CPE Scholar Graduates on Campus Through New Program

At the end of every class Shakur Collins ’26 took, he pushed in all the chairs and organized the filing cabinet holding the work of his classmates at the Center for Prison Education’s program in Cheshire Correctional Institution. It was his silent way of ensuring those who came after him were set up to succeed.

At Wesleyan’s 194th Commencement on May 24, Collins, 41, once again set the example for his fellow Center for Prison Education (CPE) students. Collins became the second CPE student to graduate from Wesleyan as an on-campus student, and the first through CPE’s new Bachelor of Liberal Studies Completion Scholars program. The program provides a way for CPE students who have been released from incarceration to finish their degrees on campus and tuition-free. The scholarship program can accommodate up to three new students per academic year.

“Shakur’s graduation as Wesleyan’s inaugural CPE BLS Degree Completion Scholar is enormously meaningful for our program and our wider student and alumni community—not simply as an individual achievement, but as ‘proof of concept’ for a path we have long hoped could exist more fully for formerly incarcerated students seeking to continue their education after release,” said Tess Wheelwright, director of CPE. “His successful experience demonstrates that Center for Prison Education students can belong at Wesleyan and that their academic development does not end at the prison gate.”

After seven years of work, Collins earned his Bachelor of Liberal Studies (BLS) degree with a concentration in social sciences and a focus in African American Studies. That is seven years of staying up past midnight to finish papers after chaotic cell inspections that left his belongings scattered on the floor; seven years of close reading Shakespeare and Kant and sitting with the ways they are personally meaningful to his life. It was also seven years of using education to explore the person he is and can be. For Collins, that is a person who uplifts others in his community.

“As someone who values the voices of the marginalized and aims to bridge the gap between carceral voices and college campus voices, I see my degree as more than just a piece of paper: It's a symbol of perseverance and an opportunity to inspire others like me, as well as cultivate meaningful relationships,” Collins said in his application to continue his studies on campus.

CPE has given him an opportunity to serve as a community builder and role model for others. A second completion scholar joined Shakur on campus this spring, and with his support and guidance, three more formerly incarcerated students will make the transition to campus as the second cohort of scholars in the Fall 2026.

“Being in community, that's what's important to me,” Collins said. “…that's how I connect, how I show up for people, how I try to encourage them to show up for other people, that's the thing that matters to me the most.”

Collins also earned an associate’s degree through Connecticut State Community College Middlesex during his incarceration, applying Wesleyan credits along with Middlesex courses taken through the Center for Prison Education-Middlesex partnership to that initial degree. Currently, he works as a public relations associate with CPE and as a peer mentor at Quinnipiac University, where he advises formerly incarcerated students. He will pursue a master’s degree in social work following his graduation with a goal of becoming a licensed social worker.

Lauren Silber, associate professor of the practice in Academic Writing, taught Collins in her advanced affect theory and cultural studies course, “All the Feels,” at Cheshire in 2023. She said he was an in-class leader who leveraged his education to better himself and show up for others.

“It was really interesting to see how he would engage with the texts, and how the text made him think about his own life,” Silber said. “He was never just reading for school. He was always digesting materials in ways that helped him make sense of his place in the world, whether that be figuring out how to be a better person, son, or friend.”

BLS Completion Scholarship Program

CPE is the longest-running college-in-prison program in Connecticut, first established in 2009 in Cheshire Correctional Institution before an expansion into York Correctional Institution for women in 2013. Wesleyan is also one of a limited number of schools nationwide to offer a bachelor’s degree program for incarcerated students at both a men’s and women’s prison, and more rare in the level of academic rigor with which it challenges students.

Since the BLS degree was created and approved in 2019, 46 students have been admitted through CPE and 26 have graduated. To date, 13 former BLS students have been released from incarceration prior to graduating. On average, they have left prison with about 14 Wesleyan classes, along with Middlesex classes completed, and fewer than 10 courses remaining to complete their degrees. By establishing a scholarship program, CPE now helps students who were released from prison prior to graduation leap over a barrier to finishing their education—cost—and outlines a path to properly affirm the work they have largely already completed.

CPE secured funding to build out the program through a successful proposal for Congressionally Directed Spending, called an earmark, signed into law in February through this year’s federal appropriations process. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy endorsed “high-impact” projects that benefit Connecticut for inclusion in federal spending packages that Congress passed in winter, bringing in $190 million this fiscal year for community projects statewide, including $1 million for the Center. CPE will have three years to target this funding at its support of students reentering after prison, including the BLS Completion Scholars transitioning to campus study.

This summer, CPE will begin a search to hire an associate director of academic reentry to support Center alumni during their reentry and in their work toward their personal and professional goals.

“The creation of scholarships for formerly incarcerated, continuing BLS students cements Wesleyan’s leadership in our commitment to our prison education students throughout their academic journeys and the completion of their liberal arts degrees, and beyond,” Wheelwright said. “We are excited to witness what these alumni with their really singular perspectives will go on to do with this diploma and this learning.”

Now that the program is funded and has graduated its first scholar, Collins has completed his first goal: helping to build a community of people in CPE to help them all rise out of their circumstances, together.

“Education, in large part, was a beacon of hope throughout my incarceration,” he said.