Honors News Archive

"It's not simply about giving prisoners a chance to do better — it's about giving all members of society the tools and skills to have a positive impact on the world."

Dolphy Jordan spent the first half of his adult life in prison and is now a strong advocate for prison education reform. Dolphy and four other former inmates spoke at a panel discussion in February as part of a fundraiser, which also screened several short films about prison education programs around the country.

At this, the second annual campus prison education reform event, UW senior Dashni Amin welcomed a community of allies from the UW and beyond, all united in the fight for prison education reform. Following a transformative experience in an Honors course entitled "In Your Name: Education Inside Prison" taught by Claudia Jensen at the Twin Rivers Unit (TRU) of the Monroe Correctional Complex, Amin and her classmates founded Huskies for Opportunities in Prison Education (HOPE). Since then, HOPE has partnered with inmates at Bridges (an inmate advisory council to HOPE) to establish an annual college scholarship fund for students coming out of the foster care system — the Bridges to Hope Scholarship.

Many children with incarcerated parents end up in foster care, where they rarely receive any college prep or financial support. Less than ten percent of foster youth graduate from college, compared to the national average of more than thirty percent of Americans holding bachelor's degrees or higher. Panelist Lizzie Reed, who now works at Richard Sherman's family foundation, Blanket Coverage, gave an alarming statistic: "If a child has one or both parents in jail they are nine times more likely to be incarcerated at some point in their lives." She went on to explain that scholarship funding and mentorship programs are a positive disruption in the pipeline to prison, saying "Sometimes it just takes one person believing in that kid to make the difference."

The Bridges to Hope Scholarship will be awarded through the national nonprofit Foster Care to Success. Applicants must be under age 25, residing in King, Pierce, or Snohomish County, and have been in public or private foster care for the 12 consecutive months prior to their eighteenth birthday, among other requirements. Awards are based on merit and need.

The first goal is to raise $2500 by the end of the 2014-2015 academic year for the scholarship fund. HOPE students raised money at the recent screening event and at a bake sale on campus in December, while their counterparts in Monroe raised $800 selling donuts to fellow inmates. The two groups aim to raise another $1000 by June 12 in order to achieve their goal.

"This is a fundraiser," said Jensen, who still teaches the "In Your Name" Honors course and advises the HOPE students in their efforts. As students collected donations at the event, Jensen noted: "Even if you've only got a dollar, it's time to put a dollar in that basket."

Donations towards the Bridges to HOPE scholarship fund can be sent to:

Foster Care to Success
21351 Gentry Drive, Suite 130
Sterling, VA  20166

Only checks are being accepted at this time. The checks can be made out to "Foster Care to Success" with the "Bridges to HOPE Scholarship" in the memo line.