Could you talk just a little bit about the process? I had to understand the idea of hubris, and I had to understand the idea of tragedy, and I had to understand these concepts. DAVIES: You know, I was going to ask about relations with, you know, other prisoners. Did you feel yourself changing as you moved through these courses? It's two different systems, right? 
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. It focuses on the lives and academic careers of As a result, the number of college-in-prison programs in New York fell from over 70 to 4. DAVIES: And that's from the documentary "College Behind Bars," directed by our guest Lynn Novick. 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. Tell me how the experience compared with what you expected. 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. TATRO: So I actually graduated with my BA after I was released from prison. 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? Since 2001, BPI has created groundbreaking opportunities for college within Americas prison systems. They've earned college degrees and are now employed. Restoring Pell grants to people who are incarcerated will equip them with the knowledge to meet requirements for jobs that exist, said Rep. Danny K. Davis, D-Ill., a sponsor of the bill that will make the grants again accessible to inmates. (SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "COLLEGE BEHIND BARS"). Simpson and Fritsch have a new book called "Crime In Progress." WebCollege Behind Bars is the inspiring, emotional, and deeply human story of men and women struggling to earn college degrees while in prison for serious crimes. I think that realization came to me when I sat down and began writing my first cover letter and my first resume. I was a lonely kid. Webj bowers construction owner // college behind bars where are they now. But the problem is that there can - bells can ring off in prison at any time. You tend to have these open cell blocks, and people are locked in their cells. How much noise is there, and does that make it hard to read, Dyjuan? Great to have all of you. (SOUNDBITE OF ROBBEN FORD AND BILL EVANS' "PIXIES"). And so, you know, this experience has not only been personally rewarding and amazing for me. 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." This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Learn more about this important amendment to the Merit Board rules, and its disproportionate impact on incarcerated women, on our blog. Siena Poll Today Showed Huge, Bipartisan Majorities For Programs That Lower Barriers to Incarcerated New Yorkers Re-Entering Society Salih Israil appears in "College Behind Bars" as an adviser to students but he is also a graduate of the Bard program. It adds stability. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. 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 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. That's how I got my job at Open Society Foundations. 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. 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. 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. 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. So I walked out of prison on August 10 of 2017, and I was back in college on August 24 finishing my B.A. I'm not going to wear that. Carisa was then arrested on a domestic battery charge in November 2019, with a $600 bond, yet it seemingly went nowhere. Check out more details below: I'm a college student. Girls Incarcerated Season 1 Cast: Where Are They Now. 
TATRO: By the way, you know, the recent research shows that for every dollar a state invests in college and prison, it saves $4 to $5 in re-incarceration costs. We, you know, without quite realizing at the beginning, have ended up exploring this really deep question. For most prisoners, there is no access to a college program or a way to pay for tuition to take classes. I realized that all my experiences and my skills were related to prison work. So, now that its been a while since season 2 first introduced us to the inmates at the LaPorte Juvenile Correctional Facility in Indiana, lets find out all about their current standing, shall we? 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. 
Faculty are going to be evaluating what you do as a student, exclusively. DAVIES: Wow, that's really remarkable. Carisa was then arrested on a domestic battery charge in November 2019, with a $600 bond, yet it seemingly went nowhere. Recidivism rates skyrocketed for a variety of reasons, including this, and slowly, some privately funded programs started to come back in. DAVIES: And that's Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon from the PBS documentary "College Behind Bars," which premieres tonight on PBS. U.S. DAVIES: We're talking about the new PBS documentary "College Behind Bars" with Lynn Novick, who directed the series. Adult learners are, you know, much more mature and have life experience. DAVIES: This school also has graduation ceremonies, and this is very moving. 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. Kind of how large are the classes? 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 have you both stayed in touch with folks you knew from the program and helped - people you helped? 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. And one day, we went to a karaoke bar, and a fight erupted, and somebody ended up losing his life. They have both been to prison. I'm a son. ). But one of the things that was also great - there are instances where the other prisoners would accommodate us, where they would say, you know, the Bard guys are working at this table; let's go over here and make noise, or, like, the Bard guys are in the room - in their rooms studying. Now he wants to help kids avoid prison. GROSS: Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro earned bachelor's degrees from the Bard Prison Initiative. This is FRESH AIR. 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. After the federal Pell ban in 1994, New York implemented a ban on TAP eligibility in 1995. TATRO: No. DAVIES: Lynn Novick, give us the basics of the program. They appear in the PBS documentary "College Behind Bars," directed by Lynn Novick. 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. I just committed a bad act. I mean, you both entered prison as teenagers, right? The new PBS documentary College Behind Bars follows the students of the Bard Prison Initiative, a full-time, degree-granting program in six New York prisons. 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. 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. 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. You may change your parameters at any time using the link found at the bottom of every email. 
