In August 2022, BPI joined colleagues across the field in issuing public comments in response to the Department of Educations proposed regulatory language. 56 views, 2 likes, 3 loves, 4 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from New&Living Way Gospel Temple: Sunday service YOON: Sometimes, it takes 40 minutes. 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. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. This can't just be watching movies and talking about it; you have to have a very sophisticated, demanding syllabus and assessments and writing assignments, and the students have to perform at the level that we expect for Bard College. DAVIES: And if you're in class when it's time for a count, what happens? It radiates and ramifies throughout my entire family structure, you know? Tell me how the experience compared with what you expected. After the federal Pell ban in 1994, New York implemented a ban on TAP eligibility in 1995. "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 . The subjects and filmmakers reveal how the power of education changes lives. I'm a math major, went on after that to do some project management and data collection for a tech company and then started thinking about how I could get back in the world. I was a very precocious child. 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. 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). As a result, the number of college-in-prison programs in New York fell from over 70 to 4. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. "College Behind Bars" airs on PBS stations tonight and tomorrow. I mean, it's a wide range of liberal arts curriculums. Ive got to say, this is the worst part of Sunnyside: its very competitive. They spoke with FRESH AIR's Dave Davies. Yoon and Tatro both entered prison as teenagers, and both earned bachelor's degrees in the Bard Prison Initiative. 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. 27 2023 . Lynn Novick, Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro, welcome to FRESH AIR. That's how I got my job at Open Society Foundations. And I started to respond with violence because I thought I had no other option. The recent PBS series, "College Behind Bars," chronicles Mr. Hall's eventual parole and release in 2015. With Botstein onboard as a producer, Novick set out to direct what became the four-part PBS docuseries "College Behind Bars." Executive produced by Burns, the documentary examines mass. What Happens When Incarcerated People Get a World-Class Education? Get the latest news about BPI and our work. So within the prison context, you know, people know who the guys are in BPI, and they come to us for advice. Thank you so much for speaking with us. DAVIES: And that's from the documentary "College Behind Bars," directed by our guest Lynn Novick. 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%. So let's just listen to this. Congratulations. 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. DAVIES: Tell us a little bit about the work you're doing. TATRO: And, you know, I'll just add that we have been - we have done screenings in prisons from California to Massachusetts. - and wait until you get the all clear? I have several friends who are still incarcerated that I spent my summers outside of class tutoring, and they're now in the program. 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. You have this big smile on your face when you're leaving the auditorium and the mess hall. And also with us are Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro, two formerly incarcerated graduates of the Bard Prison Initiative. 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. A scholar who has taught in prison weighs in on 'College Behind Bars,' which airs Nov. 25 and 26 on PBS. Find standards-aligned teaching resources for This is FRESH AIR. 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. 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. So there was this kind of seamless movement from one setting to another. I had to show my passion. Parts One & Two. YOON: I never stopped being a student. You can learn the math skills you need pretty quickly if you're motivated. After the federal Pell ban in 1994, New York implemented a ban on TAP eligibility in 1995. The recent PBS series, " College Behind Bars ," chronicles Mr. Hall's eventual parole and release in 2015. Now he wants to help kids avoid prison. In December 2020 Congress finally restored Pell Grant eligibility as part of the omnibus spending and COVID relief bill. Simpson and Fritsch have a new book called "Crime In Progress." DAVIES: Yeah, this business of counts - I mean, Sebastian Yoon, do you want to explain this? I mean, there's - it's in the prison auditorium - right? And that's - Pell grants are supposed to be based on economic need. And today, there are 300 students in six facilities in New York state, mostly men, but there's one facility for women as well. I have to really compete with mostly older women to get my clothing washed. 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. Your support helps make this possible. SERIOUS READING I dont watch TV. DAVIES: This school also has graduation ceremonies, and this is very moving. Your support helps make this possible. And this is a moment from the film after the graduation ceremony, which we just saw, where I guess, Sebastian, you got your degree and, Dyjuan, you were attending but you're reflecting on what it's like to finish this joyous event and then leave the prison auditorium and then return to the housing unit where you will be rudely searched and then go back to your cells. A new PBS documentary series follows prisoners who earn college degrees while serving time. You have to go back to your cell. 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. When incarcerated students from the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) Debate Union beat a team from Harvard, their victory made headlines around the world. You are Korean American, right? After returning home, BPI alumni become independent taxpaying citizens. Yoon and Tatro earned college degrees taking rigorous courses taught by Bard College faculty in a maximum-security prison. 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. DAVIES: And the crime that got you in was that you shot someone in retaliation for an attack on you and your sister, right? And then I came to crave it more and more. Of course, I recognize where this comes from: I wasnt around children for 22 years. DAVIES: And that's Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon from the PBS documentary "College Behind Bars," which premieres tonight on PBS. It teaches you how smart you are. Virtually none return to prison. YOON: Oh. In 2016, BPI was proud to join the first cohort of sites receiving experimental eligibility through Second Chance Pell. And I just want to - after the euphoria of graduation, I mean, you certainly - you know, you had this terrific asset, this college degree that a lot of ex-offenders don't. TATRO: You know, one of the great things about, you know, Bard is that it's recognized that it's not enough just to, you know, kind of issue a degree and give someone an education, send them back out into society. I'm an uncle. And Max Kenner, who is the founder and executive director of the program, is welcoming the new students. Like, that's who I am. I'm Terry Gross. Sebastian Yoon, how long after your graduation did you have to serve before you got - were released? Recidivism rates skyrocketed for a variety of reasons, including this, and slowly, some privately funded programs started to come back in. Your purchase supports PBS and helps make our programming possible. You don't have the Internet. Check out more details below: For 22 years he didnt have one. They study math, as Dyjuan said, languages, history, literature, art, science, philosophy, economics, public policy, you know, public health. 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. "College Behind Bars" airs tonight and tomorrow night on PBS stations and will be available for streaming. 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. . 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 A QUIET START I allow myself to sleep no later than 7:30, because on a weekday I get up around 5. 80% are BIPOC. 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've just tried to add this show to My List. In the beginning, you don't even know how to use a comma. So you have this problem where you have to try to juggle these two realities, one of which is so beautiful and one of which is so dark and disgusting where you have to reveal your body and your orifices. That was not our experience at all. Men and women earn college degrees - and a chance at new beginnings - while incarcerated. TATRO: They are like, congratulations. They become the support system that we need to rely on. College Behind Bars first premiered Nov. 25, 2019 on PBS and has since then become popular among Netflix audiences. But I usually put on jazz or R&B. Since 2001, BPI has created groundbreaking opportunities for college within Americas prison systems. 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. By signing up for BPI emails, you are agreeing to receive news and updates from BPI. I'm Terry Gross. We should not expect that they are only capable of vocational training. Copyright 2023 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), all rights reserved. Great to have all of you. After a break, they'll talk about getting their degrees, leaving prison and rejoining their families and how they think a liberal arts education changed them. 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