Mount Tamalpais College

Campus & Community

Student Steve Brooks Honored by Society of Professional Journalists

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Steve Brooks was awarded a Contest Award by the Society of Professional Journalists Northern California for his commentary on criminal justice in California in “The Hidden Heroes Forgotten Inside” and “‘Violent Criminals’ Deserve Second Chances, Too”.

A full list of the SPJ’s 2020 Excellence in Journalism award recipients is here.

Steve was on track to graduate last year with the Class of 2020, but we were forced to cancel graduation due to COVID-19. He shared a commencement address on the importance of education which is available here.

Community Dialogs: Innovative Approaches to Reentry

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In California, most people are released from prison with $200 and meager other supports for rebuilding their lives. The challenges to landing on their feet are enormous, especially for those who have been incarcerated for decades. We brought together members of two Bay Area nonprofits—Impact Justice and Bonafide—and a former Mount Tamalpais College student for a panel discussion on innovative approaches to reentry.

Featuring:

  • Sia Henry, Senior Program Specialist, Restorative Justice Project at Impact Justice and Mount Tamalpais College Board Member
  • Becca Carter, Co-founder, Bonafide
  • David Cowan, Executive Director and Co-founder, Bonafide
  • Terah Lawyer, Program Manager, The Homecoming Project at Impact Justice
  • Aishatu Yusuf, Director, Innovation Programs at Impact Justice
  • Brian Shipp, former Mount Tamalpais College student

A recording of the event is available below.

Introducing New Staff Members

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Mount Tamalpais College is excited to welcome three new staff members to our team: Denisse Manrique, Jacob Kernodle, and Kevin Milyavskiy.

Denisse Manrique, Development Associate

Before joining Mount Tamalpais College, Denisse worked as the Development Coordinator for the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco for five years. She has been involved with several organizations, including WashPIRG, La Voz Latina, and Glide. She brings with her a passion for equity and creating community to Mount Tamalpais College. She graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in Sociology and Philosophy.

Jacob Kernodle, Registrar

Jacob joined the staff at Mount Tamalpais College after working for nearly ten years serving students and staff in higher education. Through his work as an educator and manager of student systems and records, he has developed a keen devotion to student needs and well-being. He is dedicated to serving marginalized students, especially in the creation of policies and procedures, so he is thrilled to contribute to the Mount Tamalpais College team in their mission. He holds an interdisciplinary BA focused on ethics and leadership from California State University, Monterey Bay.

Kevin Milyavskiy, Assistant to the Chief Academic Officer

Kevin is excited to be part of a mission-driven organization that empowers the incarcerated through education. As a community college graduate, he personally understands how significant Mount Tamalpais College can be for its students. His background includes work in environmental advocacy, technology and human rights, research on political accountability, and immigration law. Kevin earned his BA in Rhetoric from UC Berkeley.

Community Dialogs: With This Knowledge Screening and Panel Discussion

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In December, we launched Community Dialogs, a public education program offering events on topics related to mass incarceration and higher education. This event series features guest speakers including students, our local community, and national experts; film and book discussion groups featuring Mount Tamalpais College faculty; and online workshops free of charge.

The first event was held virtually on December 1. We screened the premiere of With This Knowledge, a short documentary series following two former students on their reentry journey to over 150 community members. Film subjects Sumit Lal and Sajad Shakoor, and filmmaker R.J. Lozada discussed the film and their experiences of reentry, in conversation with board member Aly Tamboura.

A recording of the event is available below.

Introducing New Board Members

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Mount Tamalpais College is excited to introduce two new board members, Larry Norton and Will Bondurant.

Larry Norton was an independent mediator in private practice and Principal of Norton Associates for 28 years before his retirement. His areas of specialization were education, disability rights, disputes among public agencies and public policy. Clients included various cities and counties in California, departments of state government, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations. Previously, he worked in university development and served as an intelligence analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency. He holds a BA from UC Berkeley and an MA from San Jose State University. He became involved in educational opportunities for incarcerated people while serving as a trustee of the California State University System.

