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NBA Champ Festus Ezeli Visits MTC

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Former Golden State Warriors center and 2015 NBA champion Festus Ezeli recently visited Mount Tamalpais College at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, where he met with MTC students and San Quentin’s Public Information Officer Lt. Guim’Mara Berry, who provided a tour of the prison.

Now a media personality, speaker, and philanthropist, Festus has built much of his work around expanding access to education and opportunity. He has founded schools in Nigeria and Sacramento, serves as an NBA Africa ambassador, and has spent time volunteering at San Quentin and California State Prison, Solano alongside the Warriors social impact team.

After attending MTC’s 30th Anniversary Gala on April 18, 2026, Festus followed up with a visit to experience the College’s impact firsthand. His interest in MTC reflects his broader commitment to education, storytelling, and creating pathways for people to pursue new possibilities.

During the tour, Festus visited the new San Quentin Learning Center and joined students in a college English class, where they spoke with him about the rigor of MTC’s college program, the challenges they face, and the importance of sharing their stories with the world.

He also spent time with students in their housing units, on the yard, and in the Media Center, where San Quentin residents work as journalists and as music, film, and podcast producers.

Stephany Baker Joins MTC as Chief Operating Officer

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Mount Tamalpais College has named Stephany D. Baker its new Chief Operating Officer.

Baker brings more than 25 years of experience in organizational leadership, strategy, and culture development across higher education and nonprofit settings. As COO, she will help guide the College’s operations and organizational growth in support of its mission to provide high-quality, tuition-free liberal arts education to incarcerated students at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.

Before joining MTC, Baker served as Assistant Vice President in Stanford University’s Office of External Relations. In that role, she advised senior leadership and helped lead initiatives affecting students, faculty, and staff across a complex institutional environment. Her work has focused on aligning strategy, operations, and organizational culture during periods of growth and change.

Baker is also the creator of the People-Centered Organizational Community and Culture (P-COCC) Model© a framework designed to help organizations strengthen accountability, connection, and shared purpose. Over the course of her career, she has led initiatives related to organizational restructuring, financial recovery, student success, and cross-sector partnership development.

“Joining Mount Tamalpais College wasn’t a career decision, it was a calling,” Baker said. “Education is one of the most powerful hands of grace we can extend to another person. That is what this work means to me. We are not just building a college, we are building a more civil, compassionate, and just society. One student at a time.”

In addition to her leadership in higher education, Baker is also an ordained minister overseeing spiritual development and Christian Education at Friendship Vallejo Church, where she develops programs focused on personal growth, coaching, and community engagement.

She holds a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Grand Canyon University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, minor in Criminal Justice, from San José State University. Her work has been recognized through multiple honors, including the UC Berkeley Excellence in Leadership Award for Strategic Performance and Stanford University’s Dean’s Award of Merit for Enterprise Impact.

“We are over the moon that Stephany has joined MTC as our new Chief Operating Officer,” said Mount Tamalpais College President Dr. Jody Lewen. “The College is already feeling the positive impact of her vast knowledge, experience, and generous spirit.”

MTC Celebrates Growth and Impact at 30th Anniversary Gala

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Explore press coverage of the event from the SF Examiner, Haute Living and Liberté Press.

On Saturday, April 18, 2026, Mount Tamalpais College (MTC) celebrated three decades of teaching, learning, and transformation at San Quentin at the College’s 30th Anniversary Gala, Together We Climb. Held  at The Conservatory at One Sansome in San Francisco, the evening brought together formerly incarcerated alumni, current and former volunteer faculty members, staff, donors, partners, and friends, to reflect on the College’s history, honor its impact, and support its future.

Founded in 1996, MTC launched at a time when access to higher education in prison was extremely limited. Despite political and financial barriers, the college gradually gained trust from prison officials and a reputation for rigor and compassion among the prison population. For its first two decades, it was the only on-site, degree-granting college program in a California prison. Today, Mount Tamalpais College is an accredited, independent liberal arts college — the first in the nation dedicated exclusively to serving incarcerated students. The College provides a tuition-free Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Arts, along with college preparatory coursework in math and writing, serving approximately 300 students each term.