He started his college education behind bars. You have this big smile on your face when you're leaving the auditorium and the mess hall. It focuses on the lives and academic careers of So, you know, Bard has some re-entry services, mainly job placement and career development. Congratulations. They spoke with FRESH AIR's Dave Davies. Director Lynn Novick and graduates Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro talk about how the program changes lives. TATRO: Oh, I think that couldn't be further from the truth. DAVIES: And Sebastian, you can tell us a little bit about your transition. What was that time like for you? Vocational training is fine, but we should also be having an opportunity for higher education. 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. After all, not only did her mother walk out on the family when she was young, but she started doing drugs at 13 and was gang-raped at 16. I wish you continued success. Her social media presence further suggests that shes a granddaughter, daughter, sister, aunt, and mother who is proud to have seemingly trouble-free experiences these days. That was not our experience at all. I'm Terry Gross. Both of you went into prison as teenagers and came out as young men. Carisa was then arrested on a domestic battery charge in November 2019, with a $600 bond, yet it seemingly went nowhere. (SOUNDBITE OF MARCUS ROBERTS' "IT'S MARIA'S DANCE"). 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. And so the film ends up and their stories end up, you know, raising some really important questions about violence and about harm and incarceration, and what is prison for, and what is the value of education? They worked with former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, whose dossier was leaked and published. U.S. TATRO: And, you know, I'll just add that we have been - we have done screenings in prisons from California to Massachusetts. I don't see myself as a person. I had to write that I swept and mopped floors. 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. DAVIES: You know, it's interesting, Lynn Novick. But in reality, out here, the degrees matter. 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. And I am the most proud father in the world. And she said, well, welcome to college. It appears as if she has since preferred to keep a vast majority of her life away from the spotlight. As you will see in the film, there's tremendous potential among incarcerated people. And I always remember, no, no, no. TATRO: Sure. And I think - I was lonely. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. And I got there, and I took the entrance exam and sat in my cell and waited for the acceptance letter. Jule Hall was 17 when he went to prison for being an accessory to homicide. 
Let's listen. 
IE 11 is not supported. College Behind Bars is a production of Skiff Mountain Films, in association with Florentine Films and WETA-TV. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. They spoke with FRESH AIR's Dave Davies. college behind bars where are they now. And I kind of froze in place and just looked around the room and just felt really, really inspired. 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 there was a tremendous void. 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. NOVICK: I'd just add that one of the really remarkable things about this program is that the admissions process is looking for people who have kind of intellectual curiosity and determination. In 1994, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act made people in prison ineligible for Pell Grants. GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. DAVIES: Yeah, it was interesting. College Behind Bars is perhaps one of the best documentaries that Ive seen about criminal justice in the past 5 years. And I started to respond with violence because I thought I had no other option. NOVICK: Yeah. YOON: Oh, yeah, without a doubt. And Max Kenner, who is the founder and executive director of the program, is welcoming the new students. I went on to work for Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney on his attorney general campaign here in New York. Our guests are Lynn Novick, who directed the documentary, and Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon, two graduates of the program. WebCollege Behind Bars, an Emmy-nominated, four-part documentary about the transformative power of education, which premiered nationwide on PBS, is now available on Amazon Prime and PBS LearningMedia. 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. 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 are Korean American, right? Its no secret that the teenage years are challenging for almost everybody, but things are actually much worse for those who find themselves on a dark path after being dealt a bad hand in life. But I'm wondering, was there a point at which it just seemed hard to adjust? YOON: There's this moment where you walk past his door, and all you see is curtains and officers waiting in, like, rows. In the beginning, you don't even know how to use a comma. The recent PBS series, College Behind Bars , chronicles Mr. Halls eventual parole and release in 2015. 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. 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. I want that education. In 2016, BPI was proud to join the first cohort of sites receiving experimental eligibility through Second Chance Pell. And he said - he says to me, you stood up. 
