So how long does this take? 4/22/2019 So currently, I work as a program specialist with the Democracy Fund of Open Society Foundations, which is one of the biggest philanthropic organizations in the world. PBS chronicles 12 inmates who value education in 'College Behind Bars' The film fills the screen with stories about human transformation as cameras follow a dozen incarcerated men and women. The recent PBS series, "College Behind Bars," chronicles Mr. Hall's eventual parole and release in 2015. Men and women in prison for serious crimes try to earn college degrees in this groundbreaking story of incarceration, injustice, race in America, and the transformative power of education. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR, and we're discussing the new four-part PBS documentary "College Behind Bars." DAVIES: You know, I was going to ask about relations with, you know, other prisoners. As a result, the number of college-in-prison programs in New York. And what the film shows and the work at BPI shows is that that cannot be more untrue. They love the Bard Prison Initiative. GROSS: Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, our guests will be Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch, the former Wall Street Journal reporters who formed Fusion GPS, a private research company. DAVIES: Dyjuan Tatro, what was your graduation experience like? 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. 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. Also with us is the director of the documentary, Lynn Novick. Our guests today are Lynn Novick, who directed the documentary, and two graduates of the program, Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro. And fewer than 4% have gone back to prison. There are bells. They both earned college degrees and are now employed. Tried as an adult for his involvement in the fight, Mr. Hall was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. "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 . When kids stopped bothering me, I guess I started feeling this false sense of empowerment. 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: 1. rush medical college leadership; college behind bars where are they now. YOON: Yeah. College Behind Bars, which airs on PBS Monday and Tuesday night, offers TV audiences a rare window into the U.S. correctional system. And Max Kenner, who is the founder and executive director of the program, is welcoming the new students. 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. TATRO: Yeah. (SOUNDBITE OF STEFON HARRIS AND BLACKOUT'S "DAT DERE"). Watch the full film and explore classroom-ready resources and activities. 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. Who among us is capable of academic excellence? 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. 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. You know, I'm a brother. And that's - Pell grants are supposed to be based on economic need. What you see at the end is a testament to the power of education, and why it remains such a dangerous and underrated weapon against a racially and economically unjust status quo in this nation., The powerful new miniseries suggests we might find hope in the transformative effect of higher education., [A] nuanced look at education in the prison industrial complex., An important educational call to arms. In 1993, Mr. Hall, then 17, was involved in a gunfight in Brooklyn, when a bullet fired toward him killed his neighbor instead. I don't think I heard anybody use that as an excuse for committing crimes, though. "College Behind Bars" airs tonight and tomorrow night on PBS stations and will be available for streaming. Roberta Shorrock directs the show. It adds stability. Part 2: 'I'm Trying to Get Home to My Family, Too.'. The Bard Prison Initiative enrolls over 300 incarcerated students in six New York State prisons. Last week, the New York State budget included a major victory for educational equity, ending a 26-year-old ban on access to need-based Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) grants for incarcerated students. You know, what's striking about this program is that - I think a lot of people who think about ways that prisons can help incarcerated people get jobs when they get out of prison is to provide vocational training - you know, teach people to be welders or auto mechanics or, you know, stuff like that. And then this changed in the '90s when we had the crime bill, right? And that had been true for over a generation, and it was well understood and accepted that education was an essential part of criminal justice and of rehabilitation. 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. DAVIES: Yeah, it was interesting. As you will see in the film, there's tremendous potential among incarcerated people. I remember telling my professor that, how can I complete an eight-page paper if I feel like I could complete it in only two? I may watch Netflix, but I generally just read. And I'm wondering - I'm going to ask Sebastian. Having myself attended college while incarcerated, I can attest to the importance of theReadMore, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 18, 2022 And so yeah, that is a huge impediment to trying to learn. So you can be in class midway, and if the bell rings because the count was off or if there's a security problem, then you have to go back to your cells. They worked with former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, whose dossier was leaked and published. College Behind Bars. Just putting together the course was challenging, and working with the students over the course of the eight weeks that we taught was thrilling. You know, I would go in and do all the work in a day or two, and the expectations were really, really low. Rodney, Sebastian and Giovannie embark on yearlong senior, The debate union faces Harvard. Lynn Novick, Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro, welcome to FRESH AIR. YOON: I would say that all my friends right now are my peers from the BPI program, and our network is really growing. Confronted with the inhuman monotony of life behind bars, Mr. Hall became a serious student, ultimately gaining admission to the Bard Prison Initiative, a competitive, full-time degree program run by Bard College. This movement took on renewed urgency following Congresss reinstatement of Pell Grant access to incarcerated students in 2020. (SOUNDBITE OF MARCUS ROBERTS' "IT'S MARIA'S DANCE"). And then they're like, strip. They've earned college degrees and are now employed. Did you feel yourself changing as you moved through these courses? College Behind Bars is a production of Skiff Mountain Films, in association with Florentine Films and WETA-TV. And then you address your father directly. And they understand that research shows inmates who earn masters degrees behind bars have a 0% recidivism rate. Get the latest news about BPI and our work. And one day, we went to a karaoke bar, and a fight erupted, and somebody ended up losing his life. It's not our business. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR, and we're discussing the new four-part PBS documentary "College Behind Bars." We can remove the first video in the list to add this one. I think that realization came to me when I sat down and began writing my first cover letter and my first resume. When that door closes, you're at Bard College. 