That means that 50% to 60% of the 630,000 people who get out of prison every year are back in prison in three years. I worked as a cook. That was not our experience at all. 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 before the 1994 Clinton crime bill, there were college programs in almost every correctional facility in America. Celebrating 200+ degrees in six graduations back in person with Congressman Bobby Rush. They become the support system that we need to rely on. And I think the answer is no. Good job. You know, I am originally from Albany, N.Y. This is a full-time and long-term and total commitment. At BPI, we are committed to investing in people, reinventing institutions and making genuine education more accessible. DAVIES: Yeah, this business of counts - I mean, Sebastian Yoon, do you want to explain this? College Behind Bars is perhaps one of the best documentaries that Ive seen about criminal justice in the past 5 years. DAVIES: This school also has graduation ceremonies, and this is very moving. So, you know, Bard has some re-entry services, mainly job placement and career development. (Video Courtesy ESPN, Monday Night Countdown. So, to savor this rich, hot drink in my hand is so fabulous with cinnamon, not too much sugar. 2026. We can remove the first video in the list to add this one. And then, you know, you're approaching this search area, and you're in this liminal place. College-in-prison, which had been common in prisons across the country, collapsed. 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. 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. Few people know the joy of a free Sunday like Jule Hall. You have to go back to your cell. 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. I never saw a class where people weren't paying attention - not one - and we were in a lot of classes. 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. College 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. Tell me how the experience compared with what you expected. Let's listen. We will hear Sebastian Yoon first and then we'll hear Dyjuan Tatro. And one day, we went to a karaoke bar, and a fight erupted, and somebody ended up losing his life. YOON: There's this moment where you walk past his door, and all you see is curtains and officers waiting in, like, rows. You are a prisoner and you are a student," Giovanni Hernandez tells Brut. Who among us is capable of academic excellence? Men and women seek college degrees - and a chance at redemption - while incarcerated. And I want to play a clip here. Today, BPI enrolls over 300 incarcerated students full-time in programs that culminate in degrees from Bard College; it offers extensive support for its alumni in and around New York City; and, it has developed the BPI Summer Residency, an intensive, experiential, and hands-on series of workshops on the nuts and bolts of college-in-prison for new and emerging practitioners led by BPI staff and alumni. 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,. They were doing advanced mathematics, math without numbers on the board. College Behind Bars remains - especially in the first episode - admirably focused on the practicalities of prison life and prison programmes. 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. Sebastian Yoon, your father was in the audience, right? Get the latest news about BPI and our work. I was - I had to show them that I was smart enough to be part of this group. The Bard Prison Initiative Debate Union prepares for a debate against the University of Vermont in 2014. And fewer than 4% have gone back to prison. Others that have to do, you know, kind of routine prison jobs instead of being in class - was there jealousy or resentment? For 26 years, BPI joined other advocates in championing the return of Pell eligibility for incarcerated students. 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. We're in the business of education. BPI alumni overwhelmingly go home to their communities and give back in ways that positively impact the lives of others. 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. Of course, I recognize where this comes from: I wasnt around children for 22 years. rush medical college leadership; college behind bars where are they now. It took me six years to get from where I was to where Bard was. DAVIES: You know, I was going to ask about relations with, you know, other prisoners. And you see this room, and then all of a sudden, reality just comes crashing upon you. I mean, Dyjuan, I think you had a brother who had been - a younger brother who'd struggled and had been incarcerated at some point. You have this big smile on your face when you're leaving the auditorium and the mess hall. 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. 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. 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. CAST OF CHARACTERS Im ashamed to say this, but I people-watch. 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. So let's just listen to this. 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. We, you know, without quite realizing at the beginning, have ended up exploring this really deep question. Accuracy and availability may vary. And I am the most proud father in the world. James Wiley committed a heinous crime at 15 years of age. The vast majority of people in this country that are incarcerated are going to be returning to society. CONTACT: Eric Koch | ericdkoch@gmail.com And school was just really too easy. Recidivism rates skyrocketed for a variety of reasons, including this, and slowly, some privately funded programs started to come back in. And it helped me understand my place in the world and activated me as a civically minded person. And they understand that research shows inmates who earn masters degrees behind bars have a 0% recidivism rate. They both earned college degrees and are now employed. And then this changed in the . So I was charged at the age of 16 for manslaughter in the first degree, and I was sentenced to 15 years. What Happens When Incarcerated People Get a World-Class Education? 