A three-year $750,000 grant awarded to the Michigan College Access Network aims to strengthen and expand education programs in the state’s prison system.
The grant will support the continued development of the Michigan Consortium for Higher Education in Prison, and will help bring humanities-centered education modules to incarcerated individuals across the state.
“A college education is a significant means by which these students experience personal transformation, develop the human skills necessary for success in the workplace and the community, and change the narrative of their lives in ways that permit them to flourish as people, citizens and neighbors,” the consortium’s Steering Committee Chair Richard Ray said in a statement.
Ray added that Mellon’s partnership in the organization’s work will allow it to continue to build on efforts to sustain and expand the higher education-in-prison ecosystem in Michigan, “which is a huge win for the citizens of our state,” he said.
The organization will use the grant to hire its first-ever executive director, enhancing coordination and advocacy capabilities, and to establish a competitive subgrant program from member institutions — as well as supporting the humanities-based curriculum effort and community building initiatives.
As a statewide consortium, the organization is made up of 14 colleges and universities providing higher education in 17 Michigan correctional facilities. It serves 1,300 incarcerated students and advocates for policies to expand higher education. The goal is to not only offer expanded education access, but to do so while affording incarcerated students restored dignity, personal agency and economic opportunity.
Michigan College Access Network will help administer the grant.
“As we work toward Michigan’s Sixty by 30 attainment goal, it’s crucial to include populations that are too often overlooked in the college conversation, including Michigan’s incarcerated people,” Ryan Fewins-Bliss, MCAN executive director, said in a statement. “This generous support from the Mellon Foundation will strengthen college-in-prison programs across the state, offering more incarcerated individuals the chance to reenter society with valuable skills that lead to good, stable jobs and strengthen their communities.”
Shawn England is the consortium’s affinity group project manager. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Calvin University while incarcerated. England said he has seen the benefits of humanities-based education in prison learning environments.
“This sort of education is essential to cultivating the kind of reflective, empathetic citizens our communities need,” England said in a statement. “Studying literature, history, philosophy and the arts helped me grapple with ethical questions, understand diverse human experiences, and imagine new possibilities for my life. This is an investment in people’s capacity to grow, connect and contribute meaningfully to society. Now that I have left prison and am working in the outreach community, I have seen how fully my education in the humanities prepared me to be a productive citizen, and, more importantly, a good human being.”
Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jon King for questions: info@michiganadvance.com.
