Chronicle Features UB Student in Broad Study of Impact of Higher Education on the Incarcerated
February 4, 2021
Contact: Office of Government and Public Affairs
Phone: 410.837.5739
A new, extensive report by The Chronicle of Higher Education on the changing perceptions of post-secondary educational opportunities for incarcerated persons features an interview with Thomas Anderson, a Baltimore native who was released in 2019 from Jessup Correctional Institution, and is now continuing his education in business and real estate as part of The University of Baltimore's Second Chance College Program.
Anderson, who began in the program while still at Jessup, had earlier taken classes there through another college. But that program ended in 2000, and he waited years until, through meeting Andrea Cantora, associate professor in The University of Baltimore's College of Public Affairs and the director of the Second Chance initiative at the University, he was able to start classes again.
"Once I had finished the 30 credits [through Coppin State University], that was all I was able to take. That was hard. When an educational opportunity becomes available and is taken away, it's like a part of you goes with it," Anderson says. "That hope of 'Can I get better? Will I be able to improve my life?'"
Anderson started tutoring other incarcerated men, including those who couldn't read or write.
"It gave me something positive to counterbalance all the negativity," he tells the Chronicle.
Then, he met Prof. Cantora, who was teaching an enrichment class in criminal justice at Jessup.
Anderson said his interactions with her and the students from the University was life changing—for him and them.
"We brought insight to them, and we gained greater insight into them. Learning together, we became human to one another," he says.
Prof. Cantora and her colleagues eventually piloted a program through which those serving time in prison could take classes, then progress on toward a degree from The University of Baltimore. With the recently announced reestablishment of the Pell Grant program as a way to support these students along their journey, Anderson and other incarcerated individuals are able to plan for a post-prison future that includes gainful employment, social connections, and more.
"To sit at a desk and have someone invest in me really blessed my soul," Anderson tells the Chronicle. "The fact that people on the outside were caring for people on the inside meant a lot to me."
Learn more about Prof. Cantora.
Learn more about the Second Chance College Program.
The Chronicle of Higher Education's report, "The Expanding Role of Colleges in Prison Education," is available at no cost here.