Mount Tamalpais College

MTC News

Our 2019 Holiday Gathering

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On December 14th, 2019, the ever-growing Prison University Project community celebrated the close of yet another extraordinary year of success, perseverance, and growth with our annual holiday brunch celebration. Former students, volunteer faculty, extended families, and many staff and board members gathered to share stories, trade triumphs, offer gratitude, and exchange New Year aspirations in the Hazel Wolf Gallery of the David Brower Center, a sustainable community space in Berkeley existing to unite art, activism, environmentalism, and education.

The Mixing Bowl and their gracious staff provided a delicious catered lunch in the main gallery. An adjacent space was filled with laughter from the children of board members, staff, and former students decorating gingerbread cookies, painting on mini canvases and suncatchers, and decorating masks. A few lovely moments, shown below, were captured on camera by Jahslyn Chen See, our new Development Associate.

Many thanks to Wendy Quezada, Executive Assistant, for organizing this wonderful event and to our guests for bringing such radiant joy. It was especially meaningful to have so many former students attend. With gratitude, we enter this New Year continuing to work for increased equity and access in higher education for incarcerated people everywhere.

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

Review Team from Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) Visits Prison University Project

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From October 21 to 24, we hosted a ten-person peer review team from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) as part of our efforts to seek independent accreditation. We have been building toward this moment for many years. Over the course of four days, the team spoke with students, staff, faculty, and other community members to assess the Prison University Project in relation to a set of standards outlined by the ACCJC.

During a forum hosted inside San Quentin, students shared their experiences in the College Program and offered words of appreciation for the opportunities it provides. Community was the operative word; students expressed how meaningful a culture of care, respect, and love is on the inside and how it contributes to a learning community where everyone feels a deep sense of belonging. Faculty members and the prison’s staff offered similar expressions of support for the Prison University Project and highlighted our meaningful impact on San Quentin’s culture.

The commission shared commendations at the end of the process. They also made recommendations on some key areas to develop, and we will learn the commission’s decision in January. This visit marked one of the first times, if not the first time, an accrediting commission from any region in the United States conducted a full institutional review of a higher ed in prison program.

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

ACCJC Site Visit: Join the Alumni and Community Forums!

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As many of you know, the Prison University Project is applying to become an accredited independent college with the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). As part of this process, we will host a peer review team, comprising staff and instructors from other colleges, at our offices and inside San Quentin during the week of October 21. During the visit, we have also scheduled some events for the broader college community in order to give the ACCJC team an opportunity to hear from our many stakeholders.

Alumni Forum with the ACCJC team
Tuesday, October 22, 6pm to 7pm
Courtyard by Marriott
2500 Larkspur Landing Circle
Larkspur, CA 94939
—This event is specifically for College Program Alumni. Dinner hosted by Prison University Project to follow at Marin Brewing Co. Please RSVP to alo@staging.prisonuniversityproject.flywheelsites.com.

Community Forum with the ACCJC team
Wednesday, October 23, 4pm to 5pm
Courtyard by Marriott
2500 Larkspur Landing Circle
Larkspur, CA 94939
—This event is for anyone impacted by the College Program, including former students and others formerly incarcerated at San Quentin, family members of students, faculty, and supporters. Please RSVP to alo@staging.prisonuniversityproject.flywheelsites.com.

We hope that you can participate!

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

Call for Papers: Academic Conference Spring 2020

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In the spring of 2020, the Prison University Project will host its second academic conference at San Quentin State Prison. The conference, conceived and planned by a committee of Prison University Project College Program students and staff, will take place inside San Quentin on April 17, 2020, from approximately 8AM-5PM and will involve panels of incarcerated and nonincarcerated scholars. Last year’s conference demonstrated the influential perspective shifts that can occur when different communities contribute to dialog around central debates. We welcome proposals for individual papers (20 minutes in length) and full panels.

