But first, we need you to sign in to PBS using one of the services below. Lacy Aaron Schmidt was just 14 when he murdered his ex-girlfriend, Alana Calahan, in Columbia County, Georgia. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This July we issued $650,000 in grants in the US and around the world. 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. And I started to respond with violence because I thought I had no other option. And he said - he says to me, you stood up. So just to have normal kind of conversation, people have to literally yell back and forth. You know, I am originally from Albany, N.Y. Ive got to say, this is the worst part of Sunnyside: its very competitive. The recent PBS series, College Behind Bars, chronicles Mr. Halls eventual parole and release in 2015. To learn more about the restoration of TAP, read Jessica Neptunes the Director of National Engagement blog post here & Executive Director, Max Kenners, letter to our supporters here. But the Allens still have mixed feelings about free degrees for inmates. A groundbreaking exploration of incarceration, injustice, race in America, and the transformative power of education. I know it's not love after lockup but I couldn't really find a relevant sub. DAVIES: There was a time when higher education in correctional facilities was pretty common. We should not expect that they are only capable of vocational training. Who among us is capable of academic excellence? And then this changed in the . YOON: There's this moment where you walk past his door, and all you see is curtains and officers waiting in, like, rows. College Behind Bars, an Emmy-nominated, four-part documentary about the transformative power of education. 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. The Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) works to redefine the availability, affordability, and expectations typically associated with higher education in America. So I was charged at the age of 16 for manslaughter in the first degree, and I was sentenced to 15 years. I mean, both - from the documentary, it seems that both of you had supportive families. 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. Good job. Lynn Novick's 'College Behind Bars,' four-hour PBS documentary about the Bard Prison Initiative and the impact of educational programs as part of prison reform, is provocative and inspiring. 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. We will hear Sebastian Yoon first and then we'll hear Dyjuan Tatro. The PBSand Emmy-nominated documentary "College Behind Bars" seeks to showcase the students of BPI as well as the need for more prison college programs throughout the country. 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? I had to write that I swept and mopped floors. 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? Sebastian Yoon, how long after your graduation did you have to serve before you got - were released? Now, I still havent taken to wine. You know, you forgot your book; you can't just go back and get your book. You can learn the math skills you need pretty quickly if you're motivated. The documentary, "College Behind Bars," airs tonight and tomorrow night on PBS stations and will also be available for streaming. This is FRESH AIR. The recent PBS series, "College Behind Bars," chronicles Mr. Hall's eventual parole and release in 2015. And I always remember, no, no, no. All Rights Reserved. I have to read a lot for work, so whether its grants or theory-related and I mean, its great reading, but its not like Walter Mosley or some of those things I became fond of. I don't see myself as a person. 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. college behind bars where are they now. Back in 2018, Netflix released its docuseries Girls Incarcerated: Young and Locked Up . Yoon and Tatro earned college degrees taking rigorous courses taught by Bard College faculty in a maximum-security prison. Kind of how large are the classes? MAX KENNER: Welcome to Bard College. So that was, like, really, really kind of humbling to see that type of support from the general population. 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. We will continue our conversation after a short break. Men and women seek college degrees - and a chance at redemption - while incarcerated. No, I'm done. Copyright 2023 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), all rights reserved. How can we have justice without redemption? (Video Courtesy ESPN, Monday Night Countdown. YOON: Well, classes usually happen in between counts. 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. We, you know, without quite realizing at the beginning, have ended up exploring this really deep question. 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. I grew up in a single-parent household, the child of a disabled mother. I wish you continued success. 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 is not me. And today, there are 300 students in six facilities in New York state, mostly men, but there's one facility for women as well. The ONLY thing I could find was the recent murder of the pregnant (at the time of filming) CO Breann Leath who apparently . YOON: My family has been super supportive of me, as you'll see in the documentary, especially my father. I'm Terry Gross. They love this film. 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. And then they're like, strip. 