Prof. Cantora: Incarcerated Students Can Transform Their Lives Through Education
June 4, 2018
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In a letter to The Baltimore Sun, Andrea Cantora, assistant professor in the University of Baltimore's School of Criminal Justice and director of the University's Second Chance College Program, echoes the thinking of former Baltimore state's attorney Gregg Bernstein, who says that people in prison can benefit from higher education, using their knowledge to rebuild their lives in new and transformative ways.
"College has afforded our incarcerated students a real opportunity to turn their lives into something meaningful." Prof. Cantora writes. "It has transformed their way of thinking about themselves and the world around them. As Mr. Bernstein noted, Goucher College and the University of Maryland are also playing a major role in serving citizens with criminal records. University of Baltimore, Anne Arundel Community College, Wor-Wic Community College, and Johns Hopkins University are also doing their part in serving this population."
Cantora suggests that elected officials "develop ways to invest in the existing prison education and reentry programs run by higher education institutions. There is a lot of good work happening on campuses throughout the state—we just need to acknowledge it, highlight it and invest more resources into it."
Read Prof. Cantora's letter.
Learn more about Prof. Cantora and UB's Second Chance College Program.