The gala marked an important milestone not only for the institution, but for the broader field of higher education in prison. Over three decades, the College has helped define what rigorous, student-centered higher education in prison can look like, building a model grounded in academic rigor, deep investment in students, and its long history of faculty engagement. MTC’s faculty are all volunteers, including professors, graduate students, and industry professionals from universities and institutions in the Bay Area and beyond.

MTC President Jody Lewen addresses the audience at the Together We Climb gala.
Mount Tamalpais College alumni reconnect during the celebration.

“What began in 1996 under extremely difficult circumstances has grown into an institution shaped by trust, academic rigor, and a deep commitment to human possibility,” said Dr. Jody Lewen, President of Mount Tamalpais College. “As we look to the future, our goal is not only to expand access to high-quality higher education in prison, but to affirm the humanity of incarcerated people and advance the contributions they are uniquely positioned to make to the world.”

The program featured a cocktail reception, a seated dinner, multimedia storytelling, art installations, and remarks highlighting the history of the College, its impact, and its vision for the future. The evening marked the largest gathering of MTC alumni in the institution’s history; some alumni reconnected with former classmates and teachers they had not seen since they were incarcerated at San Quentin years before–a powerful reflection of the relationships, community, and impact MTC has built over 30 years.

“The most powerful aspect is that MTC created a space inside the prison where people could  come together to think critically,” said Sha Stepter, an MTC alumnus and member of the Board of Trustees, whose sentence was commuted by Governor Jerry Brown in 2018. “Having the space and support to think critically empowers people to work towards their own liberation, in every sense of the word.” Stepter is now a San Francisco-based filmmaker and will graduate with a BA from San Francisco State in May.

MTC alumnus and trustee Sha Stepter shares his remarks at the gala.
MTC President Jody Lewen and trustee Zachary Bookman at Together We Climb.

As MTC enters its next chapter, the College is focused on expanding its impact by strengthening student and alumni support, investing in faculty development, increasing access to technology and library resources, and documenting its work to support and inform the broader field of higher education.

To learn more about Mount Tamalpais College’s impact or make a gift in support of its work, visit mttamcollege.edu/gala.

Faculty Spotlight: Omair Akhtar

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Omair Akhtar has built a career as a leader in the consumer insights industry, studying what earns people’s attention in a crowded media landscape. In recent years, as a volunteer faculty member at Mount Tamalpais College, he has brought that expertise into an educational environment  with profoundly limited access to media, helping students sharpen their voices, think critically about influence, and tell their stories with intention.

Before entering the corporate world, Akhtar’s first professional home was the classroom. He taught his first public speaking course as a graduate student at the University of Illinois—an experience that fueled his love of teaching. Later, while studying consumer psychology at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, he learned about the opportunity to teach in prison as a volunteer faculty member with MTC.

Upon completing his doctorate, Akhtar began working as a consumer researcher at Apple and later joined Netflix, where he has spent the past eight years. In his current role as Head of Member Consumer Insights, his team leads research on the Netflix member experience—studying how people interact with the streaming platform and make decisions about entertainment.

As his career progressed, Akhtar found himself missing the classroom—eager to teach again and to provide access to education for those who would value it most. He thought back to MTC and decided to reach out.

“I’ve loved my career in industry, but one thing that I missed about academia is teaching,” Akhtar shared. “I get joy and energy from it. I’ve gained so much from my time engaging with students. I also come from a background, both in my personal life and in my church world, where we take social justice very seriously. I thought I could bring all those values to my teaching at MTC—and thankfully, MTC felt the same way.”

Akhtar joined Mount Tamalpais College as a faculty member in Fall 2023, teaching a public speaking course. In class, he was struck by the level of commitment students brought to their studies.

