CR Celebrates Graduation of the First Class of Pelican Bay Inmate Scholars
Graduate David Nguyen with his family [All photos submitted]
The following is.a press release from the College of the Redwoods:
Last week, College of the Redwoods’ Pelican Bay State Prison (PBSP) Scholars program reached a milestone in its rehabilitation efforts at the notorious, super-max institution when two prisoners successfully completed the requirements for an Associate’s Degree.
David Nguyen and Larry Vickers each received their Associate of Arts degrees in Liberal Arts: Behavioral Sciences at a ceremony held at Pelican Bay State Prison on June 20th. Both students were given the opportunity to address the attendees, which included family of the graduates, nineteen of their classmates and over a dozen College of the Redwoods faculty and staff, many in their academic regalia in honor of the occasion.
In his speech, David Nguyen shared that “this day for me is a very special day, for it marks the day that validates dreaming… My parents dreamt that I would one day obtain a college degree, I dreamt about it, but I neglected to put in the work.” At PBSP, he did put in the work and he finished his address by urging his fellow classmates to do the same, stating, “I dared to dream. I dare you too.”
Graduate Larry Vickers’ spoke of tangible changes the program has brought to the prison, stating, “this has been one of the most transformative forces in our environment. What was once a dark and dreary place is now lively and bustling with men moving back and forth to class with books and folders in tow. Individuals who never conversed and disliked one another due to ignorance are now engaged in conversations about history, psychology, art, biology, social work, political science and business.”
Rehabilitation efforts in state prisons have been bolstered by several findings indicating a sharp reduction in recidivism rates – over 40% according to a 2013 RAND Corporation study – for prisoners who engaged in educational programs while incarcerated.
Although PBSP offered GED and correspondence coursework in the past, there was no face-to-face, college-level instruction until College of the Redwoods got involved 3 years ago, offering General Education classes to just over 15 students.
Rory Johnson, who is the Director of the Pelican Bay Scholars program and the CR Del Norte Education Center, describes the difficulties of running a degree program in a maximum security prison as “one of the most logistically challenging experiences I have been a part of. Our team at CR has created a program that will have lasting impact on our incarcerated students and their families. It could not have been done without the support of the Administration, Custody and Education staff at Pelican Bay.”
Mr. Nguyen and Mr. Vickers are the first to graduate, but that number is expected to climb rapidly as, today, over 300 prisoners have enrolled in the various math, English, Psychology, Biology and other classes offered through the program.
Graduate Larry Vickers with classmates.
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they explained everything except who is paying for their classes. i want to know if it is the taxpayers, and if so they should edit the report to say they are giving them classes instead of ‘offering’. or maybe they have to pay for them the same as you or me, but do they get a discount? do i have to get in trouble to get a free college degree?
WTF is wrong with you?
i hate thieves. you are more than welcome to donate to what you want to but dont tell me to fork over my monies for your beliefs (i.e. virtue signalling).
now if you have any info about how much these classes cost to the inmates i would love to hear it, but from past experience in this state yadda yadda yadda
Me me me me me! Sigh!
@ taxpayer. So maybe you are one of those peoples who likes to rant “lock them up and throw away the key”, ya know who pays for that? TAXPAYERS. when they get out of jail with no education and get into trouble again, who pays for that? TAXPAYERS. It is a much better investment to give, yes give people an education if they will become productive members of society. My guess is that you actually pay very little income tax, either because you don’t make much income or you cheat the system.
Gee wiz, the f^cking military spends $2,000,000,000 making enemies, protecting corporate profits overseas, and using the unemployed as cannon fodder, yet you want to whine about a few thousand going for a good thing. Life is not played out on a balance sheet.
If you want to get pi$$y about taxes, get pi$$y about all the rich ass 1%ers that pay no friggin income tax at all. If the largest corporations and billionaires actually paid income tax we could all go to school for free.
aaaand when are you going to mail that check for my college?
Me me me me me
yeah so… i heard you the first time. thats kinda how it goes with most people when it comes to money. dont give me none of that doo goodie bull sh
You are never worried about Corporate subsidies (handouts/ripoffs), an amount that is higher than what the US spends on Education. Your faux outrage is so laughable.
100 billion a year for Corporate Welfare. Never a peep out of you about this gross ripoff of TAXPAYER monies.
The bottom line is always the consumer. In the knee jerk condemnation of “Corporate Greed”, people conveniently ignore that the profit is something they silently consume too- from the retirement income to the low wage service provider, everyone is at that trough, happily using products and services that are plentiful and cheap because of it. The only true unproductivity that exists is government. There the money is taken, passed through many layers of humans siphoning off a bit for themselves at each step until very little comes out at the end to be spent in ways the creator of the money can’t control.
