Earlier this year, BPI proudly announced its newest member of the Consortium for the Liberal Arts in Prison: the Augustana Prison Education Program (APEP). BPI launched the Consortium in 2009 to facilitate the further establishment of college-in-prison nationwide. The Consortium currently represents fourteen colleges… Read More
BPI Blog
Content Type: News
Alumni Opinion: The Importance of TAP Restoration
The restoration of access to New York’s need-based Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) for college-in-prison is monumental. Receiving an education behind bars permanently changed my life in many ways. A year into receiving my associate degree through the Bard Prison Initiative, there was no doubt… Read More
TAP: A Long Time Coming
Incarcerated students' ability to access New York's Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) has been restored in New York State after 26 years of a senseless and destructive ban. This victory is a long time in the making. With BPI's Senior Government Affairs Officer Dyjuan Tatro '18… Read More
Alumni Opinion: The trouble with the correction union: It’s a cheerleader for mass incarceration
BPI Alumnus Darren Mack ’13 writes about the Correction Officers Benevolent Association and its role in opposing recent efforts to close Rikers Island. His op-ed was first published in the New York Daily News and is reproduced below. For the past few months, the tragedy… Read More
Announcing the Bard Microcollege for Just Community Leadership
Bard College Launches the Nation’s First Tuition-Free College Dedicated to Advocacy, Arts, and Sciences HARLEM, N.Y. — The Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) has announced the launch of its third tuition-free microcollege, which will open in Harlem this fall. The Bard Microcollege for Just Community Leadership will… Read More
WBAI’s On the Count – The Prison And Criminal Justice Report
In this episode, listen to an in-depth conversation with Max Kenner '01, alumnus Dyjuan Tatro '18, and Vivian Nixon, Executive Director of College & Community Fellowship who discuss the impact of federal Pell Grant restoration; the history and future of college-in-prison and why it… Read More
Alumni Opinion: The education prisoners deserve
BPI Alumna Stacy Burnett ’20 describes the value her BPI college education has had on her life and her career, and why it's important that New York State reinstate tuition assistance for incarcerated students in this op-ed that was first published in the New… Read More
Their Stories Helped Lift a 26-Year Ban on Pell Grants for Prisoners
A college education transformed [formerly incarcerated people's] lives. But some critics fear low-quality programs will rush in. Every time Vivian D. Nixon has publicly testified about the power of a college education to transform the lives of those behind bars, she’s drawn attention to one… Read More
Alumni Opinion: Felony Disenfranchisement Suppresses the Votes of Black and Latinx Americans
BPI government affairs officer, Dyjuan Tatro '18, argues that felony disenfranchisement should be understood as a racist mechanism of voter suppression. This blog post was originally posted by the Vera Institute of Justice and is reproduced below. I was released from New York State prison,… Read More
Bard at BPL 2020-2021 Fellows
The Bard at Brooklyn Public Library microcollege is pleased to announce our 2020-2021 fellows! The Bard at BPL fellowship program brings select artists, scholars, and professionals who have demonstrated innovation and excellence in their fields to engage with Bard at BPL students over the course… Read More