The Wesleyan Center for Prison Education

North College 419
237 High Street
Middletown, CT 06459
cpe@wesleyan.edu

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Your gifts are critical to our continued creation of college opportunity in CT prisons. Donate securely online or mail a check, with 'Center for Prison Education' in the memo line, to Wesleyan University, 55 High Street, Middletown, CT 06457.

Center For Prison Education

Since 2009, the Center for Prison Education (CPE) has worked to expand access to bold and rigorous liberal learning, creating transformative college experiences for those higher education leaves out. CPE students at Cheshire and York prisons enhance our academic community and demonstrate the power of a Wesleyan education.

Since its founding by Wesleyan undergraduates fifteen years ago, the Center has offered some 220 courses across the liberal arts to over 200 students, engaging a passionate collective of Wesleyan faculty, administrators, staff, and traditional undergraduates in the project.

To date, 55 students have earned their associate's degree through the CPE partnership with Middlesex Community College (now CT State Community College), and 18 men and women have earned their Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree from Wesleyan.

2009: CPE founded by Wesleyan students; 1st cohort enrolls at Cheshire CI
2013: CPE expands to York CI, CT's only state prison designated for women
2016: CPE selected as a Second Chance Pell experimental site; private-public partnership forged with Middlesex Communuty College
2018 & 2019: First graduations; 33 associate degrees awarded with Governor Malloy in attendance
2021: First students graduate with Wesleyan Bachelor of Liberal Studies degrees - the first in state history to earn bachelor's degrees while incarcerated.
To date: 55 associate’s and 18 BLS degrees earned by students in prison

“At this point in our educational journey we are writing our own stories. Which is to say we are doing more than engaging in a process of self discovery and in a thoughtful discussion with the world around us. We are reshaping ourselves continuously and the worlds within which we are in.” -CPE student

“It is a belief that education is liberation because it frees your mind..education is a refuge because it protects you from the folly of ignorance..education is subversive because it counters every myth and stereotype..education is radical because it overthrows the status quo..education is revolutionary because it creates a whole new reality.” -CPE student

“Prison education is less of a societal expense than incarceration is. If you educate them, they contribute to society; they become someone who is a leader within the community.” - CPE alumna Marisol Garisol, working toward her law degree

We are grateful to the Mellon Foundation for significant partnership to our current work. The CPE is a member of the Consortium for the Liberal Arts in Prison and indebted to the Bard Prison Initiative for BPI's critical role in our launch. Gratitude also to the Tow Foundation, the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority, Propel Capital, the Weissberg Foundation, the Friends of Kang Yun Foundation, the Singer Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Ichigo Foundation, and the Sunshine Lady Foundation for support now and in getting us to this point. Thank you, finally, to our generous community of individual supporters for fueling the expansion of access to bold and rigorous liberal learning to CPE students, enabling their enrichment of this University community.