SQSP_DSC0149-c-AlexandraNewman

Campus Life

Through roundtable discussions and special events such as symposia, academic conferences, film screenings, and book discussions, Mount Tamalpais College is invested in building community outside the classroom.

150
VISITORS
Over 150 visitors attended Mount Tamalpais College's community events at San Quentin State Prison in 2019.
10
EVENTS
We host at least ten extracurricular activities each year.
100+
FAMILY & FRIENDS
Each June, over 100 family and friends attend Mount Tamalpais's commencement ceremony at San Quentin.
CAMPUS EVENTS

San Quentin's First Academic Conference

Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reform—21st Century Solutions for 20th Century Problems allowed those most impacted by America's carceral system to contribute to the conversations that shape their own lives and futures.

Featured Winter Events: Open Mic, Ethics Bowl, and Book Club Discussions

2018 academic conference at San Quentin State Prison

Call for Papers: Academic Conference Spring 2020

Screening “College Behind Bars”

STUDENT PUBLISHING

Open Line

An online journal documenting the intellectual and creative work of Mount Tamalpais College students and alumni, Open Line includes creative and academic writing as well as articles published in news outlets nationally.

How I Convinced My Incarcerated Peers to Make Language a Priority

Even in a Pandemic, San Quentin Must Restore Rehabilitation Programs

Inside San Quentin Prison, You Sit and Wait Until COVID-19 Comes for You

Juan Espinosa, Peer Tutor at San Quentin State Prison

Every semester, students apply to volunteer as student teaching assistants in composition and math courses, to work with faculty and to support students. Mount Tamalpais College students show deep investment in each other and in the college community as a whole, participating as teaching assistants, peer mentors, peer tutors, and giving feedback to staff to improve the schooling experience.

As James King, an alumnus of Mt. Tam and former Program Clerk inside, points out, incarcerated people are at the core of programs inside prison, a principle Mount Tamalpais College carries as one of its values: "We serve as peer educators for fellow incarcerated people at San Quentin seeking their GEDs or learning English as a second language. We are instrumental parts of each rehabilitative or educational program that operates within these walls. We are also leaders in sports, artistic programs, and the media center.”