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. Mostly I stop at Queensbridge Park, but there are times when I ride the bike lane all the way to the end of Astoria. The Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) works to redefine the availability, affordability, and expectations typically associated with higher education in America. So people in the corrections department recognize that as well. It was just a really, really moving moment to be celebrated on the main Bard campus in that way by all these amazing young people. By signing up for BPI emails, you are agreeing to receive news and updates from BPI. The recent PBS series, " College Behind Bars ," chronicles Mr. Hall's eventual parole and release in 2015. 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? Tune in for an unparalleled look inside @BPIBard, one of the most rigorous & challenging #CollegeInPrison programs. 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. 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. This clip from Lynn Novicks College Behind Bars highlights the kind of academic work BPI students are doing as we defy expectations of who college is for and where it might lead. Because when people ask that question or that question's being asked, that's usually the implicit assumption, that they are only capable of this level of education. Its about two miles away. They spoke with FRESH AIR's Dave Davies. DAVIES: Lynn Novick, give us the basics of the program. Well, you know, for a number of the graduates - and this was true of Sebastian, not Dyjuan - there was this - there's this terrible paradox where, you know, the fact that you are completing your college degree and graduating doesn't mean that you are released from prison. But I'm wondering, was there a point at which it just seemed hard to adjust? TATRO: Having a liberal arts education has made me a much deeper thinker. 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. The type of things that are available to people in prison currently are somewhat outdated. DAVIES: Tell us a little bit about the work you're doing. 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. And the Bard Prison Initiative has had 600 graduates be released over the last 20 years. TATRO: They are like, congratulations. My father was in Vietnam, came home drug-addicted and has never really recovered from that. 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 will hear Sebastian Yoon first and then we'll hear Dyjuan Tatro. CONTACT: Eric Koch | ericdkoch@gmail.com YOON: But to those who would ask that question, Dave, you could also ask them, would you ask the same question of students who are out here? Good job. No, I'm done. Could you talk just a little bit about the process? And throughout this process, we're constantly talking with each other, helping each other out because on, like, the outside here, you have the Internet; our peers become the Internet. So there are a lot of things that impede your education in that space. Thats another thing I think is a spillover from prison: I saw the television as a space of conflict because people would argue over what to watch, so I stayed away from it. The vast majority of people in this country that are incarcerated are going to be returning to society. I mean, I think there are a lot of powerful stories in these documentaries of these students. They have both been to prison. Congratulations. TATRO: And so I got to walk across the stage on Bard's Annandale campus with the other 400 students in my year in 2018. Who has access to educational opportunity? For streaming, visit pbs.org . College Behind Bars remains - especially in the first episode - admirably focused on the practicalities of prison life and prison programmes. (Speaking Korean) Thank you. it is the only time that they can trust they . DAVIES: You know, this is tough material in these classes. Prison has the worst coffee, oh, my goodness thats one of the things I think anybody would tell you. This movement took on renewed urgency following Congresss reinstatement of Pell Grant access to incarcerated students in 2020. College Behind Bars is an intimate look at the lives and experiences of a dozen BPI students and their families that confronts . Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Confronted with the "inhuman monotony" of life behind bars, Mr. Hall became a serious student, ultimately gaining admission to the Bard Prison Initiative, a competitive, full-time degree program run by Bard College. I'm Terry Gross. It raises questions we urgently need to address: What is prison for? Born behind bars. So that was, like, really, really kind of humbling to see that type of support from the general population. "College Behind Bars" follows students in the Bard Prison Initiative, a privately funded college program that began in 2001 in New York state prisons. But I usually put on jazz or R&B. That is to say, the college has no interest in the nature of your criminal conviction, the length of your sentence, how much time you have left in prison. How can we have justice without redemption? You can just see this intellectual blossoming. And what were the circumstances that that landed you in this prison? You know, that is not the type of thing you expect to be happening in a prison. This July we saw a major legislative victory in New York, spearheaded by BPI alumni. We see him, don't we? Get the latest news about BPI and our work. 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. Virtually none return to prison. The faculty generally find this experience so energizing because of that exact thing - that they have to sort of - if they're teaching a course on the Bard campus and in BPI, they actually have to make the BPI version a bit harder, get more assignments and, you know, up the reading because the students are just so eager for the material and expect so much. Also with us are Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon, graduates of the program. DAVIES: Yeah. SAVOR I usually order a venti Pike, not too strong. And what's incredible is that you can also serve as tutors, so you're constantly working with other students who are trying to obtain their associate's degrees or bachelor's. The subjects and filmmakers reveal how the power of education changes lives. So I started hanging out in the streets and, you know, I had a crew of boys that I always hung out with. 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. 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). Neither had been in a maximum security . Fact: TATRO: Oh, I think that couldn't be further from the truth. Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon are graduates of the Bard Prison Initiative. You may change your parameters at any time using the link found at the bottom of every email. And it has had a profound impact on my personality and just the way that I move through the world today. And I think it bred for me empathy, which is something that I didn't have a lot of when I was a teenager. 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