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The document also stated that, in June of 2020, Black residents made up 42 percent of those in jail in Broome County, despite comprising about 6.2 percent of its population.

According to Alburquerque, women with intersectional identities are most impacted by inequality and prejudice within the justice system.

“Women of color’s presence in the prison system [has] increased heavily in recent years affecting the likes of Black women, Indigenous women, trans women and much more,” Alburquerque wrote. “The intersections of their identities have left them most vulnerable.”

On March 1, The Prison Policy Initiative, a thinktank that advocates against mass incarceration, released a report on women’s incarceration in 2023. The report cited a 2017 study that demonstrated inconsistencies in the sentencing of women who identify as lesbian or bisexual, with such women being more likely to receive longer sentences and more likely to be placed in solitary confinement than those who identify as heterosexual.

The report acknowledged the overrepresentation of Black and Indigenous women in prisons and jails. Based on this data,

BTV6 and CSB. After Nesser graduates this May, Lin will become the club’s sole president.

According to Lin, FPS will have both an executive board and a creative board, or “C-Board.”

“The [E-Board] will plan events and workshops and negotiate freelance opportunities for members, while the creative board will be focused on helping members produce their films of interest and learn more about a specific role (cinematographer, editor, etc.),” Lin wrote in an email.

“Essentially, in addition to cool events, we will have lots of resources to make your film idea a reality!”

A major goal in redesigning, according to Nesser, was to transition BTV6 from a television production club to a club that offers a host of resources for producing and filming.

This includes helping other clubs on campus in creating commercials and advertisements, as well as offering master classes on multiple production skills, Nesser explained.

FPS will be taking over the former BTV6 office and studio located in the Union Undergrounds. Office and studio renovations will continue, Nesser explained, which will include getting new couches and equipment, and getting rid of technology that does not work. FPS has also written a completely new constitution and is working on requesting an SA grant in hopes of updating the office for production events, as well as film events.

“People … just enjoy film in general, so we’ll have movie nights and movie screenings in our new studio space,” Nesser said. “We’ll have couches and beanbag chairs and a projector. So we’ll be able to do movie screenings and stuff like that. If you just want to come and hang out in our studio and watch a movie in the middle of the day, you can do that.”

FPS has multiple projects in preproduction, including a local food show where members will discuss the history of local Binghamton food shops, and an episodic drama comedy titled “The Johnny Charisma Show.”

Along with their preproduction projects, FPS has already begun hosting campus events. Lin shared a few of the upcoming events that members and non-members can look forward to participating in, including a student film festival on March 18.

With many of the current board members due to graduate this May, Zagham Shah, the FPS production manager and a senior double-majoring in physics and cinema, shared his optimism for the future success of FPS.

“It is my hope that the leadership of FPS can build on this year’s struggles so that the organization can continue to grow well past their departure,” Shah wrote in an email. “I know the club has a history of fizzling away every few years, but I think that this E-Board and the new C-Board can successfully revive the club once more!” the Initiative concluded that “while we are a long way from having data on intersectional impacts of sexuality and race or ethnicity on women’s likelihood of incarceration, it is clear that Black and lesbian or bisexual women and girls are disproportionately subject to incarceration.”

After participants had written their letters, they read positive affirmations together. The meeting was then concluded with a quote from Leslie Littlejohn, executive director of Girls on the Run of Central Oklahoma, who said, “fix another woman’s crown without telling the world that it is crooked.”

Alburquerque said a future goal of PULSE is to work with “Walk With Me,” a program that provides critical services to those leaving Broome County Jail — such as housing, support groups, peer advocacy and mentoring. She explained the importance of reaching out and encouraging women who are or have been incarcerated.

“We hope to share that their reality cannot be defined by a system that was meant to disservice them as that is not their story,” Alburquerque wrote in an email. “Though the fight still remains a long road ahead, mass incarceration is not something that can continue if the situation and systems around it are destroyed. But until that happens they need to remember to stay headstrong and education and elevation are the only way to uplift themselves and others in their situation whether that be incarcerated or formerly incarcerated.”

Genesis Hernandez, the treasurer of PULSE and a senior majoring in philosophy, politics and law, described the effect she hopes her letter has.

“Writing letters to incarcerated women allowed me to give other women words of encouragement that often gave me solace in times of adversity and hardship,” Hernandez wrote. “I hope that these words stick with them and have an impact on them as much as it did me!” intersectionality and feminism, empowering women of color and women in STEM. Along with these meetings, collaborations and community service and fundraising projects, PULSE will be highlighting revolutionary women in history on their Instagram.