I have never felt utter despair and failure more than when I began my incarceration. That was the most difficult, seemingly hopeless point of my life—rock bottom, so to speak. I ultimately served a decade in prison. My life took yet another unexpected turn from… Read More
BPI Blog
Content Type: Profile
Alumni Reflection Essay: Urban Vitality: The Affordable Housing Discourse in the City of Yonkers
Alumnus Jonathan Alvarez '19 participated in BPI's Community Engagement in Public Health & Public Education Internship stipend program, holding an internship with Community Governance & Development Council (CGDCNY). Below is his reflection on the experience of his internship. The new surge of high-rise developments in… Read More
Alumni Reflection Essay: The Fight Beyond the Wall
Alumnus Shawn Young '19 was invited to participate in BPI's Community Engagement in Public Health & Public Education Internship stipend program on March 13, 2020 - the day that COVID shut everything down. His original proposal to run a reentry support group through Citizen Action… Read More
Alumni Chronicles: Vanessa Fields ’17
As we close out the end of our academic and fiscal year, we are sharing short films of Bard Prison Initiative Public Health Fellows, each of whom have come to the fore as voices of experience and leadership in public health across New York… Read More
Alumni Chronicles: Hancy Maxis ’15
As we close out our academic and fiscal year, we are sharing short films of Bard Prison Initiative Public Health Fellows, each of whom have come to the fore as voices of experience and leadership in public health across New York City. Hancy Maxis ‘15… Read More
Alumni Chronicles: Ato Williams ’12
As we close out our academic and fiscal year, we are sharing short films of Bard Prison Initiative Public Health Fellows, each of whom have come to the fore as voices of experience and leadership in public health across New York City. Ato Williams ‘12,… Read More
Field Notes on Pandemic Teaching
This reflection by Delia Mellis '86 Director of Program and Faculty Development originally appeared in Places Journal has been reproduced below and can found in its entirety here. A Bard Prison Initiative student studying at the computer lab at Coxsackie Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in… Read More
Alumni Opinion: Disaster Preparedness in NYC’s Transitional Housing and Shelters
This reflection by Patricia Howard '15 is part of the Community Voices op-ed series for the BPI Public Health Journal. Through the COVID-19 crisis, BPI alumni, staff, and faculty will be posting reflections about their work and response to the virus here on the… Read More
Bard Microcollege Holyoke – Meet Candice
One of the first graduates of Bard Microcollege Holyoke, Candice Pelletier is now completing her Bachelor’s degree at Smith College on a full scholarship. Like many women who find The Care Center, Candice’s path to college took a few unusual turns. Despite Candice’s straight… Read More
20 Years of Bard Behind Bars
At a recent orientation session for newly enrolled Bard students at Taconic Correctional Facility, I found myself thinking about my own undergraduate experience and the ways Bard connects people across campuses and decades. We were there to talk about the extended world of the… Read More