Ducks @ Oregon - University of Oregon

Turned Inside-Out, Again

Peter E.

January 25, 2010 - 2:14 PM

What a morning! Nothing gets the week started like a nice meeting with Department of Corrections people. No, I wasn't in trouble with the law this time, I was meeting with Inside-Out professors, alumni, and Corrections research people to discuss plans for the national organization and the Oregon division of Inside-Out. In a nutshell, the Inside-Out program is a nationwide organization that builds bonds between universities and prisons to have an exchange in which university students take classes in prisons with inmates. The class is in no way a mentorship or test of the inmates; rather, students (of which I was one) learn with and from our fellow classmates both college students and inmates. My fellow blogger and friend Katie Dwyer both experienced the Inside-Out class together, and she's put together a conference in which top Inside-Out representatives, including founder Lori Pompa, are in attendance. The conference also includes one of the preeminent anti-death penalty activists Sister Helen Prejean. I have yet to meet Sister Helen, but I am anxiously awaiting her talk tonight.

The meeting this morning was really enlightening to learn more about the penal system through different avenues of education, research, and government. It was encouraging to see the positive changes, programs, and research that is being done. Before the Inside-Out class I never really considered prisons or inmates too much in any respect, and it's easy to forget about them if you do not know anyone incarcerated. However, the class was a real eye opener for how bleak the prison system really is. Although prison is a form of rehabilitation for individuals back into society, it is a shame that they do not have the opportunities to learn or further their education because our nation has taken a "tough on crime" attitude that neglects inmates' intellectual capacity. Twenty years ago many prisons offered grants for inmates to work on university degrees and had full programs, but this is no longer the case thanks to legislation and political campaigns that play on voters' fears of crime to perpetuate a nonpartisan travesty against inmates. In this respect, education in prisons is somewhat disheartening.

Despite the odds, the Inside-Out program has given me new hope. I am part of a new focus group that hopes to form a national network of outside alumni, inside alumni that our now released from prison, and inside students as well to work together to address increasing educational opportunities in prisons. Furthermore, the Inside-Out program is testament to the positive impact education has in the prisons, and they are making a difference nationwide by educating people both inside and outside prisons. Perhaps the most positive takeaway from today came from Department of Corrections researchers that feel the same way. It was reassuring that government wants to work with us to affect positive change. One woman from Corrections explained that in their department it's easy to take a "business as usual approach," but she assured us that that is "not good enough for me." We may be headed in the right direction.