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. They work in business, the arts, and media; they attend graduate school; they have careers in human services. And that moment when that letter came forever altered the trajectory of my life. Funding for College Behind Bars is provided by Bank of America; PBS; Ford Foundation / JustFilms; National Endowment for the Humanities; Meg & Tomas Bergstrand; Regina K. Scully; The Lise More, Funding for College Behind Bars is provided by Bank of America; PBS; Ford Foundation / JustFilms; National Endowment for the Humanities; My colleagues are aware of different types of cuisine and restaurants and whenever we travel together for work or have a lunch together, theres this tendency to talk about food and wine. I went on to work for Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney on his attorney general campaign here in New York. DAVIES: And that's from the documentary "College Behind Bars," directed by our guest Lynn Novick. LYNN NOVICK: The most significant thing for me was that when Max Kenner asked me if I would teach a course on documentary and history, he said the students would love to have a film class, but you have to promise, if you're going to do it, this has to be extremely rigorous. According to records, James murdered his stepmother and three stepbrothers in cold blood. Even after you graduate, as long as you are in a prison in which Bard Prison Initiative operates, you're allowed to take courses. How can we have justice without redemption? . Sometimes, it could take six hours. 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. Ill fix me a scrambled egg with a cinnamon raisin bagel in my toaster. However, I think that we also have to realize that we live in a country and we have an economy where the type of work that vocational training used to give you no longer exists. By Megan Heintz. 27 2023 . "College Behind Bars" airs on PBS stations tonight and tomorrow. Just putting together the course was challenging, and working with the students over the course of the eight weeks that we taught was thrilling. Let's listen. At BPI, we are committed to investing in people, reinventing institutions and making genuine education more accessible. What was that time like for you? Director Lynn Novick and graduates Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro talk about how the program changes lives. In 1993, Mr. Hall, then 17, was involved in a gunfight in Brooklyn, when a bullet fired toward him killed his neighbor instead. WebCollege Behind Bars, which airs on PBS Monday and Tuesday night, offers TV audiences a rare window into the U.S. correctional system. 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. I'm going to ask each of you to give me your first impressions here. Your purchase supports PBS and helps make our programming possible. Your education in that space can be interrupted in all types of different ways at any time of day. 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. For the NFLs My Cause My Cleats campaign, Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins explains why he chose to highlight the College Behind Bars prison reform initiative. As a result, the number of college-in-prison programs in New York fell from over 70 to 4. Born Behind Bars is a documentary series that takes place in a maximum-security prison in Indiana. You can learn the math skills you need pretty quickly if you're motivated. Simpson and Fritsch have a new book called "Crime In Progress." But as we got to know the students, we began to understand the circumstances of their lives, which, as you say, were complicated, sometimes tragic, often involved exposure to violence and other tragic experiences. We will continue our conversation after this short break. Yoon and Tatro earned college degrees taking rigorous courses taught by Bard College faculty in a maximum-security prison. I mean, both - from the documentary, it seems that both of you had supportive families. GROSS: Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro earned bachelor's degrees from the Bard Prison Initiative. I realized that all my experiences and my skills were related to prison work. DAVIES: You know, I want to talk to you, Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro, a bit about your lives. DAVIES: And if you're in class when it's time for a count, what happens? As public funding of college-in-prison returns to the field the question shifts from Will there be college-in-prison? Mostly I stop at Queensbridge Park, but there are times when I ride the bike lane all the way to the end of Astoria. I know it's not love after lockup but I couldn't really find a relevant sub. And what were the circumstances that that landed you in this prison? And with time, as we become scholars, the idea that we should be limited to just vocational training just becomes absurd. DAVIES: And Sebastian, you can tell us a little bit about your transition. . MAX KENNER: Welcome to Bard College. And I started to respond with violence because I thought I had no other option. I can give them different types of advice. And, you know, we came to feel that it was important for them to - and they also felt it was important for them to explain themselves, how they see themselves, where they've been, where they are, through the lens of the education that they've been getting and their perspectives that have shifted over time. