Education for the Incarcerated

A week after classes began for more than nine thousand Boston College undergraduates last fall, a smaller group of new students began their own BC journeys. The sixteen incarcerated men, housed at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Shirley, Massachusetts, became the first participants in Boston College’s Prison Education Program (BCPEP), which brings college-level liberal arts courses to inmates. Launched with the support of an anonymous donor, the program is part of a network of education programs affiliated with the Bard Prison Initiative.

Course offerings include philosophy, algebra, and writing, all taught by Boston College instructors and based on curricula taught to traditional BC students. Each course is worth three college credits. 

Within MCI, competition to participate in the program’s inaugural semester was fierce, said Program Director Isabel Lane. Nearly one hundred inmates signed up to take the admission exam, and forty-five finalists interviewed for seats in the classroom. Applicants were judged on “promise, passion, and intellectual curiosity,” Lane said. “Ultimately what that results in is a really interesting mix of people,” she said. “For some it’s been years since they’ve been in a classroom, while others have just taken a math class several months ago.” 

Recent years have seen a rise in prison education programs, with support coming from both sides of the political aisle. A just-released documentary series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, College Behind Bars, shines a spotlight on the Bard Prison Initiative and the power of higher education to combat America’s “criminal justice crisis.”

To Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley, a formal prison education program is a natural extension of BC’s Jesuit, Catholic tradition. “If you study the history of the Jesuits, there’s so much evidence of remarkable work being done in prison settings,” Quigley explained. “Some of the most inspiring Jesuits I’ve met around the world and on the BC campus are men who are living out their vocation working with the incarcerated.”

The University intends to grow the program. Courses in history, theology, and literature are new this spring, and BCPEP plans to admit a second cohort of students next fall. Quigley hopes that the program will be fully accredited within a few years, allowing MCI students to earn a Boston College diploma. “Our goal is to make this program not just a few classes or a few discrete experiences,” he said. “We want it to be a degree program.” 

So far, that level of commitment has been matched by MCI students. “When the door closes and your class starts, it’s not MCI Shirley, it’s Boston College,” Lane said. 

Excitement has also been growing among BC faculty, including Assistant Professor of the Practice of Philosophy Cherie McGill, who teaches the program’s Intro to Philosophy class. Bringing the educational opportunities of BC to students normally excluded from higher education is gratifying work that serves the common good, she said. “Education has the power to reshape a life, and with that comes the potential for our graduates to contribute great value to their communities,” McGill said. “These students bring such talent and dedication to their work, and I have every expectation that they will go on to do great things.” ◽