“Congratulations to the class of 2025…..appaluse”
On a Tuesday afternoon, May 27th, in the gymnasium at the East Moline Correctional Center, three incarcerated students celebrated the completion of their bachelor's degrees.
The Augustana Prison Education Program started in 2021 with a cohort of 10 students, with three Augustana College faculty members teaching a total of nine courses. Over the last four years, additional courses have been added, and nearly 30 faculty members teach at the correctional center.
Dr. Sharon Varallo is the executive director of APEP. She notes that a generous grant from the Austin E. Knowlton Foundation enabled APEP to expand, and the program offers two paths: American Studies and Communication Studies.
“Access to college education in prisons in the United States is extremely rare and getting better. But it's a little shaky ground still, but it's slowly moving away from decades of a very punitive mindset that actually makes our country unsafe," Varallo said in a phone interview. "Education is cheaper than incarceration. It is better for every metric for family safety, for crime prevention, for the health and safety of prison staff.”
The ceremony celebrated three students, Jorge Herrejon, Chris Allen, and Brandon Johnson. A fourth student graduated but asked Varallo not to be named or included in the ceremony.
Johnson had his parents, sister, aunt, and two longtime friends in the audience. Johnson said education opportunities in the Department of Corrections are slim to none, so he jumped at the chance for an education.
"It says no crying in prison, but I brought some tissue just in case. About four years ago, I passed by a bulletin board and saw a memo stating that Augustana College was offering a bachelor's degree program but were only accepting 10 people. I've never liked school, but after I applied, I can remember praying so hard that I would be accepted because I needed to be doing something constructive," Johnson said. "And luckily, Dr. Sharon Varallo saw fit to include me in this program. I can admit that early on, I was just using this to help pass the time. But after that first semester, I realized, deep down, I wanted to make myself proud for a change. Come to find out, this program is not only providing an opportunity for higher learning, but it has also made allowances for self-improvement and behavior modification.”
Another graduate, Allen, had his wife, daughter, sister, mom, dad and stepmom at the ceremony. He’s been incarcerated since he was 17 and says the program gave him autonomy and treated him with dignity.
“Today, I stand before you with the realization that I have not been merely existing in prison. I have been living. We are capable of setting and achieving goals regardless of our environment," Allen said. "I've been incarcerated for 26 and a half years. And in that time I met the love of my life, Tina. I became a father, and we together have earned our bachelor's degree.”
Herrejon has been incarcerated since he was 17, too.
His mother, little brother, and two family friends joined him at the ceremony. He says he applied to APEP for himself and his family.
“I wanted to give them an example, to tell them to change while not providing the change is not credible. I had to change and they had to see that, to hopefully inspire them to deter from that. And I am proud to say that none of them have followed in the footsteps that I walked before I was incarcerated," Herrejon said.
Varallo says the graduation, the first one held within the East Moline Correctional Center, is a miracle.
"They deserve it so deeply. They have worked incredibly hard under circumstances that, you know, include no computers, no internet access, and the same professors," Varallo said. "And you know that this is not an easy. This is hard. College is hard. So I know how hard it was for them and I'm so proud of them. I am so proud of the team. One of the things that felt so good yesterday was seeing the community. It was an absolute community of faculty, staff, students, aspiring graduates, watching their classmates. It was an absolute thrill, an absolute thrill. And I'm very proud of them and proud of our community."
A past student of the program, David Staples, was wrongly incarcerated for murder for nearly 30 years. Staples was one of the first students in APEP. He was released and finished his education at Augustana College. He attended the ceremony and spoke on the continuing importance of the program.
“I'm thinking that these programs are essential. If you got a person that, if given the opportunity, will actually do better in life or actually have opportunity, give them an opportunity to become a productive member of society, then you should focus on that. That should be your focal point, instead of just locking people up or just warehousing people without any sort of growth and then expect them to do well once it's over,' Staples said.
'Humans, like computers, have a default system, and that default system for someone who don't know any better, is to go back to what they do know. And these are people that are coming home. And most people, I'm sure, a huge portion, I'm not privy to know what population of the incarceration system are actually going to be free one day, but I'm sure it's an overwhelming amount. And they are going to be each of our neighbors. These are going to be people who look to integrate us, the systems. I think programs like this help them do better and help them make that process a little bit more easier, more palatable for everyone.”
Nearly 45 incarcerated students are expected to participate in the upcoming academic year.
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