Well no shit and please in your infinite wisdom, explain why Corporations need this money..
Mortgage deductions are a subsidy. Health expense deductions are a subsidy. Child care credits and earned income crdits are more than a subsidy- they are a hand out. The idea that corporations are somehow more guilty of taking subsidies than anyone else is a worn out slogan. The tax code has become a rabbit warren of patronage and political agendas that has become subject to abuse by everyone little to big.
I used to like to say your doctor is a corporation or your dentist as a counter to that over simplification but frankly doctors are now much less likely to be a personal corporation than to work for one. I miss the old days when doctors created their own practice and committed to it. But go ahead and look to pick on your favorite stereotype without understanding a single thing about it.
They’re probably murderers.
Education is a good thing for all people.
I’d rather allocate my tax dollars to benefit these prisoners who are most likely American citizens rather than spend another penny helping forieghners.
i am an american citizen and nobody is giving me a free ride to college. but anything helps right? oh btw illegal aliens can also be incarcerated until they pay their dues and then upon release be sent back to their home country.
Me me me me me
My husband is in this photo and he’s not a murderer 💕❤️ Or rapist or woman beater. He didn’t hurt anyone just so u know
Tell him congratulations from me!
Thank you !! 🥰😍😘
Give me a for instance where someoneends up in Pelican Bay without hurting anyone?
I would imagine that financial aid covers the cost, the same way it covers the cost for students who are not incarcerated. Of course, the actual cost is minimal compared to the possible long term benefits to the individual and society as a whole.
actually even with a college degree when they get out, employers are going to look at their crimial history, and it wouldnt matter if they had a doctorate. they will still end up working for some manual labor unless they lie about their history
Discriminatory assumptions! Glad your not my boss.
That’s not true at all. Humboldt County has money and programs to get formally incarcerated folks into employment. They don’t have to lie at all, plus there’s something called a background check. And, by educating those that are incarcerated, it actually SAVES us money!
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2019/01/16/report-shows-benefit-prison-education
Get out of your box.
He suffers from jealousy. Hey tax payer, you actually do qualify for your first year of CR for free with tax money too. You would know this if you applied yourself like these young men did. [Edit] I probably pay way more in taxes than you do and I am happy it’s making an impact.
that ‘free’ college is only for first timers. check it if you want. oh yeah and if you want to pay my “tax pennies” then you are welcome to donate.
Me me me me me
Yes, apparently it is “you, you, you.”
Just pay your taxes, quit asking questions, atleast their not taking out loans and asking us taxpayers to eat the loan, cause I’m full
i do what i want. if you want to sit in the dark and not ask questions go right ahead but i will live my life the way i choose. and to your statement about paying loans, isnt it the same difference, i mean if taxpayers pay it up front or pay it afterward (a loan)
Me me me me me
Try a little math for yourself: How much does it cost the taxpayer to keep an inmate in Pelican Bay State Prison to begin with. Estimates for all prisons are between $31,000 to $60,000 per prisoner per year. Solitary confinement – to reduce gang influence – is around $78,000 per year.
These PBSP graduates receive an Associates Degree in their field of study. That is the same thing a Community College offers (2 year program). Cost of a Calif. Community College is around $4,000 per year not including books or housing.
So, for around $8,000 a State Prison inmate can get an education which, when their sentence is up, they can hopefully convert to getting a better job or continue their education. The alternative with recidivism rates being what they are in California (60-65%) is back to prison within three years and back to that $31-$60K maintenance cost that, YOU, the only taxpayer in the state of California will have to continue to shell out. The rest of us non-taxpayers really appreciate what you do for us.
P.S. I almost forgot. There is also Prop. 57 which the voters passed 2016, I believe. Look it up and learn something.
Well if we are just going to talk about money and not human potential, “several findings indicating a sharp reduction in recidivism rates – over 40% according to a 2013 RAND Corporation study – for prisoners who engaged in educational programs while incarcerated.”
It’s cheaper to educate people than to imprison them. And it makes people far less likely to return to prison.
So it’s any investment, not a cost, to the tax payer, right?
