Prisoners at the Eastern New York Correctional Facility in the Catskills celebrated a victory after beating Harvard University undergraduates in a debate last month.

The two debate teams were brought together through an academic initiative powered by Bard College, which provides qualified prisoners with free college education and a second chance to build a better life, according to the Wall Street Journal. The program also allows convicts to take courses taught by faculty from Bard College.

The showdown took place in mid-September at the maximum-security prison, where the inmates have formed a popular debate club. During their debate with the Ivy League students, the inmates were tasked with defending a position that they personally opposed: They had to argue that public schools should be allowed to turn away undocumented students that entered the country illegally. The inmates made arguments that the Harvard team had not previously considered, leading the panel of judges to declare them as the winners.

After the debate, Carlos Polanco told the WSJ that he did not believe in denying children an education, and that he was grateful for the opportunity to attend Bard College in prison.

"We have been graced with opportunity," said Polanco, 31, who is in prison for manslaughter. "They make us believe in ourselves," reports CNN.

"The fact that we won is nice, but it isn't the most important thing," said Max Kenner, executive director of the Bard Prison Initiative, adding that the club is meant to help students articulate what they've learned. It has also drastically reduced the recidivism rate amongst enrolled prisoners.

"Students in the prison are held to the exact same standards, levels of rigor and expectation as students on Bard's main campus. Those students are serious. They are not condescended to by their faculty," said Kenner.

He added that the incarcerated men do not have access to the Internet and are forced to rely on learning material provided by the college.

"They make the most of every opportunity they have," Kenner said.

Following their loss, the Harvard club posted a message on Facebook congratulating the prisoners.

"Three members of the HCDU had the privilege of competing against members of the Bard Prison Initiative's debate program," reads the message. "There are few teams we are prouder of having lost a debate to than the phenomenally intelligent and articulate team we faced this weekend, and we are incredibly thankful to Bard and the Eastern New York Correctional Facility for the work they do and for organizing this event."

Before challenging the Harvard College Debating Union to a debate, the inmates also defeated debate teams from the University of Vermont and the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.