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. 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. Jule Hall walks through Sunnyside, Queens, his neighborhood. Anyone can read what you share. How can we have justice without redemption? Copyright 2023 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), all rights reserved. Since its first cohort in 2001, BPI students have earned over 52,000 credits and more than 550 Bard College degrees. 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. Let's listen. 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. 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. Your purchase supports PBS and helps make our programming possible. Back in 2018, Netflix released its docuseries Girls Incarcerated: Young and Locked Up . 27 2023 . CAST OF CHARACTERS Im ashamed to say this, but I people-watch. 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,. Who among us is capable of academic excellence? Few completed high school; most earned their GED in prison. Episodes. YOON: I would say that all my friends right now are my peers from the BPI program, and our network is really growing. DAVIES: And if you're in class when it's time for a count, what happens? 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. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR, and we're discussing the new four-part PBS documentary "College Behind Bars." 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. You are a prisoner and you are a student," Giovanni Hernandez tells Brut. Siena Poll Today Showed Huge, Bipartisan Majorities For Programs That Lower Barriers to Incarcerated New Yorkers Re-Entering Society And it was often a joke that I would show up at school and get all these awards, and they would say, but you were never here. So I was charged at the age of 16 for manslaughter in the first degree, and I was sentenced to 15 years. After returning home, BPI alumni become independent taxpaying citizens. Become a BPI supporter today and join a passionate community that believes in the power of education. The ONLY thing I could find was the recent murder of the pregnant (at the time of filming) CO Breann Leath who apparently . CONTACT: Eric Koch | ericdkoch@gmail.com Are children allowed in Turkish prisons? And that's - Pell grants are supposed to be based on economic need. YOON: Oh. They study all the disciplines in the liberal arts. 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. How much noise is there, and does that make it hard to read, Dyjuan? My father never saw me as a bad person. Sebastian Yoon, tell us a little about yourself. And one of the reasons that we had to focus so hard and have that - the discipline that we had in this program is so that we could focus on the work and get the work done in a place where there's a lot of stress, pressure and distractions. Rodney, Sebastian and Giovannie embark on yearlong senior, The debate union faces Harvard. As you will see in the film, there's tremendous potential among incarcerated people. GROSS: Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro earned bachelor's degrees from the Bard Prison Initiative. And you can learn grammar. 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. According to records, James murdered his stepmother and three stepbrothers in cold blood. But I thought what just happened in the auditorium was also reality. One of the toughest parts of living in Sunnyside, Mr. Hall said, is finding a vacant laundry machine. 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. And they are first eligible for an associate degree, and then if they can that, they can apply to get a bachelor's degree. Helping prisoners go to college helps New York, Press Release: TURN ON THE TAP NY PRAISES GOVERNOR HOCHUL FOR INCLUDING TUITION ASSISTANCE FOR INCARCERATED NEW YORKERS IN BUDGET, WBAIs On the Count The Prison And Criminal Justice Report, BPI and College Behind Bars in The Appeal, College Behind Bars with Max Kenner and Sebastian Yoon. You don't have the Internet. 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. WebCollege Behind Bars, which airs on PBS Monday and Tuesday night, offers TV audiences a rare window into the U.S. correctional system. John & Catherine Debs, The Cousins Foundation, Inc., Abrams Foundation, Schwartz/Reisman Foundation, Ted Dintersmith & Elizabeth Hazard, McCloskey Family Charitable Trust, and Donna & Dick Strong. Most had circumstances early in their life, which were really, really tough, heartbreaking in many cases. I have to read a lot for work, so whether its grants or theory-related and I mean, its great reading, but its not like Walter Mosley or some of those things I became fond of. And I went to prison for 12 years at the age of 19, 20 for assault. DAVIES: Yeah, this business of counts - I mean, Sebastian Yoon, do you want to explain this? College Behind Bars (two hours) begins Monday at 9 p.m. with Parts 1 and 2 on WETA and MPT. After the federal Pell ban in 1994, New York implemented a ban on TAP eligibility in 1995. 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. DAVIES: You know, I'd like, Sebastian and Dyjuan, to hear a little bit about how - reconciling with your families. fevereiro 17, 2023; Posted by nene leakes father alan; 17 . The recent PBS series, "College Behind Bars," chronicles Mr. Hall's eventual parole and release in 2015. Both of you went into prison as teenagers and came out as young men. I'm interested in your take on this - whether vocational programs should be there. And then I came to crave it more and more. DAVIES: Dyjuan Tatro, what was your graduation experience like? 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. 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. 