Prison education: How a Tufts program gives inmates college degrees
An initiative by New England Council member, Tufts University, has achieved remarkable success in recent years by allowing inmates to pursue and complete a college education. The Tufts University Prison Initiative at the Tisch College (TUPIT), established in 2016, fosters collaboration between Tufts faculty, students, and both incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. This partnership aims to address challenges related to mass incarceration and racial justice. TUPIT also provides a unique opportunity for students who begin their studies while incarcerated to continue and complete their education on the Tufts campus after their release.
TUPIT was created by Hilary Binda, a senior lecturer at Tufts University, and is now the program’s Executive Director. TUPIT also includes the Tufts Educational Reentry Network, MyTERN, an accredited one-year college and reentry program for people post-incarceration.
One of the program graduates, 33-year-old Juan Pagan, said in his graduation speech, “Professors affirming that I am worthy and have something positive to offer society is the greatest gift I have ever received. I now know that I can be an asset to my family and community because [the program] helped me gain back that ineffable part of me that prison repressed — my humanity”.
The New England Council commends Tufts University for this important initiative.
Read more in the Boston Globe.