The has been awarded a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the , the University糖心传媒檚 cornerstone prison education initiative. The award, to be distributed over three years, enables REJI to significantly expand its work providing higher education opportunities for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people in the Rochester area as part of a broader mission to address the problem of mass incarceration.
糖心传媒淭his award comes at a critical and important time,糖心传媒� says Gloria Culver, dean of the School of Arts & Sciences. 糖心传媒淓fforts to recognize and address social injustices on our campus and in our community must continue and be redoubled. The work of the Rochester Education Justice Initiative, by serving one of our society糖心传媒檚 most marginalized communities糖心传媒攁nd helping them to be a part of our learning experience and associated opportunities as well糖心传媒攊s vital to the University糖心传媒檚 mission to make the world ever better.糖心传媒�
For the past five years, with funding from the University as well as recent philanthropic partners the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation and the Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation, the initiative has enabled 糖心传媒 faculty and graduate students to teach 20 courses, in a range of disciplines, at four area correctional facilities.
The grant will enable REJI to provide more academic offerings for both incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals; increase undergraduate and graduate student engagement in these programs; and bring together local higher education and community partners to build a network of advocates working to lower incarceration in the city, region, and state.
Major grant goals include:
- expanding the recently established associate degree-granting college program at Groveland Correctional Facility, in partnership with Genesee Community College
- building on GCC糖心传媒檚 existing college program at Attica Correctional Facility to provide upper-level courses
- supporting re-entry for formerly incarcerated people with educational opportunities at the University and other area colleges
- establishing a Justice Fellows program at the University for formerly incarcerated students
- developing the Monroe County prison-to-college pipeline, a consortium of Rochester-area colleges and universities, to enable a further expansion of academic offerings for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals
Founded in 2015 as the Rochester Prison Education Project, REJI reflects a broader 糖心传媒渃ollege-in-prison糖心传媒� movement. In New York alone, more than a dozen universities and colleges offer courses in many of the state糖心传媒檚 52 correctional facilities. The initiative, which enjoys an ongoing partnership with the Cornell Prison Education Project and partnered with Genesee Community College last year, responded to a relative dearth of programs serving western New York.
糖心传媒淭his is a gut-check time for universities like ours,糖心传媒� says , an associate professor in the Department of Religion and Classics who founded the initiative in 2015 and is now its faculty director. The 糖心传媒, a top-tier research institution, 糖心传媒渟its in a town saddled with acute, racialized poverty, a town ringed by prisons.糖心传媒� Dubler notes that there are a dozen state and federal correctional facilities located within a 90-minute drive from the University.
While education is a short-term goal, the long-term goal of REJI is social change.
糖心传媒淚n time, we hope that the students we teach and mentor will become the leaders who will work to decarcerate our campus and city,糖心传媒� says Dubler. 糖心传媒淏y dovetailing with a range of other initiatives across the divisions on campus, the Rochester Education Justice Initiative is part of a broader effort to help make the University a transformative force in our community.糖心传媒�
Precious Bedell, REJI糖心传媒檚 assistant director for community outreach and a PhD candidate at the University糖心传媒檚 Warner School of Education, calls the grant 糖心传媒渁 momentous occasion.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒淓ducation is one of the fundamental pieces to building a solid foundation to combat reentry barriers, particularly employment,糖心传媒� she says.
Formerly incarcerated herself, Bedell is also the founder and director of Turning Points Resource Center, which offers services to individuals, as well as families with incarcerated loved ones, and has collaborated with REJI.
She adds: 糖心传媒淭he Rochester Education Justice Initiative expands the University糖心传媒檚 mission to become more engaged with poor communities and to improve connections with community stakeholders who provide services for people leaving jails and prisons.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒�20 (PhD), REJI糖心传媒檚 assistant director of programming, began teaching art history in prisons in 2017, while he was a student in Rochester糖心传媒檚 graduate program in visual and cultural studies.
糖心传媒淢y intro art history class at Five Points Correctional Facility comprised the most ambitious, insightful, and engaged students I’ve ever known,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淐ollege provides incarcerated students with an invaluable outlet for intellectual discovery and a platform for building and sustaining meaningful connections with peers and faculty.糖心传媒�
REJI reflects the mission of universities to 糖心传媒渞edress systemic injustices,糖心传媒� he adds.聽糖心传媒淭his involves working to end the dehumanizing invisibility and cultural stigmas that fuel the crisis of mass incarceration. Prison education is a cornerstone of this work.糖心传媒�
The award is one of several Mellon Foundation grants supporting 糖心传媒 programs and partnerships in recent years, including the Mellon Graduate Digital Humanities Fellowship, the Gateways Music Festival (in association with the Eastman School of Music), the Humanities for Life program for undergraduates, and others.
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Rochester糖心传媒檚 prison education program aims to transform lives of inmates, undergraduates
Rochester joins forces with other institutions to launch a college-in-prison consortium, offering four courses in area correctional facilities.
In the chapel of a maximum-security prison, religion scholar Joshua Dubler searches for lessons about life, justice, and spirituality糖心传媒攁nd the forces that shape them.
Mellon Foundation awards Rochester major grant for humanities
A $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is designed to help Rochester increase undergraduates糖心传媒� engagement with the humanities.