Don’t forget the biggest incentive, get out of prison early,yeehaw ,freedom
Bullshit stats. The numbers get manipulated. Good example is Oregon that boasts of a very low recidivism rate. Sounds great until you look at the parameters. It is recidivism is an inmates returns to prison within three years for the exact crime he was convicted of before. Example, John Doe goes to prison for assault. Gets out and two weeks later commits a double homicide and is convicted. Nope not recidivism because it was not the same crime. Example 2. Inmate Jones goes to prison for armed robbery. Gets out and commits another armed robbery but is killed by the police. Nope not recidivism. Example 3. Inmate smith is convicted of child molestation. 3 yers and six months later he does it again and get caught. Nope not recidivism because it was over 3 years. In short what about their victims?
Stats are a bigger. The first thing anyone should do is question them. But most people don’t if their own beliefs are echoed.
Thank you Rex for giving a simple explanation to ‘tax payer’.
While your argument sounds good, where is the justice for the kid who kept his nose clean and is instead saddled with college debt. College debt is one of the biggest reason young people are so poor. On some levels your arguments while for good is really unfair. How about we celebrate the POC kids who graduate from high school and college on their own. There are plenty.
I like how the students can’t even help but pose in that vato gang banger squat.
The first year of CR is free. The next year is per unit and is around 50 bucks a unit. $50 x 24 units=$1200 per year plus books and lodging. Of course having no debt is better but that isn’t exactly being “saddled” with debt.
sorry RT. does not compute. even if they get a degree their next employer will not look at it. it counts about as much as a high school degree. the employer will look at their criminal history and say sorry position is filled. so that degree means nothing on the outside, but it does help the individual to keep busy on the inside. plus the library is still free on the inside, and i know they dont have every book you want but you can ask for ones they dont have. or better yet the law library is free to every inmate and they could get their own education in law ( as you seem so eager to teach me and others about f’ed up california laws) and then it would seem that every law firm would just be dying to hire them because they had so many years studying laws ( dont forget this is a maximum security prison) . nice chat, now what do you have to say?
Discriminatory assumptions!
I’m an employer. What you describe is illegal hiring practices. Just cause one ahole got away with discrimination doesn’t mean I wouldn’t hire him. I believe in 2nd chances but not your narrow opinion.
i am just going to call bull right here
Of course you would. 🙈🙉🙊
It’s community college. Please save your outrage (and your money) for paying off the student loans of Boalt Hall’s law grads and Stanford’s physicians.
Even a community college can be a trap some cannot escape. Student loans are federally guaranteed. That means that financial institutions can hand out large loans to some of the least financially educated (they’re Kids) . Even if the bank knows your investment in your chosen field of study won’t pay off as planned, the rapacious bastards at the banks don’t care. They are guaranteed their principal and interest by the federal government. Loans not being serviced are cashed out by the banks and the go sit with the national debt. These loans are special. You CANNOT get rid of them through bankruptcy and they just keep accruing interest. Thats how an easy loan for a “cheap” community college can turn into a nightmare.
How’s that mega-enormous disgustingly inflated American military budget treating you? Oh, you get cheap gasoline at the local filling station. That’s amazing!! God Bless America, God Bless Petroleum! 🇺🇸
that argument is here nor there. please try again, or better yet get yourself a stint in pelican bay and get a free go at college
Your reasoning is neither here or there
Tax payers always foot the bill for every student to some extent even if they pay full price. I don’t know how much the inmates have to pay if any but you can bet part of it is tax payers money.
They have to get grants that are available to EVERYONE. They pay those back like a 4 year college loans.
Now, you can both transfer to UC Berkeley, and then, Boalt Hall?
Get a free Law Degree, we’ll pay for it…
I don’t know tax payer but I known a few like them
its not about ‘them’ its about my tax dollars. i dont hate ‘them’. they are supposed to be getting rehabilitated, which is fine and good.
Me me me me me
And in opposition to Me me me me me is apparently Me me me me me only expressed with insult.
Never said that, you did. Nice try, come again.
Nonsense. You’ve been thoroughly skewed on your own words. Denying it does not work.
I think your keyboard is stuck. Buy a Logitech next time, and the chance of this reoccuring will diminshish. The only Me me me me I’m seeing is bureaucrats living on lavish salaries paid by monies garnered through force. Yes, threat of imprisonment or confiscation is the use of force as in the word enforcement.
Logitech……your a funny one. 9 points for creativity.
Its a good program & worth whatever it costs if it gets these people on a different path.
so you want me to have to go to prison to get a ‘free’ education? why reward bad behavior
It is a tricky concept. Indeed for a person who wants to do better for themselves, it can be an opportunity to join productive society and leave destructive society behind. That is a good for the society that pays for it. And to eliminate the chance, if the individual is sincere, would hurt society more than the individual. There are times when it is damaging to the tax payer not to spend their taxes, just as if a bridge collapsed under the tax payer because no one would spend to fix it. Just not as often as those who do not pay taxes seem to demand.