WebSynopsis:Men and women serving time in New York struggle to turn their lives around in a liberal arts college degree program. 
We're in the business of education. Therefore, from what we can tell, she now lives a sober life in Crawfordsville, Indiana, alongside her partner and son Marshall Craig Roche who was born in the summer of 2019. After graduation, there were like, 30, on each side of the shower room just waiting for you. 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. Our associate producer of digital media is Molly Seavey-Nesper. Therefore, from what we can tell, she now lives a sober life in Crawfordsville, Indiana, alongside her partner and son Marshall Craig Roche who was born in the summer of 2019. 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. 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 conjugate Spanish verbs at Eastern New York Correctional Facility. They spoke with FRESH AIR's Dave Davies. You're looking ahead. 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. Yoon and Tatro earned college degrees taking rigorous courses taught by Bard College faculty in a maximum-security prison. Even after you graduate, as long as you are in a prison in which Bard Prison Initiative operates, you're allowed to take courses. 
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. A new PBS documentary series follows prisoners who earn college degrees while serving time. 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. You don't have the Internet. They love this film. We're going to start coursework Monday morning. And what this education does is it untaps (ph) that potential. So just to have normal kind of conversation, people have to literally yell back and forth. 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. We will continue our conversation after a short break. And fewer than 4% have gone back to prison. And, you know, they're like, strip. And I want to play a clip here. And the Bard Prison Initiative has had 600 graduates be released over the last 20 years. Shed always been a sweet individual, as per the series, but she did have anger issues due to the fact that her mother had abandoned her. In fact, in the three years she has been left to her own devices, it looks like she has only led an honest, positive life. Colleges or universities partnering in the Consortium. Web2026. College Behind Bars, an Emmy-nominated, four-part documentary about the transformative power of education. DAVIES: Sebastian Yoon, what about connecting with your family? Dyjuan, what's it been like connecting with your family again? 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. And I think what surprised my father the most was just how much I transformed while I was incarcerated. A new PBS documentary series tells the story of one program that's offering a rigorous liberal arts education inside maximum security prisons with encouraging results. "I would hope the viewer sees the effort many people put into personal transformation and the role of education in personal transformation," Hall said. What kind of courses are taught? It's not our business. Hall recalls hearing a school administrator say, "'From this point on, you should not look at yourself as a prisoner in this institution but as a student in a bigger institution.' Novick is a Peabody Award-winning filmmaker and longtime collaborator of Ken Burns. They were doing advanced mathematics, math without numbers on the board. They both earned college degrees and are now employed. What Happens When Incarcerated People Get a World-Class Education? And the Bard Prison Initiative, which was - began in 1999. 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: And from the graduation ceremony of the Bard Prison Initiative. 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 it has a ripple effect even beyond people applying to just - you know, the facilities where there is higher education have less incidence of violence and disruption and things like that. CONTACT: Eric Koch | ericdkoch@gmail.com They study math, as Dyjuan said, languages, history, literature, art, science, philosophy, economics, public policy, you know, public health. We will hear Sebastian Yoon first and then we'll hear Dyjuan Tatro. 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. Otherwise, you're not doing them any favors. Virtually none return to prison. The new PBS documentary College Behind Bars follows the students of the Bard Prison Initiative, a full-time, degree-granting program in six New York prisons. 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." The documentary, "College Behind Bars," airs tonight and tomorrow night on PBS stations and will also be available for streaming. I can give them different types of advice. So how long does this take? Let's start with a clip from the documentary. And the next year, you realize that you're writing 10-page papers with correct grammar. You know, it's interesting. The four-part series premieres on PBS over two nights -- Nov. 25 & 26. It's about a program in which professors of Bard College give college classes in six correctional institutions. This is not my identity. 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. Factory jobs are disappearing in this country year after year. Creating educational opportunities in prison nationwide. You know, I'm a brother. Arionna Davis was in LaPorte for the second time when she was introduced to the viewers, only to be given a third stint shortly after filming concluded for violating parole. She was arrested a total of seven times by the time she was 18. 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. 