“The energy was different than when I taught college students on the outside,” he reflected. “They went through a lot to be in that class—it was not a passive set of circumstances that caused them to be there. They were bought in and committed.”

Teaching communication, in particular, allowed Akhtar to engage deeply with students’ perspectives and experiences. Through speeches, debates, and discussion-based coursework, students explored how they see the world and their place within it.

“Students give speeches from their own unique vantage points,” he said. “It allows for us, as a class, to have really constructive, healthy discussions about why we see the world the way that we do, and what it means to advocate for your beliefs, and yourself, in an effective way.”

Over the course of the semester, Akhtar watched students develop not only technical communication skills, but also a stronger sense of agency over their own narratives—an outcome he sees as central to the course.

“The way we talk about it in class is either you control what your story is and how it is communicated, or someone will control that story for you,” he said. “I think we’re able to really help them communicate the principles that they choose to carry with them for the rest of their lives.”

At the end of the semester, Akhtar and the students reflected on their time together in class. “One student expressed that whenever we were all in class together, he ‘felt free, like he wasn’t even in prison,’” Akhtar recalled. “I almost cried. It was palpable in that room how education is freedom.”

Another meaningful moment came at an MTC Holiday Celebration held outside the prison, when Akhtar ran into a former student who had recently been released.

“When I had been in the prison about a year earlier, I saw him and he told me, ‘Omair, you’re going to see me on the outside.’ Then a year passes, and I see him at this party. It was like an out-of-body experience—he did it, he’s here,” Akhtar recalled. “In class, he had shared with me his vision of what his life would be like on the outside, and now he’s doing the things he said he would. It was just so great to catch up with him.”

In 2025, Akhtar also took part in the College’s ongoing Guest Lecture Series—an extracurricular opportunity available to all MTC students—where he drew from his experience at Netflix to explore the attention economy and consumer decision-making. He noted that many MTC students have a fundamentally different relationship to the attention economy, shaped by their lived experiences inside San Quentin—perspectives that added depth and nuance to the discussion.

“Students reflected on the negatives that come with being restricted from access to social media, but also some of the positives,” Akhtar explained. “I’ve learned so much from hearing their perspectives and how they’ve experienced the world from the inside.”

Alumni Spotlight: Sam Vaughn

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In the mid 2000s, a group of incarcerated men from Richmond, California began meeting inside San Quentin to discuss a shared frustration: they were watching their hometown, located just five miles away from the prison, show up in the news night after night for the same reason—gun violence.

Among those men was Mount Tamalpais College (MTC) alumnus Sam Vaughn, who paroled from San Quentin in 2007 and now serves as the leader of the City of Richmond’s Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS).

“We were just tired of seeing so many people in our city getting shot and killed,” said Vaughn. “Going to chow in the morning or going to work and realizing it was somebody’s brother, somebody’s cousin, somebody’s uncle who had been shot. We all got together to try to figure out what we could do to reduce that violence on the streets. We called it the Richmond Project.”

Vaughn had transferred to San Quentin in 2001, simply trying to get closer to home. When he arrived, however, he was surprised to learn that this prison was very different from the one he was coming from—this one had a college. He immediately enrolled at Mount Tamalpais College, a decision that would have a significant impact on his future.

“When I found out there was a college program, I felt like it would be a crime not to take advantage of it. So I took the English and Math college prep courses that first term, and the next semester I started working towards my degree.”

Growing up, Vaughn’s relationship with school had been complicated. He was a talented student, but as he got older, life got in the way of his studies.

“School was always easy for me growing up,” Vaughn said. “Once I hit high school, my personal life and family life—it all went bad, so I kind of just stopped caring, stopped applying myself. I failed the 10th grade for the third time, and then I just dropped out.”

At Mount Tamalpais College, Vaughn rediscovered his strengths as a student. He also began connecting with people he wouldn’t normally have engaged with.

