“While there are many factors that make an effective teacher, the most important is to believe in the potential contribution of your students. As an institution, BPI echoes this type of interest in us as students.”
Patrick Stephens '19
Max Kenner, Founder and Executive Director of the Bard Prison Initiative
WAMC’s David Guistina speaks with Max Kenner, Founder and Executive Director of the Bard Prison Initiative, about how the unique program creates opportunities for incarcerated men and women to earn a Bard College degree while serving their sentences.
“I think so many more people than we know feel like they’re left out of traditional college experience.”
Delano Burrowes ’21
“When we think of cultivating the next generation of advocates and leaders in criminal justice, we often think of BPI. As a funder, as an alumnus, and on behalf of Galaxy Gives, I’m proud to participate in this unprecedented campaign.”
Alelur "Alex" Duran ’18, Program Director, Criminal Justice Reform at Galaxy Gives
“When you all get out, you’ll see: there’ll be BPI students and staff all around you. You’ll seek them out, and they’ll seek you out. When you’re part of BPI, you’re ALWAYS a part of BPI.”
Shawnta Montgomery '17
“When I first began this journey with BPI, I was overwhelmed. A college student was not something I was supposed to be. However, the professors, who believed in me more than I believed in myself, gave me the push that I yearned for; the push that I needed to help me understand that I had to sacrifice and commit to the hard work in order to be a college student, in order to escape this madness that became my life.”
Shaun McKnight '18
“Bringing the traditions of college into a prison is transformative, giving the people within the opportunity to reinvent themselves and change their life’s trajectory.”
Reynaldo Perez '21
Changing the soundtrack of our lives, by Jule Hall
Jail has a way of warping time. Changes on the outside world are locked away from those inside. Upon his release after serving 17 locked-up years, Jule recounts the moment he first sets eyes on a smartphone. The prison noises he is escaping — the yelling, the constant blaring of the radio, metal-on-metal echoing of cell bars — are replaced by the incessant pings and notifications of his new iPhone. His novice observations about the technology we wrap our lives around reveal a truth that perhaps we can no longer see ourselves.
Students Talk About the BardBac Program
The BardBac is a community of adult scholars pursuing BA degrees at Bard College.
A project of the Bard Prison Initiative — Bard’s response to the crisis of mass incarceration — the BardBac was launched in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
The BardBac seeks adult learners whose educations have been interrupted or deterred, who are hungry for robust intellectual inquiry, and who are eager to make new, extraordinary contributions to their communities.
22nd Commencement
In spring 2024, BPI convened its 22nd Commencement across four ceremonies — on Bard’s main campus, at two prisons for men, as well as BPI’s first bachelor’s graduation at a prison for women — conferring more than 100 degrees. Graduates of the class of 2024 had the honor of hearing from multiple commencement speakers— Earth Scientist Naomi Oreskes on Bard’s main campus, Lieutenant Governor of New York Antonio Delgado at Woodbourne Correctional Facility and at Albion Correctional Facility for women Susan Burton, founder and executive director of A New Way of Life Reentry Project delivered the commencement address and also received an honorary doctorate of humane letters.
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