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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. It focuses on the lives and academic careers of As a result, the number of college-in-prison programs in New York fell from over 70 to 4. DAVIES: And that's from the documentary "College Behind Bars," directed by our guest Lynn Novick. 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. Tell me how the experience compared with what you expected. 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. TATRO: So I actually graduated with my BA after I was released from prison. 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? Since 2001, BPI has created groundbreaking opportunities for college within Americas prison systems. They've earned college degrees and are now employed. Restoring Pell grants to people who are incarcerated will equip them with the knowledge to meet requirements for jobs that exist, said Rep. Danny K. Davis, D-Ill., a sponsor of the bill that will make the grants again accessible to inmates. (SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "COLLEGE BEHIND BARS"). Simpson and Fritsch have a new book called "Crime In Progress." WebCollege Behind Bars is the inspiring, emotional, and deeply human story of men and women struggling to earn college degrees while in prison for serious crimes. I think that realization came to me when I sat down and began writing my first cover letter and my first resume. I was a lonely kid. Webj bowers construction owner // college behind bars where are they now. But the problem is that there can - bells can ring off in prison at any time. You tend to have these open cell blocks, and people are locked in their cells. How much noise is there, and does that make it hard to read, Dyjuan? Great to have all of you. (SOUNDBITE OF ROBBEN FORD AND BILL EVANS' "PIXIES"). And so, you know, this experience has not only been personally rewarding and amazing for me. 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." This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Learn more about this important amendment to the Merit Board rules, and its disproportionate impact on incarcerated women, on our blog. Siena Poll Today Showed Huge, Bipartisan Majorities For Programs That Lower Barriers to Incarcerated New Yorkers Re-Entering Society Salih Israil appears in "College Behind Bars" as an adviser to students but he is also a graduate of the Bard program. It adds stability. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. 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 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. That's how I got my job at Open Society Foundations. 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. 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. 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. 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. So I walked out of prison on August 10 of 2017, and I was back in college on August 24 finishing my B.A. I'm not going to wear that. Carisa was then arrested on a domestic battery charge in November 2019, with a $600 bond, yet it seemingly went nowhere. Check out more details below: I'm a college student. Girls Incarcerated Season 1 Cast: Where Are They Now. TATRO: By the way, you know, the recent research shows that for every dollar a state invests in college and prison, it saves $4 to $5 in re-incarceration costs. We, you know, without quite realizing at the beginning, have ended up exploring this really deep question. For most prisoners, there is no access to a college program or a way to pay for tuition to take classes. I realized that all my experiences and my skills were related to prison work. So, now that its been a while since season 2 first introduced us to the inmates at the LaPorte Juvenile Correctional Facility in Indiana, lets find out all about their current standing, shall we? 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. Faculty are going to be evaluating what you do as a student, exclusively. DAVIES: Wow, that's really remarkable. Carisa was then arrested on a domestic battery charge in November 2019, with a $600 bond, yet it seemingly went nowhere. Recidivism rates skyrocketed for a variety of reasons, including this, and slowly, some privately funded programs started to come back in. DAVIES: And that's Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon from the PBS documentary "College Behind Bars," which premieres tonight on PBS. U.S. DAVIES: We're talking about the new PBS documentary "College Behind Bars" with Lynn Novick, who directed the series. Adult learners are, you know, much more mature and have life experience. DAVIES: This school also has graduation ceremonies, and this is very moving. 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. Kind of how large are the classes? 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 have you both stayed in touch with folks you knew from the program and helped - people you helped? 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. And one day, we went to a karaoke bar, and a fight erupted, and somebody ended up losing his life. They have both been to prison. I'm a son. ). But one of the things that was also great - there are instances where the other prisoners would accommodate us, where they would say, you know, the Bard guys are working at this table; let's go over here and make noise, or, like, the Bard guys are in the room - in their rooms studying. Now he wants to help kids avoid prison. GROSS: Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro earned bachelor's degrees from the Bard Prison Initiative. This is FRESH AIR. 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. After the federal Pell ban in 1994, New York implemented a ban on TAP eligibility in 1995. TATRO: No. DAVIES: Lynn Novick, give us the basics of the program. They appear in the PBS documentary "College Behind Bars," directed by Lynn Novick. 