Bard Prison Initiative

Join us in making a gift that champions rigorous, in-person, and degree-granting college opportunities for incarcerated students in NY and beyond.

bpi.bard.edu/giving

BPI is tripling your gift!

Today, on BPI's 5th Annual Day of Giving, your gift, is being matched twice: first by our generous community partners at the Dermot Company, then again through Bard's endowment matching challenge grant, tripling your gift.

bpi.bard.edu/giving

Featured in the "Finding Beauty" series, Robert writes about the loss experienced when trees — young & old, small & large — are felled in a prison yard. The work reminds us of the meaning each of us can make, & the harm any of us can do, as we choose to honor or ignore what is precious around us.

Opinion | In Prison, Trees Are a Symbol of Freedom (Gift Article) These trees were the only living beings that I could touch without fear.

Today, the New York Times published this exceptional opinion piece by Robert Lee Williams.

Incarcerated at Eastern NY Correctional Facility, Robert — in addition to his work as an essayist — is a full-time Bard student enrolled through BPI.

Opinion: NYC Needs a Mayor Who is Serious About Safety - City Limits "We need a mayor who knows that in a city committed to seeing all of us thrive, there is no place for Rikers Island."

Opinion: NYC Needs a Mayor Who is Serious About Safety

Read the latest op-ed from BPI alum and Co-Director of Freedom Agenda, Darren Mack '13 (@iamdarrenmack.bsky.social), and former Speaker of the NYC Council, Melissa Mark-Viverito.

@citylimitsnews.bsky.social

citylimits.org/opinion-nyc-...

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise cloud communications.

Join us for the official launch of the GFS Manifesto— the first-ever collective document authored by formerly incarcerated university students and graduates worldwide that outlines key issues that must address to advance the "Education Not Incarceration" movement.

Virtual Event: BPI alum and Project Lead for Upstate Reentry and Capital Region Initiatives, Shawn Young '19, will be speaking in a webinar this Thursday, 6/26, along with our partners at @incarcernation.com. Register at zoom.us/j/95428845855

At BPI, that means proudly championing educational access and equity for students, wherever they may be — in prison and beyond — and continuing to fight for dignified, in-person college education as ambitious as the students we serve.

Wishing you a powerful and meaningful Juneteenth.

Join us today in reflecting on freedom, education, and what is possible when we reimagine who is deserving of access and opportunity in America.

Virtual Event: On 5/12 at 12, join BPI founder and Executive Director, Max Kenner, for a discussion on the state of play in New York’s prisons after the labor stoppages, the field of college-in-prison in NY, and goals for BPI in this new context.

Register at: bard.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Opinion | This Is How Universities Can Escape Trump’s Trap, if They Dare It’s been tried in other countries facing authoritarian crackdowns. It works.

M. Gessen makes the essential case here for colleges and universities to meet the Trumpist attack by recommitting to their core mission of education rather than attempting to safeguard their prestige & pocketbooks—and cites, for example, Bard & @bpi-bard.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/o...

attended the Morehouse (Inside) Art (Outside) event as part of an ongoing partnership with the BPI Consortium for the Liberal Arts In Prison.

#CommunityofPractice #ConsortiumForTheLiberalArtsInPrison #ACYHEP

This weekend BPI was at Morehouse College where alumnus and faculty member Elías Beltrán '17 met with the HEP faculty steering committee, guest lectured in several classes on campus, and

Venture toward a college education and apply now to the Bard Microcolleges in NYC, full-tuition-scholarship associate degree programs in Brooklyn and Harlem. All you need to apply is a high school diploma or its equivalent.

Sign up for a writing session and apply today at microcollege.bard.edu

Crisis in New York's Prisons - Bard Prison Initiative As you likely are aware by now, state prisons in New York have fallen into crisis over the past week. Last Monday, in an action uncoordinated with the union, officers at two upstate prisons walked off...

The wildcat strike quickly spread across the system, entirely shutting down one prison after another statewide. College and every activity in the prisons is completely on pause.

Read more on our blog bpi.bard.edu/news-stories...

As you likely are aware by now, state prisons in New York have fallen into crisis over the past week.

Last Monday, in an action uncoordinated with the union, officers at two upstate prisons walked off the job.

Illinois weighs opening state financial aid to students in prison Research shows higher education is effective at preventing people from re-offending. Legislation could give more people inside access to college classes.

It's time for Illinois to end the ban on access to financial aid (MAP grants) for incarcerated students. Read the latest coverage of the efforts to restore MAP access, with quotes from BPI's Director of National Engagement, in the link below.

#BackOnTheMapIL

The time is now to pass HB3740!

There's still time to contact the Illinois Senate to ask them to bring HB3740 to a vote. Visit bpi.bard.edu/beyond/advoc... and take actiok now!

College MAP grants for Illinois are a 'sound investment in public safety' - Bard Prison Initiative State Sen. Robert Peters wants to restore the grants for incarcerated people. The Illinois Senate is considering legislation to restore the Monetary Award Program funding, or MAP grants, for incarcera...

Thank you, Senator @robertpeters.bsky.social, for sharing your support in getting Illinois #BackOnTheMAP! bpi.bard.edu/news-stories...

At BPI, our charge is to find a different way forward. Ensuring that college-in-prison is as ambitious as the students it serves and creating new, unique pathways to college for every kind of student in every pocket of society is what we do — and do, unlike any other institution in America.

The time is now to pass HB3740!

Help restore MAP funding to incarcerated students in IL by making a few phone calls before the new year, telling Illinois lawmakers to bring HB3740 to a vote! Here’s the info and scripts: bpi.bard.edu/beyond/advoc...

#BACKONTHEMAPIL

showing how college-in-prison increases voting & civic life for alumni and extends to their families’ as well. The researchers are: Hancy Maxis ’15, MPH, Anibal Cortes ’08, MPH, Robert Riggs ’10, MA, MPhil, Rodney Spivey-Jones ’17, Matthew Denney, Ph.D., Hannah Henry, & Robert Tynes, Ph.D. 2/2

The BPI Emerging Scholars Research Group presented preliminary findings at the 2024 Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Research Conference in November. The paper, “The Effects of College-in-Prison on Social and Civic Engagement,” offered positive results 1/2

On #GivingTuesday, we're giving our gratitude and appreciation to the alumni, students, faculty, and every person who has been a part of BPI over the last 25 years. Join us by continuing to support BPI's work of reimagining the place of higher education, beyond 25.

Donate now at bpi.bard.edu/giving

The Higher Education Program in the Andrew Young Center at Morehouse College and the Bard Prison Initiative are pleased to announce the establishment of a Faculty Fellowship to support the development of Morehouse degree opportunities in prison.

morehouse.peopleadmin.com/postings/11354

Endowed Faculty Chairs: Call for Applications - Bard Prison Initiative In celebration of its 25th year, BPI invites applications from distinguished scholars for four endowed faculty positions. The endowed chairs are part of BPI’s unprecedented work to build a full-time c...

In celebration of its 25th year, BPI invites applications from distinguished scholars for four endowed faculty positions, which are part of BPI’s unprecedented work to build a full-time core faculty for college-in-prison and the Bard Microcolleges.

#BardPrisonInitiative #CollegeInPrison

"The Clean Slate Act would help heal generations of those
affected by racial injustice."

BPI alumnus La-Meik Taylor '23 spoke with CBS Albany
about the Clean Slate Act going into effect.