“Best of Insight 2022”: A Cal State program called “Project Rebound” creates a higher education pipeline for those incarcerated. We’ll learn about the program at Sac State. CapRadio Jazz Host Avery Jeffery’s shares his conversation with Keith Hatschek on his book “The Real Ambassadors”.  

Project Rebound

In 2016, the RAND Corporation found that individuals who participate in educational programs while in prison are 43% less likely to return to prison. And California State University campuses are offering education as a gateway to avoid re-incarceration. Project Rebound was created in that spirit. The program began at San Francisco State University by John Irwin, a former prison inmate who became a college professor. The program has now expanded to over 14 Cal State campuses including Sacramento State. Insight spoke with Aaron Greene, who is a former student turned director of Project Rebound at Sac State as well as current student Desiree McFarland about how the program is working to help those formerly incarcerated achieve their higher education goals and avoid re-offending.   

"The Real Ambassadors"

Dave Brubeck is a renowned American jazz pianist and composer, but he's much more than a jazz icon. Brubeck also composed classical music, choral works, and ballet. He even wrote a Broadway-style musical in collaboration with his wife Lola. That musical, The Real Ambassadors starring Louis Armstrong, is the subject of a new book by retired University of the Pacific professor Keith Hatschek. It tells the social justice back-story of the Brubecks’ magnum opus, which premiered at the Monterey Jazz Festival 60 years ago this month.  CapRadio Jazz Host Avery Jeffry shared his conversation with Hatschek and the impact of the musical.