Author: Brian Dolinar

The holiday season can be hard emotionally for those in prison, so we create winter programming for EJP students and affiliates that is fun and festive. For instance, this winter break, we offered a two-part music workshop titled, “Snap Clap Sing Whistle Stomp.” It took place in a room with a digital keyboard, which allowed…

We have been featuring profiles of EJP alumni who are now out in the world making an impact in their communities. In our latest EJP profile, we would like to share the story of David Gbabiri, a high school principal and English teacher in Garoua-Boulaï, a city in eastern Cameroon near the border of the…

“I had been locked down for a while,” says Larry Brent, who was among EJP’s first cohort of students at the Danville prison in 2008. When EJP came into the prison, he “signed right up.” It was a “mind blowing experience,” he recalls. He first took classes in history and religion.   In December 2018, a…

We are proud to share that EJP is offering our first-ever graduate-level course this Fall 2025 at Danville prison. Soo Ah Kwon, a professor of Asian American Studies, and long-time EJP instructor, is teaching EPOL 518: Youth, Culture and Society.  While pursuing her Ph.D. at Berkeley researching youth activism, Soo Ah first got involved with…

“There are men and women on the inside,” says Angel Pantoja, EJP alumnus, “who, every day, take it upon themselves to listen to their peers, to counsel them and help them work through not only the suffering that comes with incarceration, but also the deep traumas many have carried since childhood.”  During his time incarcerated…

Education Justice Project hosts a project called RIPPLE Effect, which sends holiday cards and letters inside prison and will be directly impacted by the recent decision to digitize all prison mail in Illinois.   Illinois Department of Corrections has implemented a policy to scan all incoming mail. Prison authorities claim the move will stop the flow…

For the first time, a former EJP student has been accepted and enrolled in the University of Illinois. Mike Pierce is working on a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Trauma-Informed Practice and Pedagogy at the College of Education.   After being transferred to Danville prison in 2018, Mike started taking courses…

We have been spotlighting the accomplishments of EJP alumni recently (see posts about Johnny Page and James Wood) and are happy to feature one of our most recent alumni in this blog.  Anthony “Milo” Olivieri was released from Danville Correctional Center where he was part of EJP, and now he is living in the city…

We wish to extend congratulations to Johnny Page, EJP alumnus, who was recently named Director of Reentry in the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention and Services at the Illinois Department of Human Services. That sounds like a long title, and his job is not a simple one. His position is to connect different state agencies,…

A second cohort of EJP Alumni Fellows has been selected to build professional skills and networking opportunities among our former students. This initiative also aims to foreground the voices of those who can best speak to the importance of higher education in prison, the conditions of life inside, and the need for reentry resources —…

Since he was released five months ago, James Wood, known as “Silk,” has been surrounded by the EJP community. The skills he learned from EJP while he was inside have also prepared him to be successful. After serving a 31-year sentence, he needed all the assistance he could get. He recently got a full-time job…

A new book by EJP alumnus Raylan Gilford talks candidly about the emotionally fraught time of reentering society after a lengthy prison term. Navigating ReEntry Trauma: A Guide For Life After Lockup is his fourth book. EJP will be hosting a book launch with Raylan on Wednesday, November 19, 2025 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m….

EJP held our Fall Convocation at Danville Correctional Center on August 20, 2025 to kick off the new academic year. The theme of the convocation was “Self-Actualization: Becoming Purpose Driven.” The nearly two-hour long event included words shared by EJP students, instructors, and program leaders.   “The EJP Community is rewarding,” said the opening speaker Maurice…

“It makes me feel like I’m not alone,” says Ricardo Guzman, who used a copy of EJP’s A New Path: A Guide to the Challenges & Opportunities After Deportation to prepare for his release from prison and deportation to Mexico. “Other people went through this. They made it. I can also make it.”  Education Justice Project…

This year more than ever, EJP recognizes the linkages between incarceration in the United States and the criminalization of immigrants, particularly those from Mexico. Some EJP students, after serving a long sentence in prison, have been deported. Some of them came to the United States seeking a better future like previous generations of immigrants, and…

We wanted to disseminate an executive summary from a research luncheon held at this year’s National Conference on Higher Education in Prison (NCHEP). Several current and former EJP members participated in the discussion including Ashton Klekamp, Rob Scott, Paméla Cappas-Toro, and Mollie Hosmer-Dillard. Erin Castro (pictured here), former EJP instructor who co-founded the University of…

EJP was invited to participate in a legislative subject matter hearing held on Tuesday (5/6) on Credit for Change, a statewide campaign aimed at repealing the state’s so-called “Truth-in-Sentencing” laws that have led to thousands of people serving long sentences in Illinois prisons. EJP’s Policy Discussion Group at Danville Correctional Center has been studying this…

It’s the time of the year when EJP reviews applications from individuals hoping to join our program at Danville Correctional Center. Every spring, EJP starts a new admissions cycle. We typically accept approximately 20 incoming students, with notices of acceptance going out in May. It can feel life-changing to some individuals when, after pursuing their…

The Education Justice Project (EJP) has made the commitment to apply to become a center at the University of Illinois. This decision comes after a multi-year process involving our largest external funder, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which awarded EJP a $1 million grant in 2017 and most recently renewed the grant for additional 36…

EJP is thrilled to welcome Shaelyn Smith as our new Academic Director! In this role, Shaelyn will lead all our college-in-prison programming. Shaelyn is familiar with the obstacles and rewards of running a higher education program in a prison. She has spent the last eight years working with the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project (APAEP),…

An interesting and timely EJP course, Latin American Studies 395: Latin American Insurgencies, is being taught this spring at Danville prison by instructor Liliana Lule. The course studies uprisings in Latin America from pre/colonial era to the present, with the goal of understanding how historical events influence contemporary examples of resistance.   “Classes like this one…

Growing up with system-impacted family members, Jessica Vargas was familiar with the effects of incarceration early on. Her experience drove her to get involved with EJP’s Prison-to-Gown Pathway (PGP) program, where she conducted outreach to justice-impacted students on the Illinois campus and connected them with resources.  Jessica is from Humboldt Park, a Puerto Rican neighborhood…

As a member of the Education Justice Project’s (EJP) Social Media Team, Natalie Cline (Advertising, Class of 2025) has gained hands-on experience and worked for an organization whose mission she believes in. In the two years since she started, Natalie has helped nearly double the number of followers on EJP’s social media platforms. EJP has…

This holiday season, we are thrilled to announce we have selected several recipients of the Education Justice Project Scholarship!  Every year, EJP offers several scholarships to those formerly incarcerated and those impacted by the criminal legal system to continue their education. Their stories are examples of the role that education can play in transforming lives. …

By Brian Dolinar We are excited to share the news that we have chosen our first ever cohort of EJP Alumni Fellows. The new fellowship program is intended to enrich EJP’s efforts to support critical awareness of issues related to higher education in prison, incarceration, and reentry, while supporting EJP alumni in the development of…

We are excited to announce the results of our 2024 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Survey, the second survey since EJP launched our DEI Initiative. The DEI Survey was first released at a lunch event on Monday, December 2, 2024 with EJP members. You can read the 2024 DEI Survey online.  The DEI Team plans…