Five Binghamton University students went to prison last Wednesday to debate a group of incarcerated individuals through the National Prison Debate League.

Marking the first time that students have had this experience, the group debated in a cell block at Cheshire Correctional Institution in Cheshire, Connecticut with about 100 other inmates watching, Joseph Leeson-Schatz, the University’s debate director, told Pipe Dream. The topic was “cash bail,” with the Cheshire team arguing the affirmative position in favor of eliminating cash bail throughout the United States and overcoming the BU team.

“Out of all the opportunities I can provide students on the debate team, being able to take them into a prison to debate against incarcerated intellectuals is definitely one of the most profound,” Leeson-Schatz wrote to Pipe Dream. “Being able to form lines of communication and civil dialogue between diverse populations who might not always come into contact with one another is a cornerstone to reach understanding and solutions. I know that without question these students will remember this experience for a lifetime.”

Working with the debate league for years, Leeson-Schatz said it was the first time he had seen the event held in a prison block with a live audience.

The National Prison Debate League “seeks to promote human potential and social diplomacy by creating safe educational spaces wherein a thoughtful exchange of ideas can increase knowledge, understanding, and community,” according to its mission statement.

Daniel Throop, the organization’s founder and executive director, wrote to Pipe Dream that while incarcerated in the Massachusetts state prison system in 2004, he recognized a lack of “postsecondary educational opportunities.” Beginning in 2006, inmates would hold their own internal debates, creating an outlet for more complex and academic discussion. After completing his 19-year sentence, Throop began running the league and sharing this outlet with other incarcerated people.

“Every NPDL debate demonstrates not only that intelligence cannot be caged but also that our unique brand of social diplomacy is shattering negative stereotypes about incarcerated people,” Throop wrote. “Lived experience cannot be fabricated and proximity provides visceral context. So the socio-cultural exchanges between each unique cohort of students from all backgrounds are mutually enriching on multiple levels.”

He added that the prison debate league experience is a valuable one for students, reinforcing their professional development and giving them the opportunity to interact with a group of people whose futures they may one day control. Debating with prisoners, he wrote, “holds up very challenging socio-political mirrors enhanced by undeniably positive interpersonal interactions.”

John Katsulas, a co-coach of the Cheshire team, said he worked with his colleague, Edward Panetta — the former director of debate at the University of Georgia — to prepare the team. Katsulas, also the coach of the Boston College debate team, said the most impressive part about the inmates was “how much knowledge they absorbed about the topic and their determination to improve their skills.”

He added that one debater, Declan, was very prepared, capable and a “force to be reckoned with,” especially given that he joined the team late.

The Friday before he brought his BU debaters to Cheshire, Leeson-Schatz coached his team of incarcerated individuals from the York Correctional Institution [HYPERLINK: https://www.bupipedream.com/news/campus-news/bu-debate-director-coaches-incarcerated-individuals/153471/] in Connecticut against Boston College students, winning on a 3-0 decision and solidifying a 2-0 record for his team.

Last May, Leeson-Schatz told Pipe Dream that after coaching elementary school and college students, the inmates were thankful for the time he took to prepare them, emphasizing their dedication to the craft.

Elias Dunleavy, a senior majoring in English, said it was eye-opening to interact with the Cheshire team. He mentioned that he was wearing an anime shirt, which garnered several compliments from the inmates, allowing them to connect on a different level.

“I think having this experience definitely humanized prisoners for me and made them feel like real people who I could talk to and have a conversation with, regardless of their sentence,” said Edan Amos, a freshman majoring in business administration, echoing the sentiment.