Story by Riley Stevenson
Photos by Tiffany Kimmel
I am friends with a 72-year-old Buddhist Monk and a 40-year-old aspiring comedian. We have only met three times, yet we talk with the effortlessness of old friends. Our lack of history fades as we share stories of our childhoods and admit our deepest hopes and fears. We are bonded by a desire to learn about each other and ourselves, but to the outside world we remain divided by age, class, gender, and distance. One day we will have to say goodbye forever. We knew from the moment we shook hands.
Going to prison was never a part of my four-year plan. I only envisioned good grades, summer internships, and a lively social scene. However, this winter term I am taking a class called Inside-Out offered through the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon (UO). Every Monday, 15 students pile into white vans and make the hour-long drive to the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. We “outside” students proceed through metal detectors and a series of security checkpoints before entering our safe-haven in the prison activities center. One by one the “inside” students greet us with handshakes and, like any university course, we turn in our homework and class begins.
The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program began in 1997* at Temple University in Philadelphia. Founder Lauri Pompa believed “that incarcerated men and women and college students might mutually benefit from studying crime, justice, and related social issues together as peers.” Since the program’s inception, the same mission has been successfully implemented in programs at more than 120 colleges and universities in thirty-seven states. More than 250 instructors from the United States, Canada, and Northern Ireland attend week-long intensive training sessions in order to conduct classes under program guidelines.
For every course offered, 15 incarcerated (inside) students and 15 undergraduate (outside) students are interviewed and selected to participate in classes held once a week at local prisons. Classes offered through the Oregon University System travel to Salem to study at the all-male Oregon State Correctional Institute, Oregon State Penitentiary, or Santiam Correctional Institute.
Both inside and outside students are selected based upon their maturity, a certain level of open-mindedness, and a willingness to step out of their comfort zones. To ensure the safety of all participants and ease the nerves of anxious parents, inside students cannot be released within a month of completing the course and must have their high school diploma or GED, clear conduct, and no record of sexual offense.
The Inside-Out class was previously restricted to Clark Honors College students, but it is now offered to other departments, such as the Conflict and Dispute Resolution Program.
I currently take the “Divided Societies” class at the Oregon State Penitentiary led by Shaul Cohen, UO Geography professor. The class covers subjects such as race, identity, ethnicity, and violence. Through personal testimonials and class readings, both inside and outside students engage in dynamic conversation in an effort to understand and break down barriers that often divide the outside world from the incarcerated.
Professor Cohen co-facilitates the class with graduate student Katie Dwyer. Dwyer took the first Inside-Out course offered at UO in 2007 and is continuing to working on incarceration issues. She participates in the Inside-Out program because to her, “It’s a complete social justice issue: making incarceration issues visible, making education available to people without access.”
Since higher education classes were defunded in prisons to save money during the Bush Administration, Inside-Out provides inmates with one of the only opportunities for education inside prison walls. Now there’s a community college program and greater access to information.
As the program continues to offer courses, Dwyer aims to expand upon the foundations of Inside-Out.
“I hope we’ll start having inside students graduate and Inside-Out [courses] being offered to non-honors college students on campus,” Dwyer says.
Dwyer says Inside-Out is vital to ensure safe communities and prepare both inmates and state citizens for a prisoner’s release.
“Ninety-seven percent of people who are incarcerated come back to the community and it’s so important that somehow they’re prepared for it. The current system doesn’t prepare communities to receive people post incarceration,” Dwyer says. “If we’re going to have safe communities, it can’t continue that way. There has to be dialogue, there has to be understanding.”
For many students, enrolling in the course is the most difficult part of the experience.
“I’ve grown up with a dad that’s overprotective because he knows what people are capable of. He was like, ‘you are not going to the prison.’ But he’s fine with it now, after I explained how safe it was,” Inside-Out student, Nina Sobotka, says.
Some parents and outside students are nervous about the possibility of assault, while others fear making conversation with the inmates.
“I was concerned that it would be awkward, that I wouldn’t know what to ask them or that I would offend them if I asked about their day because it’s such a routine,” Mika Weinstein, a past Inside-Out student, says.
Weinstein’s fears dissipated as the classmates quickly became comfortable around one another.
“To me, the class itself provides an atmosphere unparalleled with any other University of Oregon course. There are no computers, no desks, and little lecturing. Every classmate comes from a different social, political, and economic environment, lending a unique perspective,” Weinstein added.
“It’s too easy for me to find myself in the company of people that are like me,” says. Sophie Thackray, sophomore outside student. “I hope to achieve a passion and drive for overcoming these divisions in society and have the tools to do so.”
Freshman Caleb Hugel has his own reasons for participation.
“I grew up in a family that had a harsher opinion of criminals. I took the class to explore the other side of that. When you see [the inmates] in uniform, you have a certain image in your head, but when you talk to them one on one you get to find out about their individual personalities, which adds another level to the experience,” he says.
For a variety of reasons, Americans often stereotype inmates as violent, unrepentant, second-class citizens. However, I find that this course allows students to get to know each other in an environment where race, crime, and income level are not determinants of identity.
“Inside-Out absolutely changed my life. I never understood the value of education before. For someone who dropped out of school in the ninth grade, this is transformative,” says Francisco, an inmate and inside student.
Francisco has taken five classes through the Inside-Out program and is now working towards his Associate’s degree. He encourages college students to join the program and experience the transformative value of the class.
“It will give [the students] new perspectives and an understanding of the other side. This will help to build empathy, to live in context, and to not judge from a label.”
Ben who has taken the most Inside-Out classes as an inmate to date, joins his tenth class as a teacher’s assistant.
“I’m used to being a leader, but never at this capacity,” Ben says.
Ben helps facilitate class and reads students’ weekly response papers. He notices that these classes have a healing aspect for inside students.
“To see these students thrive is rewarding to me. It makes me feel like I have a purpose,” he says.
Fellow inmate Sterling can also attest to the transformational powers of the Inside-Out program.
“When I heard about the class on juvenile justice issues—a subject close to my heart—I began to distance myself from misconduct. Now that I’m involved, I’m no longer a prisoner, I’m a student,” Sterling says.
As the course comes to a close, I dread the moment when we will have to say our goodbyes, leave the prison, and never return; but it really isn’t the end.
As a class, we have transcended the division of prison walls. We proved that the natural bond of friendship knows no boundaries. Although society remains divided by war, class, and race, in our little room in the center of a maximum-security prison we found unity.
I cannot predict what will happen after these ten weeks are over, but I know I will carry these relationships and moments of understanding for the rest of my life.
 
*Originally published as 1977. We apologize for the error.

Gallery • 3 Photos

Inside Out Prison Exchange Program (Ethos Archives)