The Justice and Advocacy Alliance (“Alliance”) was a two-year (2022-2024) grant-funded opportunity that helped justice-impacted individuals develop a sense of belonging, reach their academic, personal, and/or professional goals, become independent learners and persist in their pursuit for higher learning.

Justice-impacted is broadly defined as any student or their immediate family members who have been impacted by the criminal legal system (for example: arrested, awaiting trial, convicted, probation, incarceration, parole, etc…).

We honored the legacy of Kalief Browder as he was an African American Bronx resident and a former BCC student who refused to become another statistic in the criminal “justice” system. Kalief’s experiences show the systematic injustices that exist in the system. At the age of 16, he was wrongfully arrested and accused of stealing a backpack. He refused to take a plea bargain and was held in Rikers Island for about 3 years awaiting trial (2010-2013), many of those days in solitary confinement. His case was dismissed, but he could not erase the negative experiences he encountered with criminal legal system. He died by suicide in 2015 at the age of 22 (Jennifer Gonnerman, The New Yorker, 2015 & 2016).

Alliance short-term goals:

Create a warm, welcoming, and inclusive space on the campus for justice-impacted individuals and a place to develop, demonstrate, test, and sustain effective practices.
Train faculty and staff to implement, and train others to implement, trauma-informed approaches and instructional practices based on empathy.
Train peer leaders in the communication, leadership, and trauma-informed approaches necessary to connect and support justice-impacted individuals on the BCC campus.
Support Future Now alumni attending BCC to persist in college, remain on track to graduate with an associate degree and/or transfer to a four-year college.
Evaluate the impact of the Alliance on student health, wellness, and academic success.
Develop a handbook, teaching and learning materials, exemplars, and presentations that share findings, support continuation, and create opportunities for feedback.

Alliance long-term goals:

Train faculty to improve instructional practices, staff-student interactions, and student experiences, leading to a shift in campus culture.
Disseminate findings and materials across CUNY and through Justice partners and networks.
Develop formal partnerships with community-based organizations to support student interest in seeking resources, and entry level career and employment pathways into the helping professions upon completion of their associate degrees.