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. They have the bike path right on the corner that leads all the way to the East River. What I prize is the education and the knowledge that I received in the process of obtaining that degree. But first, we need you to sign in to PBS using one of the services below. Our guests are Lynn Novick, who directed the documentary, and Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon, two graduates of the program. DAVIES: Sebastian Yoon, what about connecting with your family? For now, the roughly 300 students taking . College Behind Bars | A Film by Lynn Novick | PBS All Episodes Now Streaming Men and women in prison for serious crimes try to earn college degrees in this groundbreaking story of. And so it's a pioneering program, not innovative in the sense that there had been higher education in prison before but unusual in the sense that very few institutions were doing this at that time. That degree really means something when they leave this program with their degree from Bard. BPI transforms wealth, power, and purpose in America by providing full-scholarship, college education in the most unlikely places. 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. (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "COLLEGE BEHIND BARS"). U.S. Now he wants to help kids avoid prison. DAVIES: Dyjuan Tatro, what was it like for you? 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. The subjects and filmmakers reveal the inspiring story of how the power of education can change lives in College Behind Bars. They were doing advanced mathematics, math without numbers on the board. 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. People walk around with these frowns and Im like, Why are you frowning? People bring their children in there, and I find myself so caught up in the little kid who gets the piece of paper on the back of his shoe and trying to make his parents aware. YOON: Oh, yeah, without a doubt. Our associate producer of digital media is Molly Seavey-Nesper. DAVIES: And from the graduation ceremony of the Bard Prison Initiative. Leath on "Born Behind Bars" Those interviewed in the video say Leath truly cared about the babies and their mothers in the nursery. Our stories, our lives, they are influenced by a great number of people. You can see then Minister. 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. We will continue our conversation after this short break. 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. I recently binged born behind bars on A&E and was looking for any kind of update on these mamas/babies. NOVICK: Yeah, pretty much. But I also look at the Manhattan skyline. DAVIES: Lynn Novick, congratulations on the documentary. You may change your parameters at any time using the link found at the bottom of every email. So it totally enthralled me and motivated me to go after this education with pure zeal. Adjust the colors to reduce glare and give your eyes a break. What Happens When Incarcerated People Get a World-Class Education? 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. Theres Filipino food, theres Indian cuisine, theres Turkish cuisine, theres Asian food, theres Greek restaurants, theres a diversity. By Tyler Kendall January 17, 2020 / 2:19 PM / CBS News Dameon Stackhouse was several years into his. College Behind Bars first premiered Nov. 25, 2019 on PBS and has since then become popular among Netflix audiences. When you watch College Behind Bars, which began last night on PBS and concludes tonight, or anyReadMore. In spring 2021 the NYS legislature passed the bill, and it was signed into law in July 2021. 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. As a result, the number of college-in-prison programs in New York fell from over 70 to 4. GLOBAL DINNER SCENE I eat out on Sunday another thing Im privileged to do because of my job. TATRO: And, you know, I'll just add that we have been - we have done screenings in prisons from California to Massachusetts. And I am the most proud father in the world. He started his college education behind bars. She spent four years in prisons taping material for the documentary, which is her solo directorial debut. Bad Boys bakery was a social enterprise set up in HM Prison Brixton, in the UK. Having myself attended college while incarcerated, I can attest to the importance of theReadMore, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 18, 2022 NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. 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. What was that time like for you? And I want to play a clip here. They study math, as Dyjuan said, languages, history, literature, art, science, philosophy, economics, public policy, you know, public health. In August 2022, BPI joined colleagues across the field in issuing public comments in response to the Department of Educations proposed regulatory language. "College Behind Bars" airs tonight and tomorrow night on PBS stations. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. And today, there are 300 students in six facilities in New York state, mostly men, but there's one facility for women as well. 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. Part of our job is to provide grants and support to other organizations and individuals who are working towards social justice reform. And I got there, and I took the entrance exam and sat in my cell and waited for the acceptance letter. You know, one of the great things about being in BPI and one of the great things about this education happening in the educational space is that it really, really motivates people to be the best selves and to go on after this opportunity. And he said - he says to me, you stood up. But I had no life experience to bring to that. So how long does this take? Turkish prisons do not have a specific policy regarding children, but in general, they are not allowed in prison. I mean, both - from the documentary, it seems that both of you had supportive families. Who among us is capable of academic excellence? And in the context of the '90s and the tough-on-crime rhetoric and the super predator kind of, you know, demonization of people who have been convicted of crimes, as part of the Clinton crime bill, there was an amendment to withdraw eligibility for Pell grants for people who were in prison. DAVIES: There was a time when higher education in correctional facilities was pretty common. But for the men gathered on this October afternoon, it. 