The University of Maine, Augusta, held its first post-pandemic graduation ceremony this week at the Maine State Prison in Warren.
At the ceremony, 21 men were recognized with associate and bachelor's degrees in liberal studies. The graduates and their friends and family said the prison education program has changed their lives.
It's not easy to study in prison between the noise and disruptions and general environment. So, taking and completing classes and then graduating with a degree behind bars takes more than a little perseverance. That's how Daniel McGloin, director of UMA's prison education partnership, described it in his opening remarks to the Class of 2024.
"Your continuous efforts. Your ongoing striving. Your choice to show up everyday to achieve in service of yourselves and of each other are what give this program the vitality, the depth and incredible outcomes that it can boast of," McGloin said.
Research shows that education in prison reduces recidivism but for students who may never have completed high school or who struggled to learn, it does something else. Henry Guay said it gave him confidence and a new outlook on life.
"I find myself today with more discipline for myself as well as I look at everything that comes up in a positive way," Guay said. "I don't let it bring me down anymore. Life continues. We have to learn from this, pick up and move on and I'm thankful that with this education, that has happened for me."
In his previous life, Guay said, he was a procrastinator and a skeptic, someone who didn't see how a college education could benefit him especially since he wouldn't be released from prison until he was nearly 60 years old. But he said a fellow prisoner convinced him to give one semester or even one class a try. And he said he did struggle with math.
"I don't know how many times I raised my hand in that class, 'could you please reexplain that?' Because my brain just wasn't putting those equations together."
Guay credits his UMA math teacher and a fellow classmate with helping him finally see the light and make the breakthrough he needed. Patrice Woods, the fiancé of graduate Kashawn McLaughlin said he's open to new and positive things like starting a business when he gets out next year. His education has been transformative, Wood said.
"He talks my ear off about every single thing. He gives me a history lesson, science lesson, math lesson. Everything. It helps us both and I'm happy that he's excited about, you know, something good out of all of this,” Wood said
Prison education is made available through the support of The Sunshine Lady Foundation and other organizations, but prisoners still have to pay for their books, for example, said Phyllis White, the fiancé of graduate Jeff Taylor.
"And thank God that there are programs that they are able to tap into to you know, further their education,” she said.
White said Taylor received an associate degree but plans to go on for his bachelor's next. And Henry Guay, who almost gave up on that math class he started, is now graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree and plans to pursue a career in mental health.
Editor's note: In the past, students had to pay for their own books in prison, but Prison Program Partnership Director Daniel McGloin said the vast majority of prisoners' books and course materials are now paid for.
