In 2019, Boston College launched BC Prison Education Program, or PEP. Just last month, on September 23, 2024, the first three students of the program graduated, receiving Applied Liberal Arts degrees through the Woods College of Advancing Studies. The PEP is spearheaded by Director Dr. Patrick Conway, a former criminal defense investigator who understands the importance of treating our inmates as real people.
Conway explains how BC fulfills its mission through the PEP. According to him, the program demonstrates “that Jesuit lens of being men and women for and with others, respecting sort of the specialness of what it means to be human, exploring your own humanity, and thinking of what you have to contribute.”
The program has admitted 80 students over five cohorts since 2019, with 10 students continuing their education at BC after being released from prison. The program is free for those who participate and thrives because of generous donations from anonymous donors.
Incarcerated individuals in the program complete 10 hours of courses per week at Massachusetts Correctional Institution-Shirley, a men’s medium security prison. As of now, the program offers 10 courses per semester and occurs within a prison setting. Compared to studying on campus, the offerings are limited due to the constraints of working in a prison. Conway suggests that access to technology is one of the main obstacles to operating successfully, as students are unable to access BC Agora Portal or Gmail services. However, BC has provided laptops for each student and professor with access to Microsoft Word and JSTOR for each student.
If released from prison during the time of the program, students have the opportunity to continue their degree on campus as full-time BC students, as well as change their major within the Woods College if they would like. Once released, students are paired with a financial advisor to help them navigate applying for financial aid like the rest of BC’s students. One student, Nurudeen Alabi, has continued his studies post-release and plans to graduate this spring with a business degree from the Woods College.
Once released from prison, students can truly interact with the entire BC community. Conway notes how many students in the program feel deep pride for the school’s community, sometimes more than he sees on campus. Post-release, students are able to attend football games, join clubs, and participate in all the things that a BC student would say is essential to the college experience. The hope is that students understand that they are part of a community beyond that of prison walls. “I don’t want students’ criminal record and their history of incarceration to be their primary identity,” Conway says. “I want them to kind of start building towards something where, yes, that’s a part of their story, but they’re more than that.”
One of the program’s main focuses currently is the transition of students who are released from prison and decide to continue their education further. “We want our students not only to stay out of prison, but to lead meaningful and successful and fulfilled lives post release and that, because that’s really, really challenging,” Conway says.
Professor Michelle Brooks, the PEP’s assistant director, plays an important role in managing the program’s reentry initiative, aimed at helping students adjust to academic life post-release. At first, this initiative familiarized students with academic advising, the Center for Student Wellness, and the Connors Family Learning Center. Now, this transition process has advanced to a Student Success Course where students learn all that they need to know about adjusting to University life while in a class setting. Brooks teaches the Student Success Course as an English class aimed at providing all the means necessary for the released inmates to achieve academic success. Brooks hopes to create a comforting environment of familiarity by incorporating readings from formerly incarcerated authors, being a resource for individual support, and walking students through steps they can take to be successful in further courses. “It’s a safe place where they can make mistakes, they can figure out better ways of doing things, and we can talk about it, and they can help each other,” Brooks explains.
The course is being offered for the first time this semester and is a testament to the holistic approach Conway envisions for the program. Conway says that in the future, he hopes “that we’re able to start developing internship and career opportunities,” and “that we’re able to start helping students navigate some of the housing issues or transportation issues.”
Providing a more holistic approach to reentry will require partnerships throughout the BC community, including alumni and staff networks. Brooks notes how the students themselves are not the only ones benefiting from this program. It has encouraged her to ask and deeply consider, “How do we educate ourselves and educate employers on fair chance hiring for people with criminal backgrounds?”
While the BC PEP may be limited in scope, it is still one of the leading programs of its kind in the country. Education has proven to reduce recidivism, the tendency of a person to re-offend, by 43%. But this program aims to do much more than reduce recidivism rates. It is a program that, according to the directors, enriches the entire campus community. Since becoming assistant director of the program, Brooks has been impressed by the scope of the effort she sees from the University.
“They’re providing access to this high-quality education,” says Brooks. “In the middle of a prison where people are so disempowered and dehumanized that through getting this bachelor’s degree, the students can, you know, really find themselves.”
Matcha and coffee enthusiast with a love for all things mystery and true crime.