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. College Behind Bars, an Emmy-nominated, four-part documentary about the transformative power of education. I never saw a class where people weren't paying attention - not one - and we were in a lot of classes. Could you talk just a little bit about the process? Your education in that space can be interrupted in all types of different ways at any time of day. And then this changed in the '90s when we had the crime bill, right? My mother left me and my siblings when I was 5, so my dad raised us three - my older brother and my sister - by himself. I just committed a bad act. DAVIES: Wow, that's really remarkable. Tried as an adult for his involvement in the fight, Mr. Hall was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. More than 2 million Americans are incarcerated today, and many are looking for alternatives to prison and ways to help offenders rebuild their lives. DAVIES: You know, I was going to ask about relations with, you know, other prisoners. Check out more details below: So once that happened, almost all those programs vanished - went from about 800 programs to fewer than 10. When that door closes, you're at Bard College. 2023 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Accuracy and availability may vary. DAVIES: Yeah. Funding provided by Bank of America, Ford Foundation / JustFilms, National Endowment for the Humanities, Meg & Tomas Bergstrand, Regina K. Scully, The Lise Strickler & Mark Gallogly Charitable Fund, a fund at The New York Community Trust, Patty Quillin through the Meadow Fund at Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Barbara & Richard Novick, Chicken & Egg Pictures, The William H. Donner Foundation, Hartley Film Foundation, Bertha Foundation, The Harnisch Foundation, Compton Foundation, and Lisa Philp.And members of The Better Angels Society: John & Catherine Debs, The Cousins Foundation, Inc., Abrams Foundation, Schwartz/Reisman Foundation, Ted Dintersmith & Elizabeth Hazard, McCloskey Family Charitable Trust, and Donna & Dick Strong. YOON: My family has been super supportive of me, as you'll see in the documentary, especially my father. And I remember walking in and seeing men like me in prison uniforms, except that they were speaking Mandarin. This is not my identity. By Jamil Smith 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. And so yeah, that is a huge impediment to trying to learn. This clip from Lynn Novicks College Behind Bars highlights the kind of academic work BPI students are doing as we defy expectations of who college is for and where it might lead. The documentary prompts viewers to consider the importance of higher education in prison. The documentary, "College Behind Bars," airs tonight and tomorrow night on PBS stations and will also be available for streaming. TATRO: And so I got to walk across the stage on Bard's Annandale campus with the other 400 students in my year in 2018. James Wiley committed a heinous crime at 15 years of age. My family loves Bard College. "College Behind Bars" airs tonight and tomorrow night on PBS stations. And I'm back at BPI today as the Government Affairs Officer, expanding - helping to expand access to college and prison through public investments in the work that we do. And I wondered - I couldn't help but wonder when I went - when I submitted this application, would they see this and give me a chance for an interview had I not been able to write that I received a Bard bachelor's degree? I'm going to get emotional. 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 mean, there's - it's in the prison auditorium - right? It raises questions we urgently need to address: What is prison for? So, to savor this rich, hot drink in my hand is so fabulous with cinnamon, not too much sugar. 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. DAVIES: Wow, that's really remarkable. The series follows the inmates as they give birth and raise their children behind bars. At BPI, we are committed to investing in people, reinventing institutions and making genuine education more accessible. google mountain view charge cash app; wect news bladen county; college behind bars where are they now; college behind bars where are they now. I was a very precocious child. This is when you, Sebastian Yoon, are speaking at the graduation. You may change your parameters at any time using the link found at the bottom of every email. And there was a tremendous void. I had to write that I swept and mopped floors. When kids stopped bothering me, I guess I started feeling this false sense of empowerment. 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. And they thrust you right back into prison. But the problem is that there can - bells can ring off in prison at any time. 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. I think that realization came to me when I sat down and began writing my first cover letter and my first resume. 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. Experience to bring to that years in prisons taping material for the documentary prompts viewers to the! And sentenced to life in prison any time using the link found at age! And tomorrow night on PBS stations and will also be available for streaming what just happened in the liberal.! People, reinventing institutions and making genuine education more accessible Bars '' ) what prison... Bpi students have earned over 52,000 credits and more to me when I down! 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