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. I just committed a bad act. I mean, you both entered prison as teenagers, right? The new PBS documentary College Behind Bars follows the students of the Bard Prison Initiative, a full-time, degree-granting program in six New York prisons. 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. 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. 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. You may change your parameters at any time using the link found at the bottom of every email. He started his college education behind bars. You have this big smile on your face when you're leaving the auditorium and the mess hall. It focuses on the lives and academic careers of So, you know, Bard has some re-entry services, mainly job placement and career development. Congratulations. They spoke with FRESH AIR's Dave Davies. Director Lynn Novick and graduates Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro talk about how the program changes lives. TATRO: Oh, I think that couldn't be further from the truth. DAVIES: And Sebastian, you can tell us a little bit about your transition. What was that time like for you? Vocational training is fine, but we should also be having an opportunity for higher education. 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. After all, not only did her mother walk out on the family when she was young, but she started doing drugs at 13 and was gang-raped at 16. I wish you continued success. Her social media presence further suggests that shes a granddaughter, daughter, sister, aunt, and mother who is proud to have seemingly trouble-free experiences these days. That was not our experience at all. I'm Terry Gross. Both of you went into prison as teenagers and came out as young men. Carisa was then arrested on a domestic battery charge in November 2019, with a $600 bond, yet it seemingly went nowhere. (SOUNDBITE OF MARCUS ROBERTS' "IT'S MARIA'S DANCE"). 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. And so the film ends up and their stories end up, you know, raising some really important questions about violence and about harm and incarceration, and what is prison for, and what is the value of education? They worked with former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, whose dossier was leaked and published. U.S. TATRO: And, you know, I'll just add that we have been - we have done screenings in prisons from California to Massachusetts. I don't see myself as a person. I had to write that I swept and mopped floors. 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. DAVIES: You know, it's interesting, Lynn Novick. But in reality, out here, the degrees matter. 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. And I am the most proud father in the world. And she said, well, welcome to college. It appears as if she has since preferred to keep a vast majority of her life away from the spotlight. As you will see in the film, there's tremendous potential among incarcerated people. And I always remember, no, no, no. TATRO: Sure. And I think - I was lonely. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. And I got there, and I took the entrance exam and sat in my cell and waited for the acceptance letter. Jule Hall was 17 when he went to prison for being an accessory to homicide. Let's listen. IE 11 is not supported. College Behind Bars is a production of Skiff Mountain Films, in association with Florentine Films and WETA-TV. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. They spoke with FRESH AIR's Dave Davies. college behind bars where are they now. And I kind of froze in place and just looked around the room and just felt really, really inspired. 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 there was a tremendous void. 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. NOVICK: I'd just add that one of the really remarkable things about this program is that the admissions process is looking for people who have kind of intellectual curiosity and determination. In 1994, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act made people in prison ineligible for Pell Grants. GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. DAVIES: Yeah, it was interesting. College Behind Bars is perhaps one of the best documentaries that Ive seen about criminal justice in the past 5 years. And I started to respond with violence because I thought I had no other option. NOVICK: Yeah. YOON: Oh, yeah, without a doubt. And Max Kenner, who is the founder and executive director of the program, is welcoming the new students. I went on to work for Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney on his attorney general campaign here in New York. Our guests are Lynn Novick, who directed the documentary, and Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon, two graduates of the program. WebCollege Behind Bars, an Emmy-nominated, four-part documentary about the transformative power of education, which premiered nationwide on PBS, is now available on Amazon Prime and PBS LearningMedia. 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. 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 are Korean American, right? Its no secret that the teenage years are challenging for almost everybody, but things are actually much worse for those who find themselves on a dark path after being dealt a bad hand in life. But I'm wondering, was there a point at which it just seemed hard to adjust? YOON: There's this moment where you walk past his door, and all you see is curtains and officers waiting in, like, rows. In the beginning, you don't even know how to use a comma. The recent PBS series, College Behind Bars , chronicles Mr. Halls eventual parole and release in 2015. 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. 