Cohort One

Three formerly incarcerated men, transformed through education and restorative justice, journey from prison cells to campus classrooms as they rebuild their lives on the outside while pursuing a college degree.

Cohort One presents Kentel, David, and Nathan, each of whom served a lengthy prison sentence (8-20 years) for a serious crime. While incarcerated at MCI-Concord outside of Boston, they met Dr. Hilary Binda, a Tufts civic studies professor, who has become a fierce advocate for incarcerated students while developing the Tufts University Prison Initiative of Tisch College (TUPIT).

Seeing the potential in these intelligent and insightful men whose difficult circumstances led them to prison, Hilary has spent the last decade working to help them — and others like them — fulfill their promise. In addition to the degree program (that grants Tufts BAs both inside and outside of prison), she has created a reentry program to help women and men adjust to life after incarceration.

Showing what is possible when the justice system focuses on potential rather than punishment, Cohort One is a story of hope and redemption.