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: And if you're in class when it's time for a count, what happens? How College in Prison Turns Around Lives and Saves Taxpayers Money, Knowledge & Redemption, A Conversation with Lynn Novick and Jule Hall, Incarcerated People Can Do More than Beat Harvard in a Debate. GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. That was not our experience at all. I recently binged born behind bars on A&E and was looking for any kind of update on these mamas/babies. Meet the cast of Behind Bars: Rookie Year on A&E. Get season by season character and cast bios and more only on A&E. Ken Burns is executive producer. 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. YOON: And part of that crime bill, Dave, was comprised - allocating $10 billion to build more prisons, and $10 billion at the time was enough to pay for higher education in prisons for more than 200 years. "We all have. 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. Ill fix me a scrambled egg with a cinnamon raisin bagel in my toaster. We will continue our conversation after this short break. "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 . TATRO: Sure. The Bard Prison Initiative enrolls over 300 incarcerated students in six New York State prisons. You're looking ahead. Your education in that space can be interrupted in all types of different ways at any time of day. 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. I mean, it's a wide range of liberal arts curriculums. DAVIES: And Sebastian, you can tell us a little bit about your transition. I'm Terry Gross. In 2016, BPI was proud to join the first cohort of sites receiving experimental eligibility through Second Chance Pell. At BPI, we are committed to investing in people, reinventing institutions and making genuine education more accessible. You know, I'm a brother. 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. Let's keep the noise down. There are bells. Born behind bars. 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 , Find standards-aligned teaching resources for. And one day, we went to a karaoke bar, and a fight erupted, and somebody ended up losing his life. And I think the answer is no. DAVIES: Wow. And she said, well, welcome to college. GLOBAL DINNER SCENE I eat out on Sunday another thing Im privileged to do because of my job. I sit in there for about 30 minutes with my phone on the side playing music. And what this education does is it untaps (ph) that potential. My family took care of me for 12 years while I was in prison, and now I'm in a position in life where I can support and be there for them. 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. DYJUAN TATRO: You know, one of the most salient moments for me in my time in BPI is my first time walking in to the Bard library at Eastern Correctional Facility. The numbers that I remember from the documentary was that at - there were about 890 or so in the institution, 110 in the program, which is a pretty good number. So there was this kind of seamless movement from one setting to another. I may watch Netflix, but I generally just read. So once that happened, almost all those programs vanished - went from about 800 programs to fewer than 10. And then you address your father directly. 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. Tried as an adult for his involvement in the fight, Mr. Hall was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. They spoke with FRESH AIR's Dave Davies. I'm just interested in your perspective on this because I'm just - I imagine that, in a maximum security facility, there are a lot of folks who just didn't have kind of the educational kind of foundation to do college work the way you did, or maybe I'm wrong about that. YOON: For me, a liberal arts education cultivated in me conceptual and intellectual openness that invited me to consider worlds outside of my world from different times, thought and space. Reimagining the place of higher education. In 1993, Mr. Hall, then 17, was involved in a gunfight in Brooklyn, when a bullet fired toward him killed his neighbor instead. And I got there, and I took the entrance exam and sat in my cell and waited for the acceptance letter. College Behind Bars first premiered Nov. 25, 2019 on PBS and has since then become popular among Netflix audiences. Im trying to act younger than my age, so I sometimes listen to trap music. And at the age of 10, my family - once my dad made enough money, we moved to Long Island. Dyjuan Tatro and Sebastian Yoon are graduates of the Bard Prison Initiative. And the Bard Prison Initiative, which was - began in 1999. You know, that is not the type of thing you expect to be happening in a prison. One of the toughest parts of living in Sunnyside, Mr. Hall said, is finding a vacant laundry machine. And with time, as we become scholars, the idea that we should be limited to just vocational training just becomes absurd. college behind bars where are they now college behind bars where are they now. DAVIES: Tell us a little bit about the work you're doing. - and wait until you get the all clear? 56 views, 2 likes, 3 loves, 4 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from New&Living Way Gospel Temple: Sunday service And fewer than 4% have gone back to prison. Do they have a place as opposed to, you know, this really rigorous academic program? 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. While Rodney and Sebastian complete their 100-page senior projects and present them to fac, Men and women in prison for serious crimes try to earn college degrees in this groundbreaking story of incarceration, inju, When incarcerated students from the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) Debate Union beat a team from Harvard, their victory made. And a fight erupted, and the transformative power of education of second-degree murder and sentenced life. 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