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. I want that education. In 2016, BPI was proud to join the first cohort of sites receiving experimental eligibility through Second Chance Pell. And he said - he says to me, you stood up. WebSynopsis:Men and women serving time in New York struggle to turn their lives around in a liberal arts college degree program. We're in the business of education. Therefore, from what we can tell, she now lives a sober life in Crawfordsville, Indiana, alongside her partner and son Marshall Craig Roche who was born in the summer of 2019. After graduation, there were like, 30, on each side of the shower room just waiting for you. 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. Our associate producer of digital media is Molly Seavey-Nesper. Therefore, from what we can tell, she now lives a sober life in Crawfordsville, Indiana, alongside her partner and son Marshall Craig Roche who was born in the summer of 2019. 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. 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 conjugate Spanish verbs at Eastern New York Correctional Facility. They spoke with FRESH AIR's Dave Davies. You're looking ahead. 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. Yoon and Tatro earned college degrees taking rigorous courses taught by Bard College faculty in a maximum-security prison. Even after you graduate, as long as you are in a prison in which Bard Prison Initiative operates, you're allowed to take courses. 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. A new PBS documentary series follows prisoners who earn college degrees while serving time. 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. You don't have the Internet. They love this film. We're going to start coursework Monday morning. And what this education does is it untaps (ph) that potential. So just to have normal kind of conversation, people have to literally yell back and forth. 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. We will continue our conversation after a short break. And fewer than 4% have gone back to prison. And, you know, they're like, strip. And I want to play a clip here. And the Bard Prison Initiative has had 600 graduates be released over the last 20 years. Shed always been a sweet individual, as per the series, but she did have anger issues due to the fact that her mother had abandoned her. In fact, in the three years she has been left to her own devices, it looks like she has only led an honest, positive life. Colleges or universities partnering in the Consortium. Web2026. College Behind Bars, an Emmy-nominated, four-part documentary about the transformative power of education. DAVIES: Sebastian Yoon, what about connecting with your family? Dyjuan, what's it been like connecting with your family again? 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. And I think what surprised my father the most was just how much I transformed while I was incarcerated. A new PBS documentary series tells the story of one program that's offering a rigorous liberal arts education inside maximum security prisons with encouraging results. "I would hope the viewer sees the effort many people put into personal transformation and the role of education in personal transformation," Hall said. What kind of courses are taught? It's not our business. Hall recalls hearing a school administrator say, "'From this point on, you should not look at yourself as a prisoner in this institution but as a student in a bigger institution.' Novick is a Peabody Award-winning filmmaker and longtime collaborator of Ken Burns. They were doing advanced mathematics, math without numbers on the board. They both earned college degrees and are now employed. What Happens When Incarcerated People Get a World-Class Education? And the Bard Prison Initiative, which was - began in 1999. 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: And from the graduation ceremony of the Bard Prison Initiative. 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 it has a ripple effect even beyond people applying to just - you know, the facilities where there is higher education have less incidence of violence and disruption and things like that. CONTACT: Eric Koch | ericdkoch@gmail.com They study math, as Dyjuan said, languages, history, literature, art, science, philosophy, economics, public policy, you know, public health. We will hear Sebastian Yoon first and then we'll hear Dyjuan Tatro. 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. Otherwise, you're not doing them any favors. Virtually none return to prison. The new PBS documentary College Behind Bars follows the students of the Bard Prison Initiative, a full-time, degree-granting program in six New York prisons. 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." The documentary, "College Behind Bars," airs tonight and tomorrow night on PBS stations and will also be available for streaming. I can give them different types of advice. So how long does this take? Let's start with a clip from the documentary. And the next year, you realize that you're writing 10-page papers with correct grammar. You know, it's interesting. The four-part series premieres on PBS over two nights -- Nov. 25 & 26. It's about a program in which professors of Bard College give college classes in six correctional institutions. This is not my identity. 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. Factory jobs are disappearing in this country year after year. Creating educational opportunities in prison nationwide. You know, I'm a brother. Arionna Davis was in LaPorte for the second time when she was introduced to the viewers, only to be given a third stint shortly after filming concluded for violating parole. She was arrested a total of seven times by the time she was 18. 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. 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