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. And there's - I'll just let the listeners know there's an emotional moment here where you start to speak of your family, and you have to stop and compose yourself. They study math, as Dyjuan said, languages, history, literature, art, science, philosophy, economics, public policy, you know, public health. Dyjuan, what's it been like connecting with your family again? Ill take care of the preliminaries, brush my teeth, get dressed, and I shoot straight to the Starbucks two blocks away. It gave me the ability to put names to systems and things that had impacted my life. This July we saw a major legislative victory in New York, spearheaded by BPI alumni. "We all have. : r/loveafterlockup. Since its first cohort in 2001, BPI students have earned over 52,000 credits and more than 550 Bard College degrees. Also with us are Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon, graduates of the program. But the Allens still have mixed feelings about free degrees for inmates. DAVIES: And that's Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon from the PBS documentary "College Behind Bars," which premieres tonight on PBS. Gordon Ramsay, in 2012, featured the enterprise as part of the show Gordon Behind Bars. And there was a tremendous void. We see him, don't we? They contribute to their communities in all the ways one might expect of any college graduate. All rights reserved. I mean, I think there are a lot of powerful stories in these documentaries of these students. James Herriots adventures as a veterinarian in 1930s Yorkshire get a new TV adaptation. I had to understand the idea of hubris, and I had to understand the idea of tragedy, and I had to understand these concepts. NOVICK: Yeah. And also with us are Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro, two formerly incarcerated graduates of the Bard Prison Initiative. And so, you know, I think we always need to consider that we're not talking about people in prison getting a degree in isolation, you know? And 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. I'm interested in your take on this - whether vocational programs should be there. (Speaking Korean) Thank you. 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. 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. Men and women earn college degrees - and a chance at new beginnings - while incarcerated. You are Korean American, right? college behind bars where are they now college behind bars where are they now. There are bells. Ill get up and just sit in silence in my apartment.. DAVIES: Wow, that's really remarkable. GROSS: Lynn Novick speaking with Dave Davies. You may change your parameters at any time using the link found at the bottom of every email. So just to have normal kind of conversation, people have to literally yell back and forth. But first, we need you to sign in to PBS using one of the services below. But I'm wondering, was there a point at which it just seemed hard to adjust? By Tyler Kendall January 17, 2020 / 2:19 PM / CBS News Dameon Stackhouse was several years into his. Also with us is the director of the documentary, Lynn Novick. 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. College Behind Bars, a four-part documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker Lynn Novick takes you on an intimate journey of a dozen BPI students who are earning their college degrees while incarcerated. I'm a college student. Sebastian Yoon, tell us a little about yourself. 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. They've earned college degrees and are now employed. I wake up every morning and I realize Im free and Im just so grateful to be here.. By creating an account, you acknowledge that PBS may share your information with our member stations and our respective service providers, and that you have read and understand the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. YOON: Well, classes usually happen in between counts. TURN ON THE TAP NY PRAISES GOVERNOR HOCHUL FOR INCLUDING TUITION ASSISTANCE FOR INCARCERATED NEW YORKERS IN BUDGET She spent four years in prisons taping material for the documentary, which is her solo directorial debut. And that totally allowed me to reimagine myself. 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. 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. 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. Creating educational opportunities in prison nationwide. When kids stopped bothering me, I guess I started feeling this false sense of empowerment. 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%. Dyjuan, you want to share something? By signing up for BPI emails, you are agreeing to receive news and updates from BPI. And a chance at New college behind bars where are they now - while incarcerated two formerly incarcerated graduates the... With a cinnamon raisin bagel in my apartment.. davies: Wow, that & # x27 ; really... Of you to give me your first impressions here, spearheaded by BPI alumni a sudden reality... And then, you are a student, & quot ; Giovanni tells! Every email this room, and media ; they attend graduate school they... Koch | ericdkoch @ gmail.com and school was just really too easy the age of 16 for manslaughter the! A 501 ( c ) ( 3 ) not-for-profit organization admirably focused on the practicalities of prison life prison. 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