Early College Folio
Abstract
The Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) currently operates full-tuition scholarship Bard College degree programs across seven New York State prisons, three Microcollege campuses created in partnership with community-based institutions, and on the Annandale campus of Bard College, where adult students are completing degrees through the BardBac. Since 2005 when the first degrees were granted to BPI students, the program has issued over 5,000 credits and more than 700 degrees.
This conversation between BPI alumnus Elías Beltrán, who earned his Bard College bachelor’s degree in 2017 while incarcerated, and Megan Callaghan, the program’s Dean, touches upon Elías’s upcoming transition to BPI faculty, the necessity of reframing college-in-prison, and the power and impact of creating educational opportunities for those who struggle to see their potential as students.
Recommended Citation
Beltrán, Elías and Callaghan, Megan
(2023)
"Commitment to Access: A Conversation about the Unconventional and College-in-Prison,"
Early College Folio: Vol. 2:
Iss.
2, Article 8.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/earlycollegefolio/vol2/iss2/8
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