Mount Tamalpais College alumnus Sam Vaughn (right) at his graduation ceremony inside San Quentin in 2005.

“When you went to school, you were a student,” he said. “You weren’t a black dude from the Bay Area. You weren’t a Crip or BGF. You weren’t Norte. You weren’t an Aryan—you’re a student. We were all students and we treated each other as such. So it broke down a lot of normal prison culture. And it broke down all those barriers.”

That is when the Richmond Project was born. Vaughn and his co-organizers realized that the perspective they had gained at San Quentin and in MTC’s classrooms could help them develop solutions to the violence in their community back home.

“Out there, folks were killing each other over what neighborhood they’re from,” Vaughn said. “In here, we’re from those same neighborhoods, but now we’re sitting here eating with each other and taking care of each other.”

Over time, the work became more formal and drew community and civic leaders into the conversation. Vaughn describes meetings that brought together advocates and officials from across Richmond.

“They started coming into the prison to talk with us,” he said. “We’d have city council members, city managers, the mayor, community advocates, and the consultant they hired to help solve the problem.”

In 2007, the City of Richmond launched its Office of Neighborhood Safety with a focus on interrupting cycles of retaliatory gun violence. The Richmond Project was an influential factor in the creation of ONS.

Shortly before Vaughn was released from San Quentin in 2007, a close friend and mentor asked him what he planned to do with his life when he got home.

“I told him I was planning on getting right back in the union—go back to being a heavy equipment operator. He said, ‘Man, that’s such a waste.’ I was kind of offended—how is it a waste for me to go home and have a good career and provide for my family? But what he meant was that it was a waste of talent. And so I got it.”

When Vaughn finally did go home, the economy was in shambles and the union wasn’t providing enough work. He was forced to pivot, and his community—shaped by the relationships he built at San Quentin—helped open doors as he found his footing.

“Almost every job that I’ve had since then has been from my network, or a learned experience from my time at San Quentin. After I got home, I facilitated programs in the prison and in other facilities, like Alameda County Juvenile Hall and Youth Authority departments in Preston and Stockton, California. I was kind of piecemealing jobs to survive and pay bills.”

In 2018, Vaughn became the leader of ONS. Under his leadership, the office has continued to expand its prevention and intervention strategies—and in 2025, Richmond recorded its lowest murder rate ever: five homicides, down from 47 in 2007, the year ONS was founded.

For Vaughn, higher education helped him turn talent into purpose—and brought a broader perspective to his life and his work.

“The classroom gave me the chance to experience vulnerability and transparency with groups that I would normally have had no access to or contact with. Without that, I would have stayed in my own judgment. I would have come to conclusions without all the facts. Changing that perspective helps in this work. You have to have understanding. You have to be non-judgmental.”

MTC Alumni Scholarship Awardee: Anthony Ammons Jr.

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When Anthony Ammons Jr. arrived at San Quentin in 2012, the basketball court became his entry point into the prison’s broader community. As a member of the San Quentin Warriors basketball team, he found camaraderie, mentorship, and a sense of purpose that extended far beyond the game. That experience, he shared, sparked a deeper interest in personal growth, community service, and education.

“At San Quentin, I learned how to be a follower of good people,” Anthony said. “Instead of being a follower of the gang mentality, the negativity, I became a follower of good habits, because I was trying to train myself to do things differently.”

Although Anthony had been a standout basketball player all his life, he had never experienced the same success in the classroom. As he became involved in San Quentin’s many programs, he discovered that the prison’s education opportunities were unlike those he had encountered elsewhere.

“I was never a big fan of school, and what I saw at other prisons with education programs was that you can go to class, but there was no community afterwards. So I didn’t attend school there,” said Anthony. “Mount Tamalpais College was different, and that is what really motivated me to enroll.”

