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Education program offers inmates chance at liberal arts degree

Mercedes Mejia reports on the Calvin Prison Initiative.

For a convicted felon, getting a shot at an education might begin in prison.

Typically that means job training or a GED.

But a new program offers something more often associated with quiet campuses and ivy-covered walls.

The Calvin Prison Initiative is bringing the liberal arts and theology to inmates at a west Michigan prison.

The program is the brainchild of Calvin Theological Seminary and Calvin College, which also fund it.

There are two main goals of the Calvin Prison Initiative. One is to teach Christian values, although non-Christians are welcome in the program as well. The second goal is to motivate the inmates to become spiritual or community leaders outside or inside the prison system. 

Click on the link above to hear Stateside's Mercedes Mejia's report.

Support for Arts and culture coverage on Stateside comes in part from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Copyright 2021 Michigan Radio. To see more, visit Michigan Radio.

Professor Kevin Corconan teaches philosophy to student inmates.
Mercedes Mejia / Michigan Radio
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Michigan Radio
Professor Kevin Corconan teaches philosophy to student inmates.
A student inmate reads in class.
Mercedes Mejia / Michigan Radio
/
Michigan Radio
A student inmate reads in class.

Read more about the Stateside.
Mercedes Mejia produces interviews for All Things Considered, including the music segment Songs from Studio East. She also produces content for Stateside. Mercedes relocated to Michigan from New Mexico, where she earned her BA in Latin American Studies and Journalism. She began in public radio as a reporter atKUNMin Albuquerque. She brings extensive video production skills from her work at Univision and Edit House Production.