I believe in reabilitation.
If you could see what you already pay for all the prisons and prisoners, you may want to rethink about the college program.
It is a small positive within a lot of negative.
i believe in rehabilitation too but when you get out you are not ‘rehabilitated’ because you carry that title with you to every job interview and you are supposed to tell people so as not to hang around others on parole. see how it really is not ‘rehabilitation’
Oh you must be a fortune teller. My bad.
per the California public inmate locator.
NGUYEN, DAVID TRIEU (Age 42) – is at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (RJD) in San Diego. He is eligible for parole in 2028.
There is one pelican bay inmate named Larry Vickers he is scheduled for parole 8/2019. Good Luck Larry!
Inmate Name VICKERS, LARRY
CDCR Number K12932
Age 40
Admission Date 06/28/1996
Current Location Pelican Bay State Prison
Location Link Directions
Parole Eligible Date (Month/Year) 08/2019
Parole Eligible Date Information
The Parole Eligible Date displayed above is subject to change.
Inmate Name VICKERS, LARRY
CDCR Number K12932
Parole Eligible Date (Month/Year) 08/2019
Pending Board Actions
Date Action Status
February 2020 Parole Suitability Hearing Tentative date for parole suitability hearing
Inmate Name NGUYEN, DAVID TRIEU
CDCR Number AK9303
Age 42
Admission Date 02/29/2012
Current Location RJ Donovan Correctional Facility
Location Link Directions
Parole Eligible Date (Month/Year) 03/2028
Parole Eligible Date Information
The Parole Eligible Date displayed above is subject to change.
What a difficult issue this is. Talking about the costs of recidivism or the injustice of the State paying for a college education for the worst of criminals leaves out whole realms of side issues. Despite the selective nature “the Rand Study”, which seems to be an open sesame to the theorists of prison studies, it is not likely to be able to justify the costs of education in a prison by “reducing recidivism”. Of course those who choose to put in the work are a very select subset of prisoners. The costs of providing a degree in a prison like Pelican Bay includes things like the costs of security, the exceptionally small population making good (as opposed to bad) use of the resources, the unusually low expectation of return of investment to the society that provides the resources, the number of times the resources are expended with no visible result, etc. I doubt that any rigorous accounting of investment versus result will show it “saves the taxpayers money.” This is a benefit provided to a captive (yes it is) population who en mass are very unlikely to see that society sees a dollar return. They are even less likely than the general population to care about the duty of the citizen to contribute positively.
But this slight chance of a few unusual individuals giving back is not the only consideration. There is the life inside the prison, which I suspect is only really large scale positive involved, in that it provides a hope and an occupation that might serve to make the management of a prison easier. It offers hope to many even if the nature of the people involved means that few individuals make good use of it.
It’s just too bad that the idea that the personal value participation in free education is not as emphasized from the start back in grade school so that the great mass of humans who are offered this benefit by society almost universally appreciate the advantages and see their obligation to everyone else for that privilege. Then there might not need to be so many prisons in the first place. Oh well. The prodigal son has always been the darling of humanity – we all like to think we “redeemable” and will get more than we have earned. That delusion makes donkeys of us all.
A very insiteful post. Maybe that one is worth all the jerks who misuse.
Even if there is no other value, programs like this give hope and purpose to prisoners and lessen the violence in prison.
But in fact, they do lessen recidivism. Here’s just one study :
“Participants and nonparticipants in Ohio prison education programs were compared in rates of misconduct during incarceration and prison returns after release…Inmates who earned GEDs or completed college classes were less likely than nonprogram inmates to engage in violence during incarceration, whereas completing vocational training and apprenticeship programs had no such effect on any type of inmate misconduct examined. On the other hand, completing vocational training and apprenticeship programs, GEDs, or college classes at any point during incarceration coincided with lower rates of prison returns within 3 years after release….
Policy Implications
The provision of GED programs and college classes to prison inmates may help to reduce levels of violence during incarceration, thus, providing safer facility environments for both inmates and staff. ” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1745-9133.12290
And there’s this:
“The Bureau of Justice Statistics studies have found high rates of recidivism among released prisoners. One study, which tracked 404,638 prisoners in 30 states after their release from prison, found that about 2/3 (67.8%) of released prisoners were rearrested within 3 years of release and more than 3/4 (76.6%) were rearrested within 5 years. More than half (56.7%) of these rearrests were in the first year after release. However, there is a 43% reduction in recidivism rates for those prisoners who participate in prison education programs. Indeed, the higher the degree, the lower the recidivism rate is: 14% for those who obtain an associate degree, 5.6% for those who obtain a bachelor’s degree, and 0% for those who obtain a master’s degree.”https://sites.northwestern.edu/npep/benefits-of-prison-education/
This is another reason why some people react against progressive policies.
