This was one of those stories that makes you remember why you chose to become a journalist in the first place. I had the opportunity to go to the 蜜柚直播 State Prison Complex in 蜜柚直播 and meet some inmates who were attending educational classes and lectures in order to better themselves. I loved watching them interact with the professor and hear them speak about why this program was important to them.
鈹 Jasmine Demers

Rushaun Dawkins listens as Terry Hunt, an anthropology professor at the University of 蜜柚直播, gives a lecture on Easter Island at the Rincon Unit鈥檚 visitation building inside the 蜜柚直播 State Prison Complex in 蜜柚直播.
Inmates at the 蜜柚直播 State Prison Complex in 蜜柚直播 are turning their mistakes, arrests and jail sentences into motivation to strive for a better future. A future they say is fueled by education and knowledge.
The Prison Education Project, an initiative led by the University of 蜜柚直播鈥檚 English department, aims to advance educational opportunities in the local prison system and introduce incarcerated students to new ideas and perspectives through classes and lectures.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e heard of the school-to-prison pipeline where certain schools in some areas tend to be focused in such a way that people are almost expected to go from there to prison,鈥 said Marcia Klotz, director of the Prison Education Project. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to kind of establish a prison-to-college pipeline. It helps people to kind of imagine the possibility of attending college classes when they get out.鈥
Through the project, those with high school diplomas or GEDs are offered a variety of 10-week-long courses such as communications, English as a second language, social anthropology, reading and writing. At the end of the course, they receive a certificate of completion.
The project also expanded in spring 2018 to include monthly lectures on different topics that are open to everyone within the unit, regardless of diploma status. In the past, visiting faculty members have covered topics such as psychology, astronomy, film, Japanese culture and art.
鈥淚 believe that education is valuable, even for someone who has a life sentence,鈥 Klotz said. 鈥淚t gives them an opportunity to expand their horizons, to put their mind in a different place, to kind of reach out to a world outside the prison walls.鈥

Professor Terry Hunt presents his research on the monolithic statues of Easter Island. Asked by prison officials if Hunt should be invited back, the inmates cheered and applauded.
se, a professor from the University of 蜜柚直播, gives a lecture about Easter Island to over 50 inmates at the Rincon Unit鈥檚 visitation building inside the 蜜柚直播 State Prison Complex on Oct. 18, 2019.
The prison complex is divided into seven separate yards, which range from minimum security at level one to maximum security at level five. The project began in a minimum-security unit called Whetstone and has continued offering courses there over the last four years.
Recently, the team worked with prison officials to expand into the high-security Rincon Unit, which is a level four facility. On Friday, 59 students from that unit attended a lecture called 鈥淪olving the Mystery of Easter Island鈥 with Terry Hunt, professor of anthropology and dean of the UA Honors College. This was the third lecture that has been offered at the Rincon Unit so far.
something new
During the lecture, Hunt presented his research on the mysterious, multi-ton statues, called moai, that are placed throughout Easter Island, a Chilean island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. Hunt and his team investigated how the island鈥檚 natives, the Rapa Nui people, would have built and transported these statues to different parts of the island with limited resources.
鈥淚f you asked the islanders how their ancestors moved the statues, they have a very simple answer. They will say to you, 鈥榯hey walked,鈥欌 Hunt said.
At this point in the lecture, hands were popping up all over the room. The students asked questions about the symbolic meaning of the moai statues, how they would have gotten the statue uphill or downhill, the population of natives on the island before colonizers arrived, the religion and culture of the Rapa Nui people and many more.
After building a life-size replica of a moai statue with the help of National Geographic, Hunt explained that he and his team began experimenting with how the statues could have been transported from a vertical position.
Ultimately, Hunt and his team found that if they used ropes, they could wrap them around the head of the statue and have groups of people pulling the ropes on both sides. As he showed in a video, when they pulled back and forth, the statue began to rock and move forward.
鈥淩emember I told you that if you asked the islanders how the statues were moved. What did they say?鈥 Hunt asked the students.
The group yelled out, 鈥淭hey walked!鈥
鈥淣ow what happens is the statue is designed with the pendulum effect in mind,鈥 Hunt said. 鈥淪o, once it starts to rock, you can almost just let go of the ropes on either side. It鈥檚 eerie.鈥
The room was filled with more hands and questions. At the end of the lecture, when asked by prison officials if Hunt should be invited back, the group erupted with cheers and applause.
鈥淢y favorite part about this lecture was probably the solving of the mystery because they went so many years and decades and centuries without knowing exactly how the statues were moved,鈥 said Robert McFall, one of the students. 鈥淔or me, that bugs me when I really want to know something, and I know there鈥檚 an answer, but I just can鈥檛 solve it. So, to see it finally get solved, it was just amazing to see the process and where it came from. It was really cool.鈥

