PRESS RELEASE
FRRC Executive Director Granted Honorary Doctorate Degree from Bard College
PRESS RELEASE
FRRC Executive Director Granted Honorary Doctorate Degree from Bard College
ORLANDO, FL — June 20, 2023 — The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC) is excited to announce that its Executive Director, Desmond Meade, has been granted an honorary doctorate from Bard College. Bard College offers college classes to people incarcerated under its Bard Prison Initiative (BPI).
Meade was granted the prestigious recognition because of his extraordinary work with criminal justice reform and Amendment 4, a grassroots citizen’s initiative which restored voting rights to over 1.4 million Floridians with past felony convictions in 2018.
Bard College officially hooded Meade at its commencement earlier this month in New York at Eastern Correctional Facility, where he was the keynote speaker. Sixty-three incarcerated students were awarded degrees during the ceremony.
Meade said, “Education in prison is pivotal for returning citizens and can change the trajectory of someone’s life. Bard College is making a difference in our community and preparing returning citizens to be viable tax-paying citizens once they return to their communities.”
Bard says students at BPI are held to the same standards as all Bard College students, and undergo a selective admission process, and enroll full-time in the same courses they would on Bard’s main campus.
ORLANDO, FL — June 20, 2023 — The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC) is excited to announce that its Executive Director, Desmond Meade, has been granted an honorary doctorate from Bard College. Bard College offers college classes to people incarcerated under its Bard Prison Initiative (BPI).
Meade was granted the prestigious recognition because of his extraordinary work with criminal justice reform and Amendment 4, a grassroots citizen’s initiative which restored voting rights to over 1.4 million Floridians with past felony convictions in 2018.
Bard College officially hooded Meade at its commencement earlier this month in New York at Eastern Correctional Facility, where he was the keynote speaker. Sixty-three incarcerated students were awarded degrees during the ceremony.
Meade said, “Education in prison is pivotal for returning citizens and can change the trajectory of someone’s life. Bard College is making a difference in our community and preparing returning citizens to be viable tax-paying citizens once they return to their communities.”
Bard says students at BPI are held to the same standards as all Bard College students, and undergo a selective admission process, and enroll full-time in the same courses they would on Bard’s main campus.
FRRC is a grassroots, membership organization run primarily by Returning Citizens (Formerly Convicted Persons) who are dedicated to ending the disenfranchisement and discrimination against people with convictions and creating a more comprehensive and humane reentry system that will enhance successful reentry, reduce recidivism, and increase public safety.
For interview requests or further information contact kinyatta@floridarrc.org, or at the phone number, 407-664-6451.
FRRC is a grassroots, membership organization run primarily by Returning Citizens (Formerly Convicted Persons) who are dedicated to ending the disenfranchisement and discrimination against people with convictions and creating a more comprehensive and humane reentry system that will enhance successful reentry, reduce recidivism, and increase public safety.
For interview requests or further information contact kinyatta@floridarrc.org, or at the phone number, 407-664-6451.