Georgetown University has hired Adnan Syed, a man who was released from prison in September after serving 23 years for a murder conviction that was analyzed in the controversial New York Times podcast Serial.
The university says that Syed, who had been serving a life sentence for the 1999 murder of his high school classmate Hae Min Lee, is now working as a program associate with its Prisons and Justice Initiative.
The initiative “addresses the root causes and consequences of mass incarceration and offers educational programs and training for incarcerated individuals and returning citizens,” Georgetown said.
Syed was convicted of strangling and killing Lee — his former girlfriend — in 1999, when he was 17 years old. His murder conviction became popular once he became the subject of the Serial podcast, which questioned whether or not he had received a fair trial while smearing Lee’s family as racist. The New York Times took ownership of the podcast in July 2020.
Georgetown, which claims that Syed was “wrongfully convicted,” also mentioned that in the year leading up to his release, he was enrolled in the university’s inaugural Bachelor of Liberal Arts program while serving his prison sentence in Maryland.
“To go from prison to being a Georgetown student and then to actually be on campus on a pathway to work for Georgetown at the Prisons and Justice Initiative, it’s a full circle moment,” Syed said. “PJI changed my life. It changed my family’s life. Hopefully I can have the same kind of impact on others.”
While working at his new job at PJI, Syed plans to continue his Georgetown education and eventually go to law school, the university said.
Syed was freed from prison after his murder conviction was overturned by a judge in September. Instrumental in the decision was far-left activist prosecutor Marilyn Mosby, who moved to vacate his conviction only after losing a primary election to maintain her position as Baltimore City State’s Attorney.
“We were thrilled to see him exonerated and then be able to welcome him to the Prisons and Justice Initiative,” PJI director Marc Howard said. “He is one of the most resilient and inspiring people I’ve ever met, and he has so much to offer our team and the other students in PJI programs.”
Lee’s family reacted to Syed’s prison release by filing an appeal with the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.
Serial has come under fire over the past decade for its skewed and misleading approach to the Syed-Lee case.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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