Educational opportunities inside Oregon prisons and in the community
The PEP is participating in Ducks Give on May 15th. This day-long donation drive is an importance source of funding for our programming and includes challenge gifts if we can fundraise a certain amount. Please consider donating on May 15th and sharing with your networks. Click here for the Prison Education Program’s page on their website and to learn more about Ducks Give!
Kyle’s involvement with the Prison Education Program has been nothing short of transformative. What began by taking a course during his incarceration has evolved into a lifelong commitment to advocacy, community building, and a passion for reshaping the way we think about education, both inside and outside of prisons.
For over a decade while inside Oregon prisons, he was told that education was not an option for him, due to the length of his sentence. However, the Prison Education Program was different. Our courses are not restricted by degree limitations nor length of sentence, making them accessible to incarcerated individuals like Kyle. His first class was through the University of Oregon’s Clark Honors College, where he studied juvenile delinquency. This proved to be an eye-opening experience. After taking a few more classes, including one on Northern Ireland’s history and conflict, Kyle became deeply invested in the P.E.P. He participated in monthly meetings with the program’s steering committee inside the Oregon State Penitentiary, which worked to expand access to education and raise awareness about its importance in both prison and community settings. Additionally, Kyle is graduating this term from the University of Oregon with a Bachelors degree in Crime, Law, and Policy.The P.E.P.’s role as a think tank for educational access provided Kyle with a platform to work on practical solutions to barriers faced by incarcerated students.
Kyle also began advocating for the program beyond the classroom. Already engaged in advocacy work through prison clubs, he saw the opportunity to bring these conversations to a broader level—statewide. His advocacy extended to creating educational resources and helping students across the state engage with higher education while incarcerated. After 28 years in prison Kyle was granted an early release by Governor Brown and he was eager to continue his work both as a P.E.P. alum and on prison issues more broadly.
One of the highlights of Kyle’s journey with P.E.P. has been the sense of community and camaraderie it fosters. After his release, he hosted a P.E.P. reunion event, inviting former inside students, interns, and staff for a gathering that included food, crafts, and social time. As an alum, he continues to engage in presentations, advocacy, and outreach, sharing his story and encouraging others to participate in the program.
On his professional journey, Kyle has been working as a policy and legislative outreach coordinator with the Oregon Justice Resource Center, where he focuses on higher education, healthcare access, and security concerns. His role involves meeting with legislators, providing testimony, and engaging in coalition efforts to promote change. The featured photo is Kyle with PEP Interns at University Lobby Day in 2024. His deep understanding of the barriers faced by incarcerated individuals shapes his advocacy and fuels his efforts to improve policies that impact people both inside and outside the prison system. Kyle is also involved in helping build transitional housing for formerly incarcerated people.
He believes that providing access to education is a powerful way to break down barriers, change lives, and strengthen communities. “It made an incredible impact on my life,” Kyle says, and he encourages others to get involved, telling them “It’s going to change your life.”
This spring, we are offering two Inside-Out courses. Autobiography as Political Agency with Anita Chari is a Honor’s College course, and Shaul Cohen is teaching Divided Societies, a Geography course. Full descriptions and the application link can be found here.
Aside from courses, the PEP has been deepening our relationship with Sponsors Inc., Inc.- an organization supporting formerly incarcerated adults in the Eugene area. In 2023, PEP interns started visiting Sponsors, Inc. every week to offer drop-in technological support for formerly incarcerated adults such as help with help registering for social security, learning how to search for job opportunities online, or setting up a budget, while also helping with the creation of digital resources that are utilized by the staff in the presentations and other work. Since then, this partnership has expanded to volunteers going to Sponsors, Inc. multiple times per week and people now have become used to having a place to turn to for their questions and assistance on a variety of topics. UO students have joined PEP interns to increase the capacity of the work. Non-intern volunteers are a mix of people who have participated with the PEP through Inside-Out courses, who heard about the program through their academic programs, or a peer at the university.
Our partnership with Sponsors, Inc. creates a meaningful impact by increasing the capacity of the organization working to improve formerly incarcerated adults’ lives, Student volunteers are able to gain valuable experience while making an important contribution to individuals, the organization, and the community, and thePEP is very grateful to be in partnership with Sponsors, Inc. and to bridge our programs to increase the resources available in Eugene.
The PEP is excited to share that we have received a grant through the Justice Assistance Grant program of the federal Department of Justice and the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. This funding is incredibly impactful for our work. It will cover some costs associated with our courses, training in the Inside-Out methodology for faculty who want to join our program, support for our interns, new editions of P.E.P. TV and our L.E.A.P. packets for those in solitary confinement, and help us hire a new program coordinator for the PEP. Our work is not possible without support from the university, grants like the new JAG program and our recent Mellon Foundation grant, and contributions from generous donors. We are grateful for the opportunities that this funding allows.
