As I walked into the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) on my first day working as the Full-Time Tutor at the Bard Microcollege, a mixture of excitement and trepidation roiled in my chest. The grandeur of the library building, with its open spaces, felt majestic,… Read More
BPI Blog
Category: Alumni News
Alumni Voices: From BPI to MBA – A Bard Graduate Degree First
In May Stacy Burnett became the first BPI alum to earn a Bard graduate degree. In this quarter’s newsletter to BPI students inside, Stacy described her educational journey. It is replicated here. I earned my first degree—an MBA in Sustainability—in May 2023 from Bard's Graduate Programs… Read More
WMHT Public Media Features Bard Prison Initiative in New Series: Work in Progress
New York capital region’s public media network WMHT recently featured the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) in its new video series, Work in Progress, which shares stories of people navigating a rapidly changing economy and how they respond to the evolving needs and conditions of… Read More
Bard MBA Student, BPI Alum wins Mid-Hudson Business Plan Competition, Three Other Bard Teams Compete
This first appeared in Lead The Change: A Resource for Aspiring Leaders in Sustainability Stacy Burnett has a powerful idea to shake up the big-business of prison re-entry: hire formerly incarcerated people to mentor folks who are newly released. Stacy, a current Bard MBA student,… Read More
Alumni Voices: Jose Pérez ’13
On the onset of the pandemic, BPI developed a newsletter that was sent to incarcerated students weekly to retain communication between students and the college. The newsletter contained news and updates from across BPI’s 7 in-prison campuses; the Bard Microcolleges in Holyoke, Brooklyn, and… Read More
Celebrating the launch of The Lilac House
The program, part of A New Way of Life's SAFE Housing Network, will bring needed resources to formerly incarcerated women in Westchester, NY. I founded The Lilac House project in April of 2022. The organization will address the lack of transitional housing for formerly incarcerated… Read More
Alumni Voices: Patrick Stephens ’19
On the onset of the pandemic, BPI developed a newsletter that was sent to incarcerated students weekly to retain communication between students and the college. The newsletter contained news and updates from across BPI’s 7 in-prison campuses; the Bard Microcolleges in Holyoke, Brooklyn, and… Read More
BPI Upstate Reentry Resident Shawn Young ’19 Talks Care, Concern, and Community on Radio Kingston’s Good Work Hour
For formerly incarcerated individuals returning to their communities, “clean, safe, and stable” housing is crucial, says Shawn Young ’19, upstate reentry resident for the Bard Prison Initiative. Speaking to his experience as a Bard alumnus through the Bard Prison Initiative, Young told the Good… Read More
‘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 changed his life forever.
“Psychologically, it was shocking, shocking to my conscience,” he says.
At the time, Brown was in ninth grade and working toward his GED after several setbacks, including the death of his grandmother who raised him as a child.
“That’s when the downward spiral started,” he says. “The eventual outcome was a 16-year prison sentence, unfortunately.”
Brown says he pleaded guilty in 2011 in Sullivan County to what he thought would be a 12-year sentence, which instead turned out to be 16 years behind bars.
He ended up at Coxsackie Correctional Facility where a flyer for the Bard Prison Initiative gave the teen an unexpected new direction.
“Everything happens for a reason. Honestly, I don’t think I would have ever gone to college if I didn’t go to prison,” he says.
Brown went on to finish his associate degree, while studying law and earning a paralegal certificate.
In 2020, he filed for an appeal in his own case and won.
“I was able to re-argue my appeal saying my guilty plea wasn’t under proper information from the court, challenging the conflict of interest between the judge and victim in my case,” he says.
Brown is now 29 years old and was released last year after serving 10 years in prison.
He’s taking classes toward his bachelor’s degree at Bard in Brooklyn and hopes to continue studying law at Columbia University.
He’s sharing his story as a message of hope for anyone in need of a second chance.
“It’s never too late to change a mindset. If you truly want something and you strive for it and you believe in what you’re working towards, anything is possible,” he says.
Studies show college prison programs have high success rates nationwide when it comes to lowering re-offense rates and helping incarcerated individuals find jobs when they’re released.
Learning to Code: Alumni Reflect on Their Experience in BPI’s Restart Program
BPI launched Restart in 2018 through the generous support of the National Science Foundation to build bridges between computer science training in prison and computer science entrepreneurialism after prison. Through the Restart program, BPI explored the question: "does informal learning offer an under-utilized pathway for… Read More