National Prison Debate League

It’s Cornell Giving Day! At the Cornell Prison Education Program, we encourage our students to do something different—to take steps that transform their lives and open doors they never knew existed. Today, we invite you to do the same by supporting our work. To our returning supporters, we extend our deepest gratitude—this work wouldn’t be possible without you. If you’re considering making a gift for the first time, we encourage you to do something different and join us in making a lasting impact. This year we have set a fundraising goal of $25,000 and ask for your help to reach it. Every contribution brings us closer. Thank you for being part of this journey! https://lnkd.in/eEZeu6hW

This Friday February 28th, please join us in #decarceratingminds as Brian DeLong brings his Hoosiers debate team from Indiana University Bloomington to debate against Liberation Aloud within the confines of Richland state prison. Use the link below to freely register for the 1:00 PM EST livestream and please share and repost this link! Patrick Waldinger, Fulton Debating Society of Boston College, Leah Castaneda, Chandler Dugal, Diane Sun, Willie Gomez, David Myland, Shaun Libby, Rebecca C. Villarreal, Harvard Defenders, Deval Patrick, Priscilla A. Guerrero, Esq., Gordon Mitchell, Jefferson Yahom, Jonathan Kenna https://lnkd.in/et-5v2ZV

This Friday February 28th, please join us in #decarceratingminds as Brian DeLong brings his Hoosiers debate team from Indiana University Bloomington to debate against Liberation Aloud within the confines of Richland state prison. Use the link below to freely register for the 1:00 PM EST livestream and please share and repost this link! Patrick Waldinger, Fulton Debating Society of Boston College, Leah Castaneda, Chandler Dugal, Diane Sun, Willie Gomez, David Myland, Shaun Libby, Rebecca C. Villarreal, Harvard Defenders, Deval Patrick, Priscilla A. Guerrero, Esq., Gordon Mitchell, Jefferson Yahom, Jonathan Kenna https://lnkd.in/et-5v2ZV

NPDL's newest team, the "Con-Tradictors" of Vermont, won their policy debate debut against Wake Forest University yesterday at Southern State Correctional Facility! The Con-Tradictors argued to affirm the resolution that "The United States should adopt the Norwegian model of corrections". The pure inspiration on display as these incarcerated intellectuals made their case for positive paradigm change was palpable, and we are so proud of our students for showing the world what's possible when they are invested in and provided meaningful opportunities to grow into their dormant human potential. Formerly incarcerated NPDL staff were on-site to facilitate the event with the support of Vermont DOC Commissioner Nick Deml, SSCF Superintendent Michaela Merrill, Program Coordinator Anthony Giordano, Communications Director Haley Sommer, and Operations Director Travis Denton. Justin Green and his Wake debaters; Cole Wolfe, Nashyah Brown, Cayden Hart, Devlin Brindle, and Nico Machado were all so gracious in serving as vital social ambassadors in ways that far transcend the scorecards. Formerly incarcerated leader and restorative justice practitioner David Myland moderated this debate and it was judged by Edward Panetta (Former Director of Debate-The University of Georgia) , Mikaela Malsin (Director of Debate Emory University), and Vincent Li (Debate Coach at Binghamton University). We salute you all. We know how hard it can be to open prison doors but thanks to this special community of practice we are collaboratively opening doors and minds on both sides of the walls. This is exactly what #decarceratingminds in action looks like. Love and respect to our entire community of change agents who keep us inspired everyday no matter how bleak things may seem. Change is not only possible, it's happening now. From Ohio to Finland, the NPDL is fulfilling its mission. Will you join us? John Katsulas, Fulton Debating Society of Boston College, Clarence Williams, Chandler Dugal, David Myland, Brittany LaMarr, Juliette Salah, Lee Perlman, Priscilla A. Guerrero, Esq., Brandon Brown, George Vicente, JD Linares, Leah Castaneda, Willie Gomez, Diane Sun, Ashley M. Appleby, Ph.D., Natasha Haverty, Deval Patrick, Patrick Waldinger, Adam R. Lee, Frank Irizarry, Joe Schatz, Tripp Rebrovik, Rebecca C. Villarreal, Ed Lee III, Molly Lasagna, Ascendium's Education Philanthropy, College Unbound, Edovo

