Michael Bien Establishes Scholarship Fund for Project Rebound students in memory of his late wife Jane E. Kahn
Michael Bien and the late Jane E. Kahn
Jane E. Kahn (1954-2018) was an illustrious civil rights lawyer who fought tirelessly to improve the rights and well-being of incarcerated people in California and beyond. She often partnered with her husband and fellow attorney Michael Bien, whom she met in her first year as an undergraduate at Brandeis University. Together, they diligently advocated for the protection of the basic and constitutional rights of incarcerated people, resulting in major reforms to the California penal system. Jane’s wins included a landmark 2011 Supreme Court ruling requiring a significant reduction of the overcrowded California prison population to allow systemwide improvements in mental and health care.
Civil rights attorney Jane E. Kahn (1954-2018)
After a struggle with cancer, Jane passed away at the end of 2018 at the age of 64. Michael continues the couple’s trailblazing work through class action lawsuits that are designed to protect the disenfranchised and make our society more equitable. “Jane had always been interested in law as a vehicle for social change and for improving society,” says Michael. “She cared a lot about improving the lives of incarcerated people and formerly incarcerated people and worked to make sure that they had reentry opportunities and a fair shot. She was a real believer in education as a tool for people to transition back to society and to have the tools to succeed when they come out of prison.” Jane served on the Board of the Prison University Project at San Quentin—now renamed Mount Tamalpais College—and Michael has continued to support the College with gifts in Jane’s memory.
Jane and Michael were dedicated donors to San Francisco State University’s Project Rebound program before she died. Project Rebound is one of the first in the country to provide currently and formerly incarcerated people with alternatives to the revolving door of the criminal justice system. Working inside prisons and on campus, it provides tools and resources to scaffold incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students in pursuing college and graduate degrees. It is very successful, with high graduation rates and low recidivism amongst its students and alumni.
In 2023, Michael deepened his commitment to Project Rebound and made a generous gift to provide scholarships for Project Rebound students by establishing the Jane Kahn Endowed Memorial Fund. The fund will further Jane’s legacy by providing formerly incarcerated graduate school students—who are often less eligible for grants and loans than undergraduates—with scholarships.
“Jane believed that we need to allow people to bring their best self forward, to give them an opportunity to rejoin society in a meaningful way,” says Michael. “Project Rebound connects to individual human beings in a way that makes a difference in their lives. In a broader sense, it helps defeat the myth that people who have been found guilty of doing something bad at one point in their lives should be ‘thrown away.’ People can change, and we have to give them the tools to do that, and to rejoin and be contributing members of society.”
After decades of advocating for systemic change, supporting Project Rebound has a poignancy for Michael. He hopes that his gift will inspire others to give to the program as well. “By supporting these students, we’re showing them that society has not given up on them,” says Michael. “And then they become great messengers in turn to their peers and to people that they can reach, that there is a path forward, you're important people in society and people believe in you.”
“I hope that others who have the means to give will see this program as deserving of their support. That they will join us in supporting Project Rebound because I know the need is much greater than what we can address with this one gift.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT DONATING TO PROJECT REBOUND:
Contact Anjali Billa, Associate Vice President of University Development, at anjalibilla@sfsu.edu
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