Through Mount Tamalpais College, Anthony began envisioning a future beyond prison. Education became a way to build on the lessons he had learned through basketball—teamwork, perseverance, and accountability—and to turn them toward achieving his personal and professional goals.

“I went to prison at age 16 with a sentence of 102 years to life, and I served 20 years,” Anthony said. “I knew my professional experience alone wouldn’t get me where I want to go in my career. MTC helped me understand that with an education to ground that experience, there is no door I cannot walk through and no community I cannot help.”

He credits MTC staff and volunteer faculty for their consistency, care, and high expectations, noting that their support encouraged him to shift his priorities toward education.

“I thought, wow—you’re coming to a prison to teach a class, with a smile on your face? I gotta get my education,” Anthony said. “And what I loved most was that there was no judgment of failure, or even discussion of failure. It was like, what’s next? Are you going to stay in that failure mindset, or are you going to move forward? There was nothing but encouragement.”

On the court, basketball was also opening new doors for him. His talent, energy, and work ethic led him to star as one of the central figures in the 2019 documentary Q Ball, which chronicles the relationships, challenges, and growth of the San Quentin Warriors basketball team.

Due to his participation in MTC courses and other programs, as well as his work responsibilities at the San Quentin hospital, Governor Jerry Brown commuted Anthony’s sentence in 2018, and he was ultimately released in 2020. As he navigated reentry into society, Anthony continued to focus on serving his community and furthering his education.

Anthony’s first job after release was as an elevator operator for the Golden State Warriors. While in that role, he was struck by a stray bullet in Oakland, leaving him with significant nerve damage to his foot.

“Because of the gunshot wound, I couldn’t play anymore,” he said. “It put me in a cold depression.”

Anthony committed himself to recovery and professional growth, eventually earning a position with Assemblymember Mia Bonta’s office as district scheduler and public safety advisor. He relearned how to run and has recently returned to the basketball court. He remains close with his former San Quentin Warriors teammates.

Today, Anthony serves as a Special Projects Coordinator with the California Attorney General’s CARE Team, connecting with community-based organizations on reentry, disability rights, and immigration. In addition to his full-time work, he is pursuing an associate degree in Criminal Justice Administration at Long Beach City College, and was recently selected as a recipient of MTC’s Alumni Scholarship Program, awarded in partnership with 10,000 Degrees.

Explore the MTC Alumni Scholarship Program and get to know the 2025 recipients.

MTC Alumni Scholarship Program

Annual Alumni Gathering

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On August 17, Mount Tamalpais College held its 2nd Annual Alumni gathering at a beautiful park in San Leandro, attracting many alumni, faculty, and their families. As the sun rose, the park, cuddled beside the sparkling waters, was already excited.

Alumni Affairs Associate Corey McNeal and Chief of Staff Bekki Lee-Wendt were among the early arrivals, greeting the increasing crowd with warm welcomes. As the festivities kicked off, I adjusted a few chess pieces, catching the eye of alumnus Raphael Calix, who noticed that one of the pieces had mysteriously moved.

College faculty member Alex Naeve shared her thoughts, saying, “It was incredible to see so many alumni outside the walls of San Quentin. I really enjoyed hearing about what each person is pursuing and hoping to accomplish in their professional life, now that there are so many new possibilities.”

Throughout the day, familiar faces of alumni Larry White, Nghiep ‘Ke’ Lam, Chuck Longley, Louis Calvin, Sam Johnson, Bryan Richie, and many more could be seen around the park. The event was a heartwarming reunion, filled with joyful embraces, laughter, and meaningful conversations. For some, this was their first experience attending such a gathering outside the confines of San Quentin.

The atmosphere blended happiness and disbelief, with some attendees quietly expressing their amazement, saying, “I can’t believe we’re free.” Alumnus Sam Johnson, who graduated from Mount Tamalpais College when it was still the Prison University Project in 2013, reflected, “I was moved at the number of men who were formerly incarcerated with me and graduated.”

