By Brian Dolinar
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.
We are excited for the five people who won last year’s 2024-25 EJP scholarships — Tarrus Buggs Jr., Ashley Holst, Angel Pantoja, Matthew Petrakis, and Yaneri Zuniga.
We have also selected five new recipients of the 2025-26 EJP scholarships! We plan to choose additional recipients in the new year.
“The scholarship is a symbol of what’s possible when we invest in people,” says Erick Nava, EJP Scholarship Coordinator. “These winners have not only overcome immense challenges, but they have shown the world what it means to take control of their destiny.”
Since 2011, EJP has provided academic scholarships to individuals pursuing post-secondary education. EJP holds a competitive application process for $1,000 awards that individuals can apply to educational costs such as tuition, fees, books, and personal computers. These impressive individuals, all directly impacted by incarceration, have demonstrated outstanding perseverance, dedication, and potential—qualities that set them apart in a large pool of applicants.
Among last year’s winners is Tarrus Buggs Jr., who was recently released from the Peoria Adult Transition Center, and is enrolled for the Spring 2025 semester in the new program in Construction Management Technology at Illinois Central College in Peoria. He wants to start his own construction business specializing in roofing and remodeling. “I tell my daughters that education is the key,” he says.
Current EJP student Matthew Petrakis received a scholarship this past year that will enable him to continue his education while serving the remainder of his sentence at Danville prison. He owes $850 in tuition debt, which until he pays, he cannot receive an official transcript, preventing him from attending classes at Eastern Illinois University. He wants to become an attorney to fight the “corrupt system that we call the ‘justice’ system.” In order to make a difference, he says, “you must put yourself in a position to make a difference — and that starts with education.”
Congratulations to our winners, and we wish you all the best in 2025!