Will Bondurant is a volunteer instructor with Mount Tamalpais College, having taught communications and business at San Quentin since 2015. In his professional life, he is chief financial officer at Castlight Health, an organization helping individuals navigate the complicated healthcare system in the United States. Prior to Castlight, Will worked as consultant at the McKinsey & Company focused on healthcare. He is a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and lives in San Francisco, CA.

Students and Alumni Respond to COVID-19

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Current and former Prison University Project students are spearheading an array of advocacy, public education, and reentry efforts during this crisis and leading the conversation on how COVID-19 affects incarcerated individuals.

  • Kenyatta Leal shared tips for living in isolation in USA Today. Read Story
  • David Cowan, Prison University Project Director of Operations and Director of Bonafide, discussed in an interview how COVID-19 has complicated reentry support. Read Story
  • Student and Senior Editor of the San Quentin News Juan Moreno Haines has emerged as a voice for the incarcerated during the COVID-19 crisis. His published pieces in DemocracyNow! and The Appeal reflect what’s happening inside San Quentin in real time. Read Story
  • Phil Melendez, Los Angeles Outreach Associate atRe:store Justice, was featured on “Coronavirus Impact Podcast with Ben Higgins” from ABC 10 News San Diego. Hear Phil at 13:56.
  • Adnan Khan and Eric “Maserati E” Abercrombie were featured on “GeriPal Podcast” with Dr. Brie Williams, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Criminal Justice & Health Program at UCSF and Director of Amend: Changing Correctional Culture. Listen here. 
  • Adnan also spoke to Alicia Menendez on MSNBC about the threat of COVID-19 in America’s carceral system. Watch Adnan at 34:50.
  • James King and Sajad Shakoor participated in a webinar, “Getting People Out Of Prison: How to Support People in CDCR In Asking For Release Due to COVID-19” sponsored by the Prisoner Advocacy Network.

Please note that the Prison University Project became Mount Tamalpais College in September 2020.

Alumni Spotlight: Raphael Calix

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Many of our former students remain committed to a life of service upon paroling and are often strong advocates for those still inside. We’re proud to share the following reflection from our alumni community.

What inspired me to join the Prison University Project? There is a saying, which speaks to our conditions in San Quentin, “Sink or Swim”, and it also means, “To Live or Die”. My mind turned to survival mode early in my life-to-term sentence in 1983. The criminal justice system preferred that I would never see freedom again, at least not in this lifetime. The term was 34 years consecutive to a “life-with-the possibility” to parole. I was 27 years old in 1983, and this meant that if I was to survive the violence of prison conditions, I would be very old if released from prison.

When I turned away from drugs and gangs in prison, my attention went to reading and writing. As a proven road to rehabilitation, education held the best promise. But, the local, state, and federal government had other plans for the helpless prisoners. In rejecting higher education for men and women in prison, the government defunded college programs for inmates. For many years, self education was the best we could manage. Not until the Prison University Project’s College Program, were we finally able to connect with the opportunity of a higher education. I was so grateful to the people who put the Prison University Project together. Privately funded, the program gave us hope to experience redemption through education.

Of course, attending college in San Quentin was an odd thing, because it made us feel free and special. Unfortunately, most people could not see us as human beings, due to the scourge of a past that was covered over with cruel and criminal behaviors. Nonetheless, forging ahead with the Prison University Project, many inmates worked diligently, alongside countless volunteers, and became college graduates. From these moments, all of the graduates who were found suitable for release on parole went on to become honorable citizens in society. Currently, I am on parole after completing a second college program in my community (SacTown), a Chemical Dependency Certificate, in the fourth successful year on supervision. Soon I shall be discharged, and will be looking forward to becoming a volunteer with the Prison University Project. In no small way, the Prison University Project helped me to become a better, stronger human being. My family has forgiven me, and accepted me into this new life. Prison life was not a complete failure. The trauma of having served a life term has been partially negated, and I can continue to live as a freedom loving soul.

Please note that the Prison University Project became Mount Tamalpais College in September 2020.

Alumni Spotlight: Barney McClendon

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Many of our former students remain committed to a life of service upon paroling and are often strong advocates for those still inside. We’re proud to share the following reflection from our alumni community.

I joined what later became the Prison University Project for the chance to earn some more college credits and because it provided both a challenge and a positive program. It’s much better to challenge the mind, and perhaps improve it, rather than spend one’s time watching TV or lounging in the yard.

