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To the Editor,
Your article, “Universities Are Hotbeds of Scholarship on Mass Incarceration. But Are They Doing Enough to Fix the Problem?
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To the Editor,
Your article, “Universities Are Hotbeds of Scholarship on Mass Incarceration. But Are They Doing Enough to Fix the Problem?” (The Chronicle, June 27), asks the essential question of whether we can do more.
At CUNY’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which is one of the institutions mentioned in the article, the answer is always yes. We are deeply engaged in finding innovative solutions to the entrenched societal problem of mass incarceration. We carry out this mission in ways both highly focused, and broadly supported by our identity as “Fierce Advocates for Justice,” with one of the most racially and economically diverse student populations in the nation.
In 2005, John Jay established the Prisoner Reentry Institute (PRI) to focus on reentry issues and provide access to higher education to people involved in the criminal-justice system. Among PRI’s core values is the importance of elevating their voices. Their perspectives are a defining thread in the direct service, policy, and research work of the institute.
Since 2011, the Prison-to-College Pipeline has enrolled incarcerated students from across New York State in credit-bearing CUNY courses, in a reentry-oriented college-in-prison program that assists released students in earning their degrees in the community. This program is a Second Chance Pell Pilot site.
PRI’s College Initiative program supports over 300 students with criminal-justice histories to enroll and succeed at one of 20 different CUNY campuses. Each year 20 to 30 students earn an academic degree, 20 percent of which are their second or third academic degree. The College Initiative also invests in the leadership development of its students through a structured peer-mentoring program supported by CUNY’s Black Male Initiative. This experience informs the PRI’s role as a key provider of technical assistance to the seven colleges funded by the District Attorney of New York’s Criminal Justice Improvement Initiative to expand their college-in-prison programs, and their support for returning students in the community.
PRI’s research in this sector began in partnership with the Urban Institute in 2005, with the first national roundtable on education, incarceration, and reentry. These issues continue to be the subject of ongoing and regular roundtables with community and government partners. Publications such as the reentry guide, “Back to School: A Guide to Continuing Your Education after Prison,” funded in 2010 by the U.S. Department of Education and revised in 2015, assist people in prison with a step-by-step walk-through of planning for and accessing education programs post-incarceration. The Participatory Action Research study, “Higher Education and Reentry: The Gifts They Bring,” explores the lived experiences of people with criminal-justice histories as they attend and contemplate enrolling in college.
This targeted work takes place within the broader context of John Jay’s status as a nationally recognized engine of social mobility, locus of diversity, and catalyst for Black student success. We are proud of the positive influence our research has on public policy, but we are even prouder of the role we’ve played in supporting individuals and communities directly affected by mass incarceration. We’re perhaps most proud of the contributions these individuals and communities have made to John Jay’s institutional identity. Our “Fierce Advocates for Justice” will always strive to do more.
Bianca van Heydoorn
Director of Educational Initiatives
Prisoner Reentry Institute
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
New York
Daniel Stageman
Director of Research Operations
Office for the Advancement of Research
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
New York
