“Beginnings” emerged as a dominant theme at the Prison University Project’s (PUP) graduation ceremony.
The graduation began with music, cheers, and applause for the seven graduates who filed down a center aisle created by strategic placement of chairs in the visiting room. Alumni, volunteer teachers, and PUP staff congratulated the class of 2016 as they walked, clapping their shoulders and shaking their hands.
In the crowd were Valedictorian Timothy Warren’s two sisters and brother; graduate Alexei Ruiz’s mother, aunt, and three cousins; graduate Orlando Harris’ mother, aunt, pastor, and his life partner of 34 years; and graduate Danny Ho’s daughter who is beginning a new life in college with her fiancé.
“I left Orange County at 1 am to get here,” said Ho’s daughter. She hadn’t seen her father in 10 years, and she expressed nervousness about their meeting.
Host Philip Melendez, who attributes his success with public speaking to three instructors in PUP’s communication course, opened the morning’s speeches. He talked about how the men graduating embodied limitless possibility, but their accomplishments were “only the beginning.”
Keynote speaker Sean Pica introduced himself as the Executive Director of Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, Senior Fellow of Center for Social Justice, a member of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Council for Community Re-entry and Reintegration, and a high school dropout. A week before, he’d been in the White House talking to President Obama about spreading PUP’s educational model across the nation.
“But my story didn’t start in the White House,” Pica said. “It started a long time ago with poor choices.”
Pica said he shot and killed a man when he was 16 years old. Instead of finishing ninth grade, Pica went to an adult prison where he eventually found his calling educating the men who were incarcerated with him.
“That’s when it began,” Pica said, before he addressed the graduates directly. “Your job doesn’t end here with your diplomas, with inspiring your families.” He expressed his belief that education is about more than a diploma. It’s about having the power to help people. Graduation was an accomplishment that could mark that beginning.
“I’m the only formerly incarcerated person to be coordinating a college program, but I will not be the last,” Pica said.
Valedictorian Timothy Warren continued the theme of beginnings after he stepped up to the lectern and received the honor from the 2015 valedictorian, Keung Vanh. Warren talked about new beginnings before he addressed his family directly.
“I know for a long time, you guys have been searching for something good to come from this situation,” Warren said, struggling to speak while crying. “But I’m here to tell you that I’m a bigger man because of what I’ve been through. What we’ve been through.” Warren said he can’t wait to get out and show his family the better man he’s become.
Warren is the first member of his family to graduate from college. His two sisters and his brother were inspired by both Warren’s accomplishments and his speech. His youngest sister, who attends CSU Stanislaus, said she now wants to become the valedictorian of her graduating class, too. His oldest sister said Warren inspires her to go back to college. Warren’s brother, who just finished a tour in the military, also said he is now determined to join the ranks of college graduates in his family.
The class of 2016 suffered a minor setback in that the tassels on their caps were missing. The missing tassels provided several occasions for humor after Jody Lewen, Executive Director of PUP, suggested the use of imaginary tassels.
“Just another case of the endless opportunities this environment offers to show you what matters and what doesn’t,” said Lewen about the missing tassels.
What mattered for those gathered was the sense of community fostered by Lewen’s program.
“Most of the guys had family in the audience,” Robert L. Butler III said, after accepting his Associate of Arts Degree. “But my community of students, that’s my support. Family is more than a biological thing, so I still feel like my family is here to support me.”
Hannah Evans, Executive Assistant at PUP, expressed how important it was for her to be a part of the PUP community. “It means a lot because there’s a lot of inequality in the world, and I wanted to do something after I graduated to promote equality,” Evans said. “I feel higher education is a way to begin equalizing.” The PUP community appears to be partly built on the mutual admiration between students, volunteers, and staff.
“Everybody here is a leader in this community,” Evans said. “It’s about supporting and empowering each other, that’s what’s so special in this community. Leaders are born out of this phenomenon.”
Alexei Ruiz, another graduate, talked about how one volunteer teacher empowered him. “I witnessed a teacher, on a rainy evening, walk into the classroom soaking wet with a glowing face radiating excitement, carrying containers with sheep brains for dissection,” he said. “I will never forget that evening because I learned more than a Biology lesson. I learned that when you do something from the heart, something that you believe is worth doing without expecting anything back, the joy you get out of it is insurmountable. I learned that I could make a difference in this world if I desire to do so.”
PUP teachers, tutors, students, and guests celebrated new beginnings for the class of 2016: Alexei Ruiz, Robert I. Butler III, Isaiah Fields (recently paroled), Orlando Harris, Danny Ho, Edwin “Zakee” Hutchinson, Mark Tadeschi, and Valedictorian Timothy Warren. www.prisonuniversityproject.org
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