The Appeal features several segments about BPI in both the Justice in America podcast as well as an Op-Ed. Check out more details below: 4/22/2019 Justice in America Episode 29: Schools in Prison Josie Duffy Rice and co-host Derecka Purnell are joined by Dyjuan Tatro and Wesley… Read More
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The news today from Washington signals the biggest victory in the field of #CollegeInPrison in decades. It’s a long time coming. This undoes the #94crimebill’s ban on #Pell Grants for incarcerated students. #PellRestoration #PELLYES
A thread. pic.twitter.com/dpll9JPGFL— Bard Prison Initiative (@BPIBard) December 20, 2020
“I got into college in prison. That education, that experience, that degree radically changed the trajectory of my life.”@DyjuanTatro got a bachelor’s degree from Bard College through @BPIBard. His goal now is to advocate for the importance of education for incarcerated people. pic.twitter.com/r3gYZOpJSY
— AJ Contrast (@AJContrast) December 18, 2020
Over winter break, @BPIBard staff are joining BPI & #Microcollege students in reading Silver Sparrow by @tayari
In IN, the Women’s College Partnership has invited community in Indy to read The Water Dancer by @TaNehisiCoats along w/ women at the Indiana Women’s Prison.#BookClub pic.twitter.com/HBGomuFJyw— Bard Prison Initiative (@BPIBard) January 5, 2021
Our Work
Since our first class at Eastern in 2001, BPI has been reimagining who college is for and where it might lead.
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Public Health at BPI
From in-prison classrooms to graduate schools and careers, students and alumni are rising to meet the urgent demand for trained professionals and visionary leaders in public health.
It Starts in the Classroom
See how BPI’s Public Health Program prepares students and alumni for careers in public health.
Community Voices
Through the COVID crisis, we are highlighting BPI’s longstanding work in public health and BPI community voices in response to the virus.
Current Topics We're Following:
College Behind Bars with Max Kenner and Sebastian Yoon
The Bard Prison Initiative is a revolutionary program that provides a rigorous college education to men and women in prison. In one of our most power episodes ever, BPI’s founder Max Kenner and recent graduate Sebastian Yoon join Adam this week to discuss how… Read More
What Happens When Incarcerated People Get a World-Class Education?
One graduate, featured in a new PBS documentary, shares the ups and downs of earning a degree behind bars. In the fall of 2015, a maximum-security prison in New York invited Harvard’s debate team to compete against a squad of three incarcerated men. The men,… Read More
Incarcerated People Can Do More than Beat Harvard in a Debate
“College Behind Bars,” a new PBS documentary executive-produced by Ken Burns, shines a light on a program that every major university in America should be sponsoring By Jamil Smith When you watch College Behind Bars, which began last night on PBS and concludes tonight, or any… Read More
How Jule Hall, Graduate of the Bard Prison Initiative, Spends His Sundays
After serving 22 years in prison, he is making up for lost time, with a job at the Ford Foundation, good coffee and a long soak in the tub. By Ted Alcorn Few people know the joy of a free Sunday like Jule Hall. For 22… Read More