During fall term, the PEP operated in both the Oregon State Penitentiary and Oregon State Correctional Institution to offer two inside-out courses and two inside courses. We had a total of 72 inside students during the term. One of our courses, Mercy and the Rule of Law, an inside-out course at OSCI proved to be an insightful experience for inside and outside students alike. To learn more about this experience, our PEP intern, JJ, shared her insights from being the course’s learning assistant (LA) where she coordinated course logistics, gave feedback on student’s assignments, and served as an assistant to professor Kristen Bell.
This is JJ’s second year as an intern with the PEP. During her time with the program, she has taken on a variety of roles including but not limited to serving as our administrative intern for the current school year, helping with art show coordination, and serving on the fundraising committee. As a General Social Sciences student on the pre-law track, JJ was perfectly suited to be the LA for this course.
Mercy and the Rule of Law focused on philosophical topics and how they relate to the legal system.
Specifically, JJ said that “the students altogether were challenged to think holistically about arguments and theoretical concepts in philosophy in law,” and this led to a strong community mindset within the course’s students. Furthermore, the class was challenged to come together to discuss topics that often led to unanswerable questions, pushing students to further engage with one another.”
Personally, JJ believes that her experiences as an LA have impacted her life beyond the classroom. Particularly, it challenged her to learn about concepts more specifically and to empathize with the students as she learned about them through their work for the class. She believes that this experience taught her how to think more clearly in the realm of problem-solving, and says that the experience was “truly invaluable.”
Over the summer, our PEP intern, Gabe, worked with Doug Wilson, a UO Business Professor, to host a three-part workshop series at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. This is Oregon’s only women’s prison. These workshops focused on entrepreneurship and starting your own business. The workshops often focused on skills needed for people to re-enter the community post-incarceration with the skills they need to gain income. After completing the series, women who participated in this workshop earned a certificate from the Lundquist College of Business to document their successes. Gabe was originally drawn to the PEP because he wanted to be a part of supporting people who were incarcerated. This workshop series not only let him assist in providing these necessary skills but highlights the importance of skill building and education while on the inside.
This is an excellent article, and very glad to see one of our University of Oregon graduates, Sterling Cunio, quoted! Books can be life-changing, and we have seen that impact in our classes, workshops, book discussions, and when people apply to take our classes.
Used paperbacks change lives behind bars, even with growing prison book bans
The PEP is participating in the University of Oregon’s 9th annual Ducks Give Fundraiser on Thursday, May 16th! During this event, you can make donations that will directly impact the PEP and unlock “Challenge Gifts” so your contribution goes even further. Check the Ducks Give website on May 16th to learn about how your donation can make the most impact possible for supporting the PEP.
Your support is invaluable as we return to the prisons, and will allow us to expand existing programs and create new opportunities. With each dollar donated, you will enhance future prospects for incarcerated people in Oregon and increase access to this remarkable educational environment for campus students, our faculty, and members of the community. Your donation demonstrates support for this innovative educational program, and its unique place on campus and in the prisons.
The above photo is of Sterling at the White House for A Summit on Arts and Culture in our Communities
At the EMU art show, people had the opportunity to view the art, provide their impressions of art to be sent to the artists, and hear from various people about the impact of art and the art show.
Former inside student and UO graduate, Sterling, did a performance of his poetry which moved the crowd. Sterling, a self described artivist (activist through art) and spoken-word poet has been taking UO classes in prison since before the Prison Education Program was officially founded. He graduated with his bachelor’s degree shortly after re-entering the community. He says that educational opportunities are among the most transformational spaces and he is honored to be part of an effort that expands life changing opportunities that increase social mobility.
Sterling started writing poetry while in solitary confinement because he felt that “on the page was the only place he could be emotional,” he went on to say that art became his therapy. Now, Sterling performs all around the country sharing the messages of hope and that the greatest social change comes from younger generations. Additionally, Sterling hopes to build the bridge between his work and educational institutions to empower change.
At the art show, Sterling performed a piece he calls Dolphin Speak. He wrote it for the Ubuntu Climate Initiative Cultural Arts Summit with the National Endowment for the Arts. He drew inspiration from the desire to perform something hopeful now that he is “no longer struggling and experiencing difficulty.” Watch his performance here.
As part of his work with the Ubuntu Climate Initiative Cultural Arts Summit, he is helping to organize an arts showcase from people’s individual video submissions. Sterling says that “this is the first national climate resilience effort that has intentionally included justice impacted people as a part of leadership efforts.” The overall goal of the contest is to “reunite people and planet in communal ways while remembering the past to move forward.” Read more about the project here. Follow the project on Instagram @ubuntuclimateinitative.