I cannot locate my diploma, but I must have graduated around 2000, or just before. I was released in October of 2004, completing parole in 2009.

I think the most significant impact the Prison University Project had on myself, and most of my fellow students, was bolstering our self-esteem and personal confidence. That, and the competition against ourselves. It gave me a feeling of self-accomplishment—not to mention improved communications skills.

I enjoyed the instructors and the exposure to people from the community and not just the prison system.

There were some great classes and other activities. One volunteer weekend class was called “The Sunflower”. Not a class for credit, but a great experience.

Since paroling, I initially held self-help classes at the local half-way house for a few years and spent a lot of time just recovering social and technical skills that I lost during 22 years of incarceration. I am now eighty and after numerous medical problems do very little other than day-to-day existence.

In summary, the college program was the most enjoyable and helpful program I experienced during my incarceration. I think that the more inmates that take classes, then lower the inside violence and return to the insanity of drugs and crime.

Please note that the Prison University Project became Mount Tamalpais College in September 2020.

Alumni Spotlight: Jonathan Chiu

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Many of our former students remain committed to a life of service upon paroling and are often strong advocates for those still inside. We’re proud to share the following reflection from our alumni community.

The Prison University Project works towards the incarcerated in fighting for them to achieve higher education. I’m inspired by the dedication of the volunteers and how they are passionate about volunteering their own time.

Even though I never graduated from the Prison University Project, I have been to many graduation ceremonies and see how the graduates themselves are more confident and have a sense of accomplishment and self-worth. I’ve also seen how proud their families feel from siblings, parents, kids, and relatives. The hard work and dedication to achieving a college degree goes beyond a piece of paper.

For former students, giving back to those incarcerated is a must. We were all given a second chance. There are still our brothers inside that need our support in any way possible, whether helping them achieve their freedom or a higher sense of purpose.

I left prison on May 1, 2020. I am not ashamed of who I am, a formerly incarcerated citizen and my past is a part of who I am. If we can’t accept other people for who they are, then the meaning of life itself will never be revealed.

College taught me to always sit in the back of the class when you want to get other work done. 🙂

Education overall provides opportunity to the incarcerated. When you walk into any prison classroom, the majority of students are people of color and that is a systemic issue. The fact that Prison University Project offers a free education to the disenfranchised and system impacted, it lets them see a future without bars both physically and mentally.

I am passionate about comedy, community service, and social justice.

Since paroling this spring, I’ve been reconnecting with society in general, formerly incarcerated friends, and hoping to find work, love, and a winning lotto ticket.

Please note that the Prison University Project became Mount Tamalpais College in September 2020.

Alumni Spotlight: Joseph Krauter

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Many of our former students remain committed to a life of service upon paroling and are often strong advocates for those still inside. We’re proud to share the following reflection from our alumni community.

I joined the Prison University Project because I wanted to continue learning.

Whenever I’m not learning something, I feel like I start drowning.

I wanted to accomplish a personal goal besides getting out of prison on time; the Prison University Project was helping me do that by offering a degree.

While I was in college, I was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asperger’s disorder). This opened up a whole new facet of my life and learnings. The Prison University Project helped me to better understand my learning needs and helped me learn in fields that I believed I couldn’t because of my condition.

It also helped me communicate and advocate to the San Quentin’s administration for seriously needed things like eyeglasses.

Prison University Project staff also treated me like a person, like a real human rather than a third-rate animal that most of the custody staff treated all of us like in the prison system; something to be tolerated and not treated humanely.

I paroled on December 4, 2019. I got to hug all my favorite Prison University Project staff members that day. it was a great day for me. Since then, I’ve worked side by side with them to make care packages for the inmate population of San Quentin. I’ve kept in touch and made fast friends.

Even now Prison University Project staff members are helping me find stable work and hopefully housing here in the city of San Francisco.

I didn’t graduate inside, but I got to take my learnings with me and now I am transferring to San Francisco State; with credits that I earned, I only have to take one class before I can focus solely on a double major in the arts.

Thank you, Prison University Project, for always.

Please note that the Prison University Project became Mount Tamalpais College in September 2020.