On Thursday February 20th at 1:00 PM EST, the NPDL's newest team, the "Con-Tradictors" will be making their League debut against Wake Forest University while debating in favor of the US adopting the Norwegian model of corrections! Please tune into the livestream of this powerful policy debate using the free link below. Sharing and reposting of this event link is encouraged and appreciated. Special thanks are definitely in order to all of the phenomenal volunteers and partners who make groundbreaking events like this one possible, so we extend immense gratitude to Coach Justin Green and Jarrod Atchison of Wake Debate, Commissioner Nick Deml and his team at the Vermont Department of Corrections, special guest consultants Are Høidal of the Norwegian Correctional Services and Andrew Clark of the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy (IMRP), and most importantly the amazing students who have worked so hard to prepare for this important debate. So please tune in live on Thursday to show your support for #decarceratingminds https://lnkd.in/e8xAWVe4

https://lnkd.in/efmzpCup

#blackhistory #peopleshistory #antiracism

NPDL.org expands international debate with a second team in the Finnish prison system; the Jokela Musketeers! Please see the terrific article by Helsingin Sanomat (linked below) about the groundbreaking educational efforts being undertaken by Susanna Fabritius-Haverinen and Ammattiopisto Spesia. https://lnkd.in/eXCRgsHB National Prison Debate League is honored to be in community and partnership with such passionate educators, coaches, volunteers, and students in both the US and internationally. The growth trajectory is fantastic to observe and our Finnish students are not only adding much-needed perspective to US-centric policy discussions but they are also proving that inspiration knows no bounds. How else does a team of international students, who themselves speak a variety of different languages, with no access to college education or debate experience score wins against top American college teams like Binghamton University and Suffolk University - College of Arts & Sciences? Spear-heading NPDL's International Division is Assistant Director Brittany LaMarr in conjunction with partners like Susanna, Tripp Rebrovick, Harvard Debate Council, Juliette Salah, Frank Irizarry, and our newest team member; Diane Sun! We also gratefully acknowledge the support of Wordly, Edovo, and College Unbound for providing A.I. translation services, debate video content sharing, and college credits for our students, respectively. Thanks to this incredible community of practice, NPDL is making history again as the first educational nonprofit to provide college credit-bearing programming to international students without any prerequisites. And we're just getting started! We don't receive any operational grant funding, so we are currently relying upon private donations to sustain and grow this work across the globe in an effort to ensure that no voices are excluded from the important conversations we as a society need to have. So if you'd like to donate to support our mission, please use this link and repost: https://lnkd.in/eZuttuuA #decarceratingminds Ascendium's Education Philanthropy, John Katsulas, Shaun Libby, Deval Patrick, Chandler Dugal, Brandon Brown, David Myland, Willie Gomez, Patrick Waldinger, Jarrod Atchison, Justin Green, Edward Panetta, Adam R. Lee, The Wesleyan Center for Prison Education, Mellon Foundation, Nike Communications, Inc., National Football League (NFL), WBUR, NPR, The Marshall Project, The New Press, The Educational Justice Institute (TEJI) @ MIT, Charlotte West, Yale Prison Education Initiative at Dwight Hall, Erin Corbett, MBA, EdD, Rebecca C. Villarreal, Robert Samuels

Incarcerated intellectuals in Connecticut remain undefeated in policy debate! On Wednesday January 29, 2025 a team of incarcerated students participating in the T.R.U.E. Program at Cheshire Correctional Institution outscored Binghamton University's squad on the topic of eliminating cash bail. T.R.U.E. Debate made their National Prison Debate League debut last Spring against New York University. Yesterday's win moves their overall record to 2-0 proving that there are no inferior minds; just unequal access to opportunity. Special thanks to Brittany LaMarr for coordinating and moderating this event on location in the cellblock of Cheshire CI. We salute the debaters from Binghamton for being such willing social ambassadors as we collaboratively seek to promote communication and civic engagement despite the artificial barriers wrongly dividing our communities. Coaches John Katsulas of the Fulton Debating Society of Boston College and Joe Schatz of Binghamton University helped the teams prepare for this powerful and important policy debate. We'd also like to acknowledge our incredible volunteers, partners, and researchers whose support make transcendent events like this one in CT possible: Troy Grant, Clyde Meikle, Eulalia Garcia, College Unbound, Edovo, Ascendium's Education Philanthropy, The Wesleyan Center for Prison Education, Boston College, Stacy Burnett, MBA, JSTOR, Brian Scott-Smith, Community Partners in Action, Massachusetts Bail Fund, and the National Bail Fund Network. NPDL thanks you all for helping us to elevate our collective humanities as well as the conversation! #decarceratingminds #TRUEdebate #prisoned #civicengagement

Thanks to Brittany LaMarr, the Cheshire team had access to JSTOR to prepare for this debate against Binghamton University. It took a village - Daniel Throop's vision for National Prison Debate League, the IT team at Connecticut Department of Corrections, Tess Wheelwright and The Wesleyan Center for Prison Education, and, of course, funding provided by Ascendium's Education Philanthropy to pay for the laptops and events. Public events like this, connecting people inside with people outside are important. Even if you aren't a debate-oriented person, register for this and spend time in community with interesting people, and leave room to be amazed. If you can't catch it live, register so you can catch the recording at your leisure. It will be time well spent! Link in post below. :-) #prisoneducation #prison #debate