“Seeing their smiles and families moved me emotionally,” Sam added. “Because of the prison system and government officials, we had no hope of ever coming home, but here we are with friends and loved ones,” he expressed gratitude to everyone, particularly Jude, who he holds dear for believing in the impossible.

The event also provided a space for reflection. Those recently released and still adapting to life outside found comfort in sharing their experiences with other alumni. Discussions ranged from employment and voting rights to mentorship, safety, and self-care, all underpinned by a strong sense of community that offered a safe space for vulnerability, feelings of uncertainty, and deep connections.

Alumnus and soon-to-be groom Eddie Herena brightened the day with the arrival of his fiancée Jessica and their beautiful daughter Adeline. He shared, “This is considered my college reunion. I wanted to see my fellow alumni brothers and continue to build that bond and support that helped us all out during emotional times.”

This gathering not only celebrated the achievements of the alumni but also underscored the crucial role of community support as we transition back into society after incarceration.

Alex concluded, “The support and encouragement that MTC alumni show each other is remarkable. I do not doubt that this sense of fellowship and belonging will serve them–and the greater community–well for years to come.”

Student Services for the Incarcerated: How to Support Student Success

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Mount Tamalpais College staff members Corey McNeil, Alumni Affairs Associate, Dr. Windy Franklin-Martinez, Director of Student Services and Academic Advising, and Jennifer Juras, Chief of Institutional Effectiveness and Research, spoke about their work with incarcerated students at San Quentin during the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior College (ACCJC) conference in Los Angeles. They were joined by Ardis Eschenberg, Chancellor of Windward Community College, David Williams (VP of Academic Affairs), and Shanan Danley from Solano Community College’s SOAR Program.

Their presentation began with Mount Tamalpais College’s (MTC) history as an extension site of Patten University (from 1996 to 2020), which became independently accredited by ACCJC in January 2022. Many factors set MTC apart from other colleges in the room, including the fact that MTC’s faculty are volunteers, and attendance, including tuition and school supplies, is free. The presentation emphasized how student services underpin successful, intellectually rigorous, and inclusive colleges. MTC’s student services division shares commonalities with traditional colleges but has unique aspects due to its setting and student population. The subjects discussed included:

  • Services We Provide: Advising and Student Services, Learning and Development, and Alumni Affairs
  • Student Services: How does this look different in a prison setting?
  • Alumni Services: How does this look different in a prison setting?

Jennifer Juras highlighted the support MTC has within the ACCJC community and the positive reception of their presentation, noting the interest in programs in prisons among colleges. Jennifer said, “It was also apparent that there’s interest in running programs in prisons among junior and community colleges. We received many questions about how to get started.”

Dr. Windy spoke about the comprehensive student services MTC offers, including learning support services and the role of the Learning Disabilities (LD) Specialist in training and supporting faculty. The information about those services included evaluation for learning disabilities, academic accommodations, strategizing with students and faculty to improve learning outcomes, and supporting faculty with universal design and curriculum differentiation.

She emphasized the shared challenges among colleges serving incarcerated students. Corey McNeil discussed building MTC’s alumni network and supporting alumni pre-and post-release. He highlighted the importance of maintaining this network, stating, “This is important because a dialogue has taken place that helps to inform and serve current and former students as well as MTC in how it can better support the students as a whole.”

“What stuck out to me,” Corey said, “is how people from various walks of life and cultures and from around the world came together to share and learn from each other the best practices that help students fulfill their educational goals.”

For the question and answering segment of the presentation, Corey said he realized that “the questions that were being asked were indicative of the same issues that MTC has faced and most HEPs encounter, which further solidified my thoughts on how important it is for events like this to happen.”

He noted the diversity among conference attendees and the importance of events like this for sharing best practices. Corey exchanged contact information with personnel from Los Angeles City College and Solano Community College to discuss future collaborations. “My colleagues were exceptional with their part of the presentation,” Corey said. “They spoke with professionalism and knowledge that exhibited their passion for this work. I feed off their enthusiasm and energy.”

