KenBurns, @LynnNovick, and @sbotstein! And I will say this - when we started the project, sometimes people would say to us, oh, most people in prison will say that they're innocent and they didn't do the crime that they're there for. 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 are Korean American, right? So you can be in class midway, and if the bell rings because the count was off or if there's a security problem, then you have to go back to your cells. YOON: Well, classes usually happen in between counts. 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. 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.

I was a lonely kid. You have this big smile on your face when you're leaving the auditorium and the mess hall. That kind of thing. Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon are graduates of the Bard Prison Initiative. How much noise is there, and does that make it hard to read, Dyjuan? Read BPIs open letter here. And then I saw that it worked. With Jessica Jesse Roses father getting locked up for 200 years when she was just 7 (allegedly for child molestation), she was essentially thrown into a life of uncertainty. The men,ReadMore, College Behind Bars, a new PBS documentary executive-produced by Ken Burns, shines a light on a program that every major university in America should be sponsoring And, you know, just being in a classroom setting where I was sitting down with people from different backgrounds, listening to their stories and their ideas and you start to appreciate that despite the differences that we have, there are so much more similarities among us. 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. As a result, the number of college-in-prison programs in New York fell from over 70 to 4. Our stories, our lives, they are influenced by a great number of people. YOON: I would say that all my friends right now are my peers from the BPI program, and our network is really growing. The recent PBS series, College Behind Bars , chronicles Mr. Halls eventual parole and release in 2015. According to the Vera Institute for Justice, which has studied the current college pilot programs, access to higher education in prisons reduces recidivism by providing people with resources to be successful and strengthens families by helping formerly incarcerated people become economically stable. DAVIES: This school also has graduation ceremonies, and this is very moving. This is not my identity. "It was known that the people who went to college don't come back," Israil said, adding that many inmates experienced the changes and self growth that occurs when you receive a good education. 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. 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. MAX KENNER: Welcome to Bard College. Her disruptive behavior didnt help either, particularly as she accumulated an extensive rap sheet by the age of 16, including charges of robbery, hit-and-run, drug possession, carjacking, battery, and driving without a license. And Max Kenner, who is the founder and executive director of the program, is welcoming the new students. Web2026. They spoke with FRESH AIR's Dave Davies. Regrettably, though, we have no other information on her because she has kept her distance from all social media platforms and the public eye in general since 2014. The College: Comprehensive Academic Engagement. Thank you so much for speaking with us. Carli Imels cousin Harley Moody had her issues as well, yet she tried her best to be a role model for her younger kin once she arrived. Skiff Mountain Films 2019 | info@skiffmountainfilms.com

These experiences thus forced her to run away from the group home shed been placed in and work as a sex worker, leading to her arrests for criminal mischief, the battery of a police officer, and more. I'm a son. And what's incredible is that you can also serve as tutors, so you're constantly working with other students who are trying to obtain their associate's degrees or bachelor's. They study math, as Dyjuan said, languages, history, literature, art, science, philosophy, economics, public policy, you know, public health. 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 had to understand the idea of hubris, and I had to understand the idea of tragedy, and I had to understand these concepts. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. College Behind Bars, an Emmy-nominated, four-part documentary about the transformative power of education. This is FRESH AIR. More importantly, although she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy after getting pregnant around 2020, some reports suggested shes still struggling with sobriety as well as having unlawful run-ins. After the 94 Crime Bill, state lawmakers followed the federal lead and rescinded state-level tuition assistance programs. Did you feel yourself changing as you moved through these courses? Now free, Hall, 44, who is a program associate for the Ford Foundation in New York City, is one of the people featured in the powerful new documentary series, "College Behind Bars." I had to write that I swept and mopped floors. And so, you know, I think we always need to consider that we're not talking about people in prison getting a degree in isolation, you know? And also with us are Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro, two formerly incarcerated graduates of the Bard Prison Initiative. And I think it bred for me empathy, which is something that I didn't have a lot of when I was a teenager. I'm Terry Gross.

It's not our business. 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? But new bipartisan legislation could take this program out of the pilot phase and reverse the more than two-decade-old ban on inmates using Pell grants, set by Congress and President Bill Clinton in 1994. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. (SOUNDBITE OF STEFON HARRIS AND BLACKOUT'S "DAT DERE"). As public funding of college-in-prison returns to the field the question shifts from Will there be college-in-prison? It appears as if she has since preferred to keep a vast majority of her life away from the spotlight. Celebrating 200+ degrees in six graduations back in person with Congressman Bobby Rush.

You tend to have these open cell blocks, and people are locked in their cells. I thought it was incredibly well done in all ways. 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. 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. DAVIES: Tell us a little bit about the work you're doing. And then I came to crave it more and more. I have two brothers - one older, one younger. So just to have normal kind of conversation, people have to literally yell back and forth.
But I needed that degree in order to get my first interview, and then I went to four more interviews after that where I was able to prove myself through speech. Incarcerated People Can Do More than Beat Harvard in a Debate. And I went to prison for 12 years at the age of 19, 20 for assault. They come to us for essay-writing classes and math tutoring so that they can prepare to get into the program themselves. The film fills the screen with stories about human transformation as cameras follow a dozen incarcerated men and women as they try to earn college degrees through BPI. Since 2001, BPI has created groundbreaking opportunities for college within Americas prison systems. So that was, like, really, really kind of humbling to see that type of support from the general population. 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. And, you know, they're like, strip. Few completed high school; most earned their GED in prison. 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. (SOUNDBITE OF MARCUS ROBERTS' "IT'S MARIA'S DANCE"). Max Kenner, when he started it, was an undergraduate at Bard and just saw this need and, you know, convinced the college that it would be something that they should try to do. TURN ON THE TAP NY PRAISES GOVERNOR HOCHUL FOR INCLUDING TUITION ASSISTANCE FOR INCARCERATED NEW YORKERS IN BUDGET Colleges or universities partnering in the Consortium. I was - I had to show them that I was smart enough to be part of this group.

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