Marcia Klotz, director of the UA English department鈥檚 Prison Education Project, says education programs in prisons are strongly correlated with lower rates of recidivism.
. Prison officials are aiming to reduce recidivism by 25 percent over the next eight years. is the one factor that correlates most strongly with lowering rates of recidivism.鈥
have a goal of reducing recidivism 鈥 the tendency for people to reoffend 鈥 by 25 percent over the next eight years. An inmate raises his hand to ask a question of Dr. Terry Hunt at the Rincon Unit鈥檚 visitation building inside the 蜜柚直播 State Prison Complex on Oct. 18, 2019.
Changing perspectives
McFall has been to every lecture that has been offered at the Rincon Unit so far. He is also enrolled in a 10-week creative writing course where he said he鈥檚 focused on writing his own book about the struggles of a young boy growing up in Chicago.
鈥淭he world paints an image of the incarcerated,鈥 said McFall, who is serving time for theft. 鈥淚t says we鈥檙e bad people, don鈥檛 want to learn nothing, don鈥檛 want to change, and not just through what people read, but also through the images they put out on TV. In some cases, I鈥檓 sure you can鈥檛 argue that. But in a lot of cases, you have a lot of people that would really like to learn more and enjoy these things. I feel like we should be able to get the same opportunity as others. Yeah, we made mistakes. Everybody does. We鈥檙e not perfect. I鈥檒l be the first to admit I鈥檓 not perfect, but I enjoy these opportunities to learn things that I missed out on.鈥
For other incarcerated students, the Prison Education Project shines a light on the possibilities of life after prison.
鈥淚t gives you something to look forward to, you know?鈥 said Jonathan Jackson, whose convictions include armed robbery. 鈥淔or me personally, I鈥檓 working on bettering myself so when I get out to society, I can give back and teach young people not to make mistakes and I can do better.鈥
Another student, Israel Ortiz, said he plans to attend every lecture he can until he goes home.
Ortiz said growing up in the streets, he didn鈥檛 value education as much as he does now and wants to take any opportunity he can to challenge himself.
鈥淚 know I have face tattoos and stuff, you know, but it doesn鈥檛 define me as a person,鈥 said Ortiz, who was convicted of charges that included weapons misconduct. 鈥淭o me, it鈥檚 my past and the struggles that I鈥檝e been through that have made me who I am now, you know? And just because we鈥檙e isolated, doesn鈥檛 mean we don鈥檛 want to learn. I鈥檇 like to learn things and become a better person for my future and for my family鈥檚 future.鈥
Reducing Recidivism
For Rushaun Dawkins, the lectures are an opportunity to expand his perception of the world and learn about other cultures from a place that can feel very secluded at times.
鈥淣ot only are our bodies caged but our perception can be caged,鈥 said Dawkins, who is serving time for manslaughter. 鈥淥ur perceptions become limited, you know what I鈥檓 saying? And you鈥檙e not able to grow. Your horizon is limited. And then, when someone introduces you to something new, it takes you from one place to another. 鈥 Without that opportunity, you would never know.鈥

Dr. Terry Hunt, a professor from the University of 蜜柚直播, gives a lecture sbout Easter Island to over 50 inmates at the Rincon Unit鈥檚 visitation building inside the 蜜柚直播 State Prison Complex on Oct. 18, 2019.
According to Klotz, prison officials have a goal of reducing recidivism 鈥 the tendency for people to reoffend 鈥 by 25 percent over the next eight years. 蜜柚直播鈥檚 three-year recidivism rate is 39 percent, which is lower than the national average of 50 percent.
鈥淭he only way they know how to do that is really by bringing education into the prison system,鈥 Klotz said. 鈥淭hat is the one factor that correlates most strongly with lowering rates of recidivism.鈥
The impact that education has on the incarcerated students also affects the rest of society in many ways, Klotz said. Incarceration doesn鈥檛 only affect one person, but entire families as well.
鈥淢ass incarceration affects 1 in every 3 people in our country, whether it鈥檚 a family member or a friend who has gone through the system,鈥 she said. 鈥淪o, I just think it鈥檚 really important that we not leave that part of our society in a box, but that we engage with it in whatever way we can.鈥
鈥淭he education is important to us because it shows us that there鈥檚 still a life out there,鈥 said student Robert Dudley, whose charges include theft of means of transportation. 鈥淏eing able to come to something like this, even just to get out of the prison mindset for an hour or two, it鈥檚 really big.鈥