BPI is proud to announce Desmond Meade will give the commencement address for the 21st BPI Commencement at Eastern Correctional Facility on June 3rd, 2023, and will earn an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Bard College. 63 incarcerated Bard students have earned degrees… Read More
BPI Blog
Tag: Commencement
Yale Prison Education Initiative to extend curriculum to a second prison and hold first graduation ceremony
With a $1.5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation, YPEI now has the capacity to offer a wider range of courses, establish a fellows program and partner with the University of New Haven. This article was originally posted on the Yale Daily News, which can… Read More
Community Voices: Dean Ansell’s remarks at Emerson Prison Initiative’s First Commencement
On September 27th the Emerson Prison Initiative held a historic celebration: the first Emerson College BA ceremony at MCI Concord and the first BA ceremony ever held at the facility. These amended remarks were given that day by Amy Ansell, Dean of the Marlboro… Read More
BPI 20th Anniversary Commencement Retrospective
While COVID forced us to postpone two in-prison commencements this spring, we’re proud to share this film looking back at past graduations and honoring the 58 BPI & micrcocollege graduates of 2020. This film celebrates twenty extraordinary years — and the completion of one… Read More
A Message to BPI Students
Last year, Reverend Dr. William Barber II delivered the commencement address at Eastern Correctional Facility. This week he wrote words of encouragement to the incarcerated BPI community during this time of crisis, which was included in this week's newsletter to students and reproduced below. Highlights… Read More
Alumni Address: BPI Alum Delivers Remarks for Public Health Graduates
Hancy Maxis ‘15 was voted to address the faculty, administrators, and his fellow students, along with their families and friends at the virtual graduation ceremony for Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Health Policy and Management Department. BPI faculty, staff, and alumni tuned… Read More
BPI’s 18th Commencement
On Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, BPI conferred its 500th diploma and bestowed civil rights leader Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II with an honorary degree. Read More
Trapped Bodies, Freed Minds
The Freedom Education Project of Puget Sound (FEPPS) joined the Consortium in 2014 and received several years of seed funding from BPI. FEPPS provides a rigorous college program to incarcerated women in Washington and creates pathways to higher education after women are released from… Read More
BPI’s 17th Commencement
Mary Bassett delivered the commencement address at BPI's 17th commencement, where more than 40 students received associate in arts and bachelor of arts degrees, bringing the total number of Bard degrees awarded to BPI students at that time to 485. Read More
BPI’s 16th Commencement
BPI celebrates its 15th anniversary with its 16th commencement from Taconic correctional facility. Read More