Thank you to the ACCJC for having us!

Incarcerated Students Can Now Teach at the First Accredited Prison College in the US

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New initiatives at Mount Tamalpais College allow people incarcerated at San Quentin to design and teach their own workshops

Sherman Newman, an incarcerated man, is both a student and a teacher at California’s Mount Tamalpais College (MTC), a liberal arts college in San Quentin State Prison. He is one of the thousands of people who have attended MTC, the only accredited, independent liberal arts college in the U.S. that operates its main campus out of a prison. 

Formerly known as the Prison University Project and Patten University, MTC has provided free education to incarcerated people at San Quentin for over 20 years, officially receiving accreditation in January 2022. San Quentin—California’s oldest prison—is infamous for many reasons, including its high death row population and recent botched pandemic response that led to the death of 28 incarcerated people. In recent years, it has been applauded for its media center, education opportunities, and overall shift toward rehabilitation.

Studies show that educational programs in prison often correlate with lower recidivism rates. Research funded by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance found that incarcerated people who participate in college programs have a 43% lower recidivism rate than their peers. However, MTC Chief Academic Officer, Amy Jamgochian said the college doesn’t exist to reduce recidivism rates. Rather, MTC is grounded in the belief that every person, regardless of incarceration status, is deserving of a quality education. 

“There is this assumption that a prison education is a dumbed-down version of ‘real’ education,” said Jamgochian. “That is absolutely inequitable; it would be incredibly patronizing to lower standards for incarcerated people.”

Hundreds of volunteers make up MTC’s faculty, with many of the professors hailing from neighboring universities like the University of California, Berkeley, and San Francisco State University. In the last year, MTC began extending some of its teaching positions to incarcerated people.

“There is no way to generalize what incarcerated people want to study. We have politically conservative and progressive students and some students who simply don’t want to be thinking about incarceration all the time. We’ve even had students request Sanskrit classes,” Jamgochian said. “We have to acknowledge the breadth of expertise and interest inside prisons—too many [people] make assumptions about what [incarcerated students] want.”

For nearly a year, MTC students have been invited to submit proposals for extracurricular workshops that they want to teach. Though these workshops are not for credit, MTC’s administration said it takes them just as seriously as other classes, reviewing the proposed syllabi and prospective instructors as they would for an accredited course. The extracurricular program has led to at least six new courses, all of which have been extremely popular among MTC students. 

“It’s been very exciting to see the vast array of interest,” said Jamgochian.

Lee Jasper, a professional musician, currently teaches a class on music theory. Sounds of bass guitar emanate from his classroom, luring in other music enthusiasts. 

“I played with a band while I was in the U.S. Air Force,” Jasper said, noting that he later taught a supplemental master guitar program for students at the University of California, Davis. 

Jasper’s music lessons would normally cost hundreds of dollars. At San Quentin, he offers them for free. 

“My rehabilitation demands that I be in service to my community,” he said. “I want to make my knowledge and abilities available to [all my students] to help improve their skills.”

Jasper’s workshop begins at the basics and ends with students being able to “read, write, compose, and discuss complex melodic theory,” according to his syllabus. One of his students, 68-year-old Ammen Shinti, has played music since he was four. 

“Being involved keeps me sharp,” said Shinti. “I also like to nurture new talent and show the world how awesome we [incarcerated people] are.”

Some workshops at MTC allow for co-teaching opportunities. Kelton O’Connor and Arthur Jackson, the latter of whom is also an MTC employee, currently teach a workshop together on diabetes justice. In their class, students sit in a circle to discuss the intersection of food and environmental justice.

“This class is designed to encourage people to start advocating for solutions to global warming,” said Jackson. Outside of class, Jackson and O’Connor also advocate for more fresh food in prisons. “A lot of what we eat, especially meat, contributes to destroying the ozone layer,” Jackson said.

