Tufts Expands Commitment to Prison Education
Hilary Binda, AG03, believes in the human capacity to observe, question, and reflect—in short, to learn and grow—at any stage of life. Binda, founder of the Tufts University Prison Initiative of the Tisch College (TUPIT), has seen that capacity firsthand in teaching a literature class to incarcerated men.
“Students in prison have intellectual curiosity that is off the charts and an incredible drive to learn and teach others,” she said. “That’s part of the joy of teaching inside. There is also a radical diversity of skill and experience among students.”
Now, through a new collaboration with Bunker Hill Community College, Tufts in January is expanding its commitment to that potential for learning and growth through a program that offers incarcerated men at MCI-Concord the chance to earn a college degree. Students who pass all twenty-three courses by the end of the program in May 2022 will be granted an associate’s degree in the liberal arts from Bunker Hill Community College.
The four-year pilot brings college-level coursework, mostly taught by Tufts professors, to up to twenty-three men, though Binda hopes the program will become ongoing. The program builds on Tufts’ already developing relationship with Bunker Hill Community College, one pathway for students who wish to apply to Tufts’ Resumed Education for Adult Learners (REAL) program.