To my fellow UW students, this is a call to action! Please read, react, and send on!

We often hear about the school to prison pipeline that fuels cycles of oppression. We know that the conditions of someone's early life can dictate a cycle of crime and incarceration that will follow them forever. But what if I told you that there is another pipeline, one that can diminish the damages of the first one, and one that is up to us UW students to build. We have increasingly seen the power of education in the realm of prison rehabilitation, and it is time that we foster a prison to university pipeline that facilitates successful reentry.

As UW students we all understand the power and freedom that our education provides. It opens doors, creates productive citizens, and makes room for self actualization. Meanwhile, the conditions inside prison are traumatic, there is a culture of violence, and we cut the community ties that give people strength. There is a complete lack of reentry resources available and many housing, job, or educational opportunities exclude formerly incarcerated people. This leads to about 30% of people returning back to prison. It has been proven that education reduces these rates by 48%.

Mass incarceration and the societal damage it causes are created by governments and policy, but sustained by ignorance and complicity. The way in which we fail to utilize our privilege as UW students perpetuates cycles of incarceration as much as systemic causes like poverty or racism. If we as an institution fail to address incarcerated people, we state that we are ok with their current situation, that we feel comfortable under the weight of our privilege.

I know this is far from the truth. Our campus is teeming with incredible minds and passions for change. Yet we lack any kind of programming that addresses the needs of the incarcerated people in our state. Campuses from California Universities to private New York schools have found ways to nourish a prison to college pipeline, and have been doing so for over a decade. UW has never had such a program. As a prestigious, progressive, and powerful public university, this is a massive missed opportunity.

These positions are referred to as “reentry navigators” and there have been recent proposals for UW Seattle to fund a similar position. However, our administration has not shown commitment to its creation. The first proposal put up was denied, and the rhetoric around UW’s role in this project focuses on students who are already on campus, while ignoring how they are supposed to get there. 

Inside the walls of our state's prisons, UW seems like an unattainable goal, to the point that pursuing education here post incarceration never crosses the mind of the majority of inmates. In order to address the abuses carried out through cycles of incarceration, we must make our campus a place where formerly incarcerated individuals can thrive. This means creating exposure inside prisons, providing avenues for applying, and fostering communities and resources for these individuals on campus.

One thing I absolutely love about UW is the amount of diversity here. I have met peers from all parts of the world who are interested in a myriad of subjects. I am so thankful that I have this wealth of experiences to enhance my education. However, I have yet to meet a formerly incarcerated student. We have identified incarceration as one of the biggest societal harms in our country, and we speak about the repercussions and possible solutions, but I have never felt satisfied with these conversations because their most important participants are missing. I want to go to a UW that provides me with an education based on the lived realities of all members of society, and right now I sadly do not.

By holding the privilege of higher education, it is our job as students to ensure that system impacted people are not left behind. So, if you too wish to see a campus where success is possible for anyone, then I implore you to reach out to administration. There is a quick letter template available below for you. Our complacency is oppression, and in order to be the progressive university that we strive to be, we must not be complicit in cycles of injustice. We must speak out about what kind of university we want to attend and we must break our privilege. 

Link to Letter Template