We are all working pretty hard here, on the outside(of prison), but all the trendy social innovation seems to be geared towards projects like this..helping people who break the rules. and it seems reasonable maybe, but if we have to struggle out here(outside of prison), and we don’t have what we want out here, why would we be expected to applaud free housing for vagrants? Or free college for thieves and violent offenders?
Sure, it seems like a good idea to help prisoners educate their minds, but if the state is gonna subsidize anybody, then subsidize people that followed the rules, not the ones that break them.
compassion may be blind to its own shadows
It would be a healthy thing if those who don’t cause damage to others were treated with respect. But they aren’t. They are treated like banks (judged by what they provide to the “most vulnerable”) or nuisances (called selfish or prejudiced for objecting to being harmed) or evil (for not going along with every hair brained thought that crosses the minds of those who are so sure despite a history of failure.) Those who think that they are owed because they exist are safe because it’s in the nature of workers to work. Just as it is in the nature of those who don’t to shift the obligations to others. Though what happens when the shifters and blamers out number those who keep on working is scary.
Another me me me me me staring out the window blinds.
It doesn’t take much to see that a person over almost 60 when they qualify for parole will not be likely be gainfully employable with an associate’s degree in Behavioral Science. They will at best get a part time job in some non profit counselling other parolees. The facile dismissal of that is just “Me me me me me” from the other side of the wall. Don’t confuse being rude with being right.
More assumptions. Actually an ex-con with a new degree in Behavioral Sciences might be a better pick than a 20something barely off the boob. Sometimes folks who walked the walk, are better in other fields than newbs who’ve only talked the talk. Give me a statement that doesn’t soley orbit ones own narrative and maybe I’d give a different response. Don’t confuse pointing out others selfishness online, for being rude. Silly considering your doing the same. Maybe actually practice what you preach. 😂
But if ya want rude, go take yo
🙈🙉🙊 Self and go live in your lil cushy bubble with your lil yes men and friends to enforce your narrow behavioral controlling views.
Not worth wading through the bother of debating and offering different ideas where clearly they are not comprehended. So no, you may have the last word.
There are plenty of subsidies, stipends, scholarships, grants and loans available for non-prisoners, too. You are engaging in the Fallacy of Relative Privation.
Good story on this subject…
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/12/12/the-ex-con-scholars-of-berkeley
I know someone in The Underground Scholars. Not only is he going for his Bachelors at UCB, he is also a consultant and expert used by many lawyers and professionals. So he’s utilizing his past experiences to help others. This is someone who was locked up and put in SHU for Attempted Murder and now he’s out doing amazing things!
“He decided that he wanted to get out of prison and stay out. ” First come that realization. Then the way is found. Sort of. But if anyone thinks that it works the other way around- just offer education and out comes a good man- has never sat in a high school class room.
That link is actually an advertisement for the usefulness of prison where it is one of the last chances for an attitude adjustment. Too bad it is not a goal of society in general to reward to ordinary good and make the bad painful right away.
Great program! Congratulations to the graduates!
To be, or what? …
PELICAN BAY PRISON PROJECT
DELL’ARTE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE WILLIAM JAMES ASSOCIATION
Dell’Arte’s Janessa Johnsrude & Zuzka Sabata, in partnership with the William James Association, founded the first theatre program offered at Pelican Bay State Prison in 2016 through Arts in Corrections.
https://dellarte.com/about-dellarte-international/prison-project/
What about the victims of these inmates? What help did they get? Why not spend money on the victims instead of rewarding people who commit crimes. I have heard all the academic arguments of rehabilitation and the reality is it is a farce. They will not change unless they want to and no program will make that happen. What about the victims. If we worried half as much about the victims as we did the criminals it would be a better place, again what about the victims?
programs like these have worked for decades. Not all stick to it but several have. As for the families of victims, there are many programs and grants out there to help them too. Just cause this program exists does not mean others do not exist for victims. My friend gets $ for being a victim of gun violence. So maybe do some research before contributing to the misinformation wagon.
Restitution from the wrong doers would be better than actually taking more money from tax payers, who did no wrong, to pay compensation.
But that is never going to be a real option, is it…
That’s what civil law is for. Punitive fines just legalize crime for the rich.
This is exactly what the “corrections” system should be doing in a perfect world, rehabilitating people and providing them with the means to better themselves.