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. 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. You may change your parameters at any time using the link found at the bottom of every email. This is five times a day, right? My family loves Bard College. YOON: I never stopped being a student. Our guests are Lynn Novick, who directed the documentary, and Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon, two graduates of the program. 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. 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. 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. 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. Read the Interview in Mother Jones Post Date: 12-11-2019 Ill get up and just sit in silence in my apartment. For me, my family has been YOON: My dad, appa, I'm sorry for having dishonored our family, for putting you through such an undeserved and unbearable pain. So I grew up in Flushing, Queens. The subjects and filmmakers reveal how the power of education changes lives. Dyjuan, you want to share something? DAVIES: You know, this is tough material in these classes. For more information about ways to support the Bard Prison Initiative, please visit our Support page or contact bpidevelopment@bard.edu. After the federal Pell ban in 1994, New York implemented a ban on TAP eligibility in 1995. 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. College Behind Bars remains - especially in the first episode - admirably focused on the practicalities of prison life and prison programmes. 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: This is the thing we know how to do, and we happen to do it here. But I usually put on jazz or R&B. I was a lonely kid. I mean, there's - it's in the prison auditorium - right? So the program is 20 years old, and it started small. So there are a lot of things that impede your education in that space. Ill get up and just sit in silence in my apartment.. But that means a lot that weren't - probably some applied and did not get in. But I'm wondering, was there a point at which it just seemed hard to adjust? 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. And you can learn grammar. I have two brothers - one older, one younger. 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%. 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. I wake up every morning and I realize Im free and Im just so grateful to be here.. According to records, James murdered his stepmother and three stepbrothers in cold blood. And within, you know, a month, they're doing college-level reading and writing. Use one of the services below to sign in to PBS: You've just tried to add this video to My List. DAVIES: Yeah, it was interesting. 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. college behind bars where are they now. TATRO: And, you know, I'll just add that we have been - we have done screenings in prisons from California to Massachusetts. And fewer than 4% have gone back to prison. Max is the founder and executive director of the Bard Prison Initiative, and Rodney received his bachelor's degree from Bard College in 2017 through the Bard Prison Initiative. 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. They contribute to their communities in all the ways one might expect of any college graduate. 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. Now he wants to help kids avoid prison. I'm going to ask each of you to give me your first impressions here. But I also look at the Manhattan skyline. And that totally allowed me to reimagine myself. I'm going to get emotional. My father never saw me as a bad person. DAVIES: Yeah. CONTACT: Eric Koch | ericdkoch@gmail.com After returning home, BPI alumni become independent taxpaying citizens. 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? 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. You know, I'm a brother. 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. And he said - he says to me, you stood up. And you can just see it. NOVICK: Yes, indeed. Even after you graduate, as long as you are in a prison in which Bard Prison Initiative operates, you're allowed to take courses. We're going to start coursework Monday morning. Let's get back to the interview FRESH AIR's Dave Davies recorded with Lynn Novick, director of the new PBS documentary "College Behind Bars," and Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro, two graduates of the Bard Prison Initiative. I'm Terry Gross. Just putting together the course was challenging, and working with the students over the course of the eight weeks that we taught was thrilling. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR. Its always with me, said Mr. Hall, 44, of prison. The vast majority of people in this country that are incarcerated are going to be returning to society. So within the prison context, you know, people know who the guys are in BPI, and they come to us for advice. 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. I grew up in a single-parent household, the child of a disabled mother. DAVIES: You know, it's interesting, Lynn Novick. The documentary prompts viewers to consider the importance of higher education in prison. And when I actually started my courses, I was shocked by how rigorous and how demanding the program was. DAVIES: There was a time when higher education in correctional facilities was pretty common. 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. What was that time like for you? 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. And they understand that research shows inmates who earn masters degrees behind bars have a 0% recidivism rate. What Happens When Incarcerated People Get a World-Class Education? And at the age of 10, my family - once my dad made enough money, we moved to Long Island. They were doing advanced mathematics, math without numbers on the board. Parts 3 and 4 air Tuesday. And the Bard Prison Initiative has had 600 graduates be released over the last 20 years. And that moment when that letter came forever altered the trajectory of my life. The majority were first arrested as minors. Ken Burns is executive producer. Your support helps make this possible. She spent four years in prisons taping material for the documentary, which is her solo directorial debut. 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. (SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "COLLEGE BEHIND BARS"). DAVIES: You know, I'd like, Sebastian and Dyjuan, to hear a little bit about how - reconciling with your families. 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. 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. By signing up for BPI emails, you are agreeing to receive news and updates from BPI. DAVIES: And that's from the documentary "College Behind Bars," directed by our guest Lynn Novick. DAVIES: This school also has graduation ceremonies, and this is very moving. Starbucks is a place where people dont notice each other; theyre more focused on their computer or their phone. 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. You tend to have these open cell blocks, and people are locked in their cells. After the federal Pell ban in 1994, New York implemented a ban on TAP eligibility in 1995. 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. And I kind of froze in place and just looked around the room and just felt really, really inspired. The Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) works to redefine the availability, affordability, and expectations typically associated with higher education in America. We should not expect that they are only capable of vocational training. And I think - I was lonely. DAVIES: And that's Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon from the PBS documentary "College Behind Bars," which premieres tonight on PBS. We will continue our conversation after a short break. TATRO: No. Sebastian Yoon, Dyjuan Tatro, congratulations on your degrees. DAVIES: Wow, that's really remarkable. It gave me the ability to put names to systems and things that had impacted my life. You know, Lynn Novick, I believe this project grew out of your own experience teaching a course, right? DAVIES: We're talking about the new PBS documentary "College Behind Bars" with Lynn Novick, who directed the series. 27 2023 . 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 Part of our job is to provide grants and support to other organizations and individuals who are working towards social justice reform. 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