The Bard Prison Initiative team has built an impressive record—and international reputation—since its unlikely 2015 victory By Corinne Ramey NAPANOCH, N.Y.—The Harvard College Debating Union wanted a rematch. The team had suffered a hard loss in 2015 to a group of talented debaters, drawing international attention. So… Read More
Press Room
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For any press inquiries, please email bpipress@bard.edu.
College Behind Bars Press Kit
For further information about the PBS documentary College Behind Bars, go to Press Kit.
5/6/2023
Prison vs. Harvard: The Debate Rematch
4/14/2022
Helping prisoners go to college helps New York
Last week, the New York State budget included a major victory for educational equity, ending a 26-year-old ban on access to need-based Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) grants for incarcerated students. Having myself attended college while incarcerated, I can attest to the importance of the… Read More
2/3/2022
‘Anything is possible.’ [Student] from Middletown won appeal after earning college, paralegal degree behind bars
A Middletown man and former convict is sharing his unconventional story of success in hopes of inspiring others, after earning his college and paralegal degree behind bars - and winning his own appeal. Derek Brown was 18 years old when a prison sentence for burglary… Read More
2/10/2021
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; what's next for TAP restoration in New York; the… Read More
10/16/2020
Freeing the Mind
Max Kenner recently sat down with Brent Orrell of the Hardly Working podcast to talk about BPI and the value of a liberal arts education in the 21st century. Listen here as they explore how higher education has largely failed to identify capacity wherever… Read More
9/3/2020
We Already Have a Tool That Lowers Crime, Saves Money and Shrinks the Prison Population
Dyjuan Tatro grew up in a poor neighborhood in Albany, N.Y., where gunshots were common and education inaccessible. Around 10th grade, Dyjuan dropped out and was selling drugs. A few years later, when he was 20, he was involved in a shooting and sentenced to… Read More
7/31/2020
BPI and College Behind Bars in The Appeal
The Appeal featured several segments about BPI in two Justice in America podcast episodes, 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 '18 and… Read More
6/16/2020
College Behind Bars review – how education can unlock prisoners’ potential
This film following students of the Bard Prison Initiative is a tribute to their ambition and endeavour – and an indictment of the absence of funding for such programmes It should not be strange to hear prisoners talk about The Oresteia or Moby-Dick or eukaryotic cell structure… Read More
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