The Sign

Inside this facility – correctional center, re-entry center, prison; the word changes almost weekly with the program emphasis shifting – every building looks the same.  There are six double-sided rectangular “dormitory” buildings and, with the exception of the number stenciled dead center, you can’t tell one from the other.

That’s the way prison is.  It’s about uniformity.  Everyone dresses alike – “blues”, shirts and jeans – and everyone eventually looks alike.  Whether intended or not, prison dehumanizes you.  Your seven digit “state number” matters more than anything.  It’s ironic, isn’t it?  To stop guys from re-offending, recommitting, you have to understand their individual stories.  Instead, they’re all lumped together.  And the failure rate rolls on.

Everything looks the same.  Everything feels the same until…last Thursday.  Thursday morning a huge sign went up on the front of our building.  In burgundy letters on a pure white background, a sign, the logo of the sponsoring Virginia Community College prominently displayed in the upper left corner.  It read:

Southside Virginia Community College

Campus within Walls

Our college dorm had an identity.

The Virginia Secretary of Education is visiting our college program Monday afternoon.  She wants to see what’s going on at Lunenburg.  That’s the reaction you get from government when something actually works.  See, Virginia has contributed exactly $0 to this program.  The idea for this campus came from Southside’s President who, coincidentally, is married to our principal.  These two people have devoted their lives to educating prisoners.  And Dr. and Mrs. C, they understood a college education destroys recidivism.

Dr. C sold this idea to skeptics at DOC and in the Governor’s office.  The state provided no money, no materials, nothing.  In fact, everyday at least one officer would push back against the college idea.  I still remember the day CO Newbill, sitting in the building, heard me conduct an English review class.  He called me over, “You’re wasting your time”, he said.  “These scumbags will be back.”  Simply put, that pissed me off.

And that’s the way things went until the Community College won a Bellwether Award about two months ago.  The Bellwether is the most prestigious award granted community colleges for excellence and innovation in their programs.  Southside won a Bellwether for the “Campus within Walls” initiative.  And then, everyone wanted to jump on board.

Governor McDonnell’s office put out a press release touting the Bellwether and then conveniently tied the program into his re-entry initiative.  The community college has been swamped by community colleges in other states asking “How do we start the same program?”  And Monday, Virginia’s Secretary of Education is coming.  She’s scheduled to participate in the computer class I assist.  

After that, there will be pictures in front of the sign:  The Secretary of Education, Dr. and Mrs. C, and the college aides.  Thursday, we had photos taken of us in front of the sign with the Warden, Assistant Warden and unit manager.  Everyone, it seems, wants in on the sign.

Thursday night as I was falling asleep I was trying to figure out what it all meant.  This week marked another birthday I missed of my older son.  I haven’t heard from either of my sons in almost 3 ½ years.  And my ex?  She’s moved on to a new life.  Friends have fallen by the wayside.  In truth, without the hectic schedule of this college program, I think the loneliness and emptiness would overwhelm me.

“What does it mean, God?”  And then I remember Lunenburg wasn’t even on my list of prisons when I was at the receiving unit.  I wasn’t supposed to come here.  Yet, I did.  And two days after my arrival, I was hired as an academic aide in the school.  Thirty days later, I was given permission to start a creative writing class.  Five months later Mrs. C called me in, told me about the grant and asked me to head up the academic aides.

Was it a sign?  Albert Einstein said, “God uses coincidences to remain anonymous.”  Coincidences are nothing more than signs.  And signs matter, sometimes more than we realize. 

Campus Within Walls Receives Bellwether Award

Governor McDonnell Congratulates Southside Virginia Community College on Receiving Bellwether Award
– SsVCC received the award for its Campus Within Walls prisoner re-entry program –

RICHMOND - Governor Bob McDonnell announced today that an innovative program begun under his prisoner re-entry initiative has been awarded a national Bellwether Award finalist trophy in the category of Planning, Governance and Finance at the Futures Assembly in Orlando, Florida. The program, called Campus Within Walls, is spearheaded by Southside Virginia Community College (SsVCC) and involves partnerships with the Virginia Department of Corrections, the Sunshine Lady Foundation and Goodwill Industries. Because of these collaborations and a Second Chance Grant from the Department of Justice, the program has operated without cost to Virginia taxpayers.

The Bellwether Awards annually recognize outstanding and innovative programs and practices that are successfully leading community colleges into the future. The award selection process involved a critical review by a panel of national judges of hundreds of nominations from all over the country. Only 10 programs were selected and invited to the Bellwether Futures Assembly in the Planning, Governance and Finance category.

Speaking about the Campus Within Walls program at SsVCC, Governor McDonnell commented, "I want to congratulate Southside Virginia Community College, under the leadership of Dr. John Cavan, on receiving such a prestigious award for a very important program which provides offenders in our prison system with hope for a productive future. Campus Within Walls is a component of our comprehensive prisoner re-entry program. As I have long said, those who commit a crime must first repay their debt to society and take responsibility for their actions. However, it is our job to work with these offenders to prepare them for release from prison. The reality is that the vast majority of the people that we send to prison eventually get out. Therefore, in the interest of public safety and good government, prisoner re-entry strategies must be put in place. This is the responsible and cost-effective approach to 21^st century corrections. We do not want individuals released from our institutions to re-offend. In an effort to further reduce recidivism in the Commonwealth, we have implemented a comprehensive re-entry initiative designed to successfully prepare those who have served their time to go back into their communities as productive members of society. Campus Within Walls works with Virginia inmates to help them receive an education credential so that they have the tools and skills they need to support themselves and get a job once they are released. This valuable program has been successfully implemented at SsVCC. Recently, 40 inmates who participated in the program at Lunenburg Correctional Center graduated. These individuals have made a significant step toward preparing to become successful members of their community upon release from prison. The Department of Corrections, with assistance from its many partners, has implemented a number of innovative re-entry programs throughout our correctional system and Campus Within Walls is an excellent example of what can be done to assist offenders prepare for their return to their neighborhoods."

Dr. John Cavan, Southside Virginia Community College President, commented, "This is just another example of Southside Virginia Community College truly living the mission of a democracy's college. The graduation of students from the Campus Within Walls and receiving the Bellwether Award symbolizes the great commitment of Governor McDonnell in creating a winning team of SsVCC, Department of Correctional Education and the Department of Corrections to forward the governor's re-entry initiative."

Campus Within Walls is an intensive inmate education program with unique features such as the housing of inmate participants together in the prison to create a "learning community," the infusion of modern technology, the use of inmate tutors, and a well defined curriculum designed to allow inmates to attain an educational credential while incarcerated. The program increases safety within the prisons by keeping inmates occupied with positive pursuits. The program also is expected to produce long-term public safety benefits. Research conducted nationally and within the Commonwealth demonstrates that certificate and degree attainment reduces recidivism and thereby increases public safety. Participants are more likely to have the skills and discipline to obtain and keep jobs, become law abiding taxpayers and support themselves and their families.

Southside Virginia Community College (SsVCC), in cooperation with the Department of Corrections (DOC), the Department of Correctional Education (DCE), and Goodwill Industries Network (Lunenburg only) has created this unique prison education program within its service region. On Friday, Jan. 27, SsVCC awarded an Associate Degree of Arts and Science, General Education Certificates, IST Certification, Comp TIA A+ Certification, and Masonry Certification to more than 40 other participants.