For Incarcerated Students in California, Education Is a Collective Endeavor

"Kenneth Butler, an inside-outside prison education training coach who grew up in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, spent 15 years incarcerated prior to his release from prison in June 2021. He's since implemented reentry programs and conducted recidivism research in Uganda while on a Fulbright Fellowship, and he has served as a mentor to formerly incarcerated youth and young adults in Southern California."

"Butler, who is also a graduate of Norco College's prison education program - known now as the Rising Scholars Program - told me in an interview earlier this year that he initially enrolled in Pitzer courses inside the CRC without earning any credentials. He and about 15 others successfully advocated for what became Pitzer's Inside-Out Pathway-to-BA program. That was a little more than five years ago."

Kenneth Butler spent 15 years incarcerated and was released in June 2021. He implemented reentry programs, conducted recidivism research in Uganda on a Fulbright Fellowship, and mentored formerly incarcerated youth and young adults in Southern California. Butler participated in creating a B.A. program through Pitzer College inside the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco and graduated from Norco College's Rising Scholars Program. He earned a bachelor's degree by taking courses that counted toward the degree while incarcerated and completed his final semester on Pitzer's campus. Mutual aid and a culture of care among incarcerated scholars sustained academic perseverance and personal transformation.

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