From joining a non-credit pilot program in 2019 to officially starting their degrees in 2021 to completing the program this year, the first cohort of students in the Hope-Western Prison Education Program have come far.
Now, after a ceremony June 25 at the Muskegon Correctional Facility, they are officially graduates.
Officials from Hope College, Western Theological Seminary and the Michigan Department of Corrections held a celebration when nine incarcerated men walked the stage at MCF, officially a satellite campus of Hope College, to accept their degrees as the first graduating class from HWPEP.
They included Carlos Garcia, Jamol Garrett, Joel Gomez, Andre Hunter, Loren Key, Hassan Mohammed, Anthony Robinson, Kenya Rogers and Alvin Smith.
Robinson spoke during the ceremony, likening the opportunity to earning a passport, allowing students to metaphorically travel beyond the confines of MCF.
“On Jan. 28, 2019, at 8:56 a.m., an invitation to travel the world presented itself to the general population at MCF,” Robinson said. “(Officials) sent out a posting that read: Get a college education, change your life. At the time, my peers and I had no idea how true those words would turn out to be.
“HWPEP provided an opportunity for students to travel from the confines of limitation to the freedom of earning a bachelor’s degree with a focus on faith, leadership and service. As a result, my colleagues and I have visited various destinations all over the world through the vehicle of reading, writing and conversing with our professors and fellow scholars.”
David Stubbs, professor at WTS and co-director of HWPEP, said the ceremony was a “significant day in the lives of these men and in the life of our program.”
“It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “You’ve made it, and we’re all so proud of you.”
Officials commended the graduates for pursuing and finishing their degrees.
“Today is the fulfillment of a dream,” said Hope College President Matt Scogin. “Probably better said, it’s the fulfillment of a lot of dreams that a lot of people have had over the course of many years.
“I think what today represents, among other things … (is) the reality that dreams can come true. That’s what you’re showing us — that dreams can come true.”
Kyle Kaminski, administrator for Offender Success Administration at MDOC, said the graduates are “pioneers” for the program, the college, their families and prison education.
“As pioneers, you’ve faced a lot of hardships, a lot of barriers,” Kaminski said. “You’ve done the most with the least in terms of resources.
“You’ve watched this program really grow from nothing to something. You’ve also set such a remarkably high standard.”
HWPEP began as a pilot program in 2019, with seven professors from Hope and WTS teaching non-credit courses to 20 students at MCF. In November 2021, the program received official accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission, making the facility an official Hope campus and allowing students to earn degrees.
Students earn a bachelor’s degree from Hope. They are limited to one major: Faith, Leadership and Service.
The program is co-directed by Stubbs and Kary Bosma, who was hired to succeed program co-founder Richard Ray after his retirement. Bosma previously spent eight years working with the Calvin Prison Initiative.
HWPEP is funded by donations and sponsorships. For more information, visit hope.edu/hwpep.
— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: ‘Pioneers’: Nine inmates become first graduates of groundbreaking program from Hope, WTS
Reporting by Mitchell Boatman, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
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