Underground Scholars Initiative

The Student Policy Institute at Berkeley, or SPIB, hosted a panel Wednesday at campus' Goldman School of Public Policy to discuss policing in the East Bay. Organized by SPIB’s advocacy department, the panel featured Berkeley Law criminal justice professor Jonathan Simon, Underground Scholars Initiative member Cesar Garcia and campus legal studies major Spring Keosoupha.

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

The budget — which was introduced by Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, in December — will increase the UC system’s funding from about $3.35 billion to roughly $3.55 billion, according to California Legislative Information, if it is approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

In 2013, UC Berkeley alumni, Danny Murillo and Steven Czifra, met on campus and shared their backgrounds on being formerly incarcerated and system impacted individuals. Together, Murillo and Czifra co-founded the Underground Scholars Initiative, or USI, a student-run organization for those who have been personally impacted by the U.S. criminal justice system.

Violeta Alvarez, executive director of the Berkeley Underground Scholars program, was named “2018 Woman of the Year” by state Sen. Nancy Skinner for her work with formerly incarcerated students in a tweet Tuesday.

A study conducted by a UC Berkeley professor that was published Monday found that individuals sentenced to prison rather than probation were more likely to re-enter the prison system.

The California State Legislature passed Senate Bill 312 on Tuesday, allowing individuals convicted of a crime before their 17th birthday to petition a court and potentially have their criminal record sealed.

Under a new University of California hiring policy, prospective university employees will no longer be asked about prior convictions in their initial employment applications. This push to “ban the box” will take effect as early as October, just over a year after UC Berkeley became the first UC campus to institute the policy.

Francis, or “Frankie,” Guzman, a 2007 UC Berkeley graduate, returned to his alma mater Sunday afternoon to address the second graduating class of the Underground Scholars Initiative, a pioneering program unique to UC Berkeley that connects campus resources to formerly incarcerated students and students with formerly incarcerated family members.

Students gathered on Sproul Plaza on Thursday afternoon to protest the arrest of campus student Jorge-David Mancillas, known as JD to his peers.