Berkeley Underground Scholars

Formerly incarcerated students at UC Berkeley face barriers to education. A majority of them are Latine, who are overrepresented in California prisons. 

For the first time, California will provide $15 million in ongoing funding to various academic recruitment and retention programs; however, concerns about how the funds will potentially be distributed have been raised.

The California Senate passed AB 2632, or the California Mandela Act on Solitary Confinement, Tuesday. If signed by Gov. Newsom, the bill would limit the use of solitary confinement in the state.

BUS’ mission is to provide incarcerated, formerly incarcerated and system-impacted students with the opportunity to pursue higher education.

Like a social pariah among victors with seemingly endless opportunities, I tactfully observed a living system of privilege and oppression that causes present and generational pain. I refused to submit to this feeling as I forged a new way forward.

A UC Berkeley program is working to reverse the school-to-prison pipeline by supporting formerly incarcerated students and students who have been impacted by the criminal justice system.

Delegates of the Graduate Assembly, or GA, unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday to support restructuring its relationship with the ASUC, from which the assembly has sought independence for several years.

Building a robust “prison-to-college” pipeline that begins during incarceration and continues post-release would improve access to college for formerly incarcerated Californians.

Sunday’s panel was about narratives of incarceration, yet the only one onstage who had personal experience with incarceration outside of volunteering was Alyssa Tamboura, the daughter of a previously incarcerated man.

A proposed California State Senate bill may extend the availability of Cal Grant funds to incarcerated students.