MTC workshops also provide an educational space for incarcerated students and teachers to process traumatic experiences. Harry C. Goodall’s course, “Maturing In Modern Times: Overcoming Educational Trauma,” helps incarcerated students develop their emotional intelligence to uncover, understand, and overcome their educational trauma. Educational trauma can stem from being bullied by teachers or students, having low self-esteem and grades, and other harmful academic experiences due to behavioral issues, problems at home, or learning disabilities. For many incarcerated individuals, these experiences defined their early education. Goodall’s course helps students move past stigmas around learning disabilities and regain confidence and control over their education. 

MTC’s extracurricular courses coincide with the recent reinstatement of Pell Grants for incarcerated people. Pell Grants provide federally funded education for students with “exceptional financial need.” The U.S. Department of Education originally offered these federal funds to incarcerated students, but the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act decimated prison education programs for more than two decades. In 2015, former President Barack Obama restored an experimental version of Pell Grants for incarcerated people, and in 2021, President Joe Biden restored them in their entirety. 

Fortunately, as a nonprofit supported by private donations and grants, MTC is not reliant on federal funding to provide students with free education. “In general, historically, public funding for prison rehabilitation has depended on political tides—politicians move to eliminate it as a way to be ‘tough on crime,’” said Jamgochian, who said she supports any type of prison education but values the advantages MTC has as an independent institution. 

Despite the divergent challenges and benefits that independent and federally funded prison education programs encounter, both must approach restoring education, dignity, and respect to incarcerated people with thought, caution, and—in Jamgochian’s words—“an eye to equity and maintaining high standards.”

As colleges like MTC launch new initiatives, incarcerated people will regain not only their right to an education but also the opportunity to educate others. Peer teaching can facilitate greater understanding, support, and comfort between teachers and students. These efforts also boost the confidence and self-esteem of those leading the courses, who have a wealth of knowledge and experience worth sharing.

“I had low self-esteem growing up that I used gang activity and leadership to conceal,” Newman said “Now I am a teacher, a leader, and that has made my self-esteem go through the roof. I feel like I can do anything I want in life with these skill sets.”

Attribution: This article originally appeared in Prism on March 31, 2023.

Top photo: Mount Tamalpais student Arthur Jackson, pictured above, is co-teaching the course Diabetes Justice with MTC student Kelton O’Connor. Photo credit: Eddie Herena

STEVEN BROOKS

Steven Brooks is the editor-in-chief of San Quentin News, manager and staff writer at Wall City, and member of Empowerment Avenue. He has written numerous articles for different publications and is the… More by Steven Brooks

OLIVIA HEFFERNAN

Olivia Heffernan is a writer, editor, and award-winning filmmaker. Her work explores the intersection of race, labor, and incarceration. She has written for Jacobin, The Baffler, The Nation, among many… More by Olivia Heffernan

The Right to Write (R2W) project is an editorial initiative where Prism works with incarcerated writers to share their reporting and perspectives across our verticals and coverage areas. Learn more about R2W and how to pitch here.

Announcing the Mount Tamalpais College Alumni Scholarship

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We’re pleased to introduce the Mount Tamalpais College Alumni Scholarship Program!

This program will provide scholarships and other support to MTC alumni who are interested in pursuing further education. The scholarship program will be administered by 10,000 Degrees, an organization that administers scholarships and provides college advising. Their mission is to achieve educational equity and support students from low-income backgrounds to and through college to positively impact their communities and the world. We’re proud to partner with them to connect MTC alumni to valuable support.

Interested in learning more? Please see the Frequently Asked Questions and applications details here.

10,000 Degrees is currently accepting applications from eligible MTC alumni. The priority deadline to apply is March 2, 2022, however, the application will be left open until all scholarship funds are distributed. The first round of funds will be awarded for the Fall 2022 semester.

We are excited to grow this program in the years to come and to support MTC alumni throughout their education journey.