This year, our theme is “We Are All Directly Impacted: Mapping Societal Wellness, Institutions, and Self.” Starting with the observation that both self and institution are socially constructed, our conference aims to explore the ways in which pathways to reaching our individual full potential intersect and conflict with the various social contracts and norms that we are born into. Some institutions, like marriage, effectively create more rights for many participants, while others, like prison, purport to create a safer society by denying rights to those people within its confines. In a similar vein, some institutions like higher education are exclusive to varying degrees, while others, like gender, are largely assigned at birth and difficult to opt out of. At various times throughout the history of this nation, the freedom to drink alcohol, love or marry whom one wants, have various medical procedures, and travel freely, have been deemed detrimental to a healthy society, at the expense of personal wellness. Conversely, institutions that perform policing, military operations, border control, and health or education are considered by many to be essential to our personal wellness.

We hope to discuss these topics and more at our conference:

  • What is wellness?
  • Is it possible in the context of institutions?
  • How do the individual and the institution intersect?
  • What roles can institutions play in helping individuals reach their full potential?
  • What institutions are missing from our society?
  • What are some empirical indicators of societal wellness?
  • How could these indicators be improved?
  • What are pathways for people with different political ideologies or identities to dialog more effectively?
  • How do wellness and freedom play out across societal structures, identities, and communities?
  • How do different social ways of being affect personal wellness?
  • What roles can or should individuals play to help systems or institutions reach their full potential?
  • How should society respond to people who don’t conform to our institutions or norms?
  • How can institutions of education be reimagined to help more people reach their full potential?

The Prison University Project has been running a college for people incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison since 1996. We run twenty classes each semester and have over 700 active students. The mission of the Prison University Project is to provide an intellectually rigorous, inclusive Associate of Arts degree program and college preparatory program, free of charge, to people at San Quentin State Prison; to expand access to quality higher education for incarcerated people; and to foster the values of equity, civic engagement, independence of thought, and freedom of expression.

To propose a paper or panel please send a 300-500-word proposal, 100-word abstract (for the conference program), and a 50-word biography to conference@prisonuniversityproject.org. Submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis through the end of November. Presenters will not have to pay a registration fee. Unfortunately, it won’t be possible to have non-presenters attend the conference because of severe space limitations. Please send any questions to conference@prinsonuniversityproject.org.

For more info on last year’s conference, see our news post, “San Quentin’s First Academic Conference: “Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reform—21st Century Solutions for 20th Century Problems.”

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

David Cowan to be Honored at UnCommon Law’s 4th Annual UnCommon Heroes Event

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Operations Manager and Director of Bonafide David Cowan will be honored at UnCommon Law’s 4th Annual UnCommon Heroes event on November 13. Since his release from San Quentin eight years ago, David has been committed to fostering opportunities for formerly incarcerated people and building networks of support. We are so proud of David’s work and excited to honor him in November! Tickets are available here.

Introducing Our New Director of Student Affairs

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We are thrilled to welcome David Durand as our new Director of Student Affairs.

David Durand is a staunch believer in the notion that everyone deserves a quality education. Since 2004, David has involved himself in professional roles across the U.S. and in Haiti that aim to provide meaningful education and career development for students whose life experiences moved them away from traditional academic paths. David’s main area of interest focuses on utilizing education to decrease recidivism for students of all ages. This stems from his upbringing where, as a young person, many of his peers were caught in the school/prison nexus. After experiencing a profoundly moving semester as an English 99 Instructor, David is beyond excited to join the PUP team in this critical stage of the organization’s history. David holds a BA in French from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and an MA in Education, Leadership, and Change from Antioch University, Los Angeles. In his free time, David is active with his wife and sons exploring nature, playing guitar, or falling with grace on skateboards.

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

Introducing our new Chief Operating Officer

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We are thrilled to welcome Reed Goertler as our new Chief Operating Officer.

Reed Goertler has been committed to working in organizations that address the needs of underserved populations throughout his career and is looking forward to assisting the Prison University Project in its important mission. In 1998 he began working in 501(c)3 institutions affiliated with UCSF and Stanford University that addressed inequities in alcoholism/addiction and cancer research and funding. Reed oversaw administration, assuming the positions of Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Legal and Regulatory Affairs Officer. His early professional career spans work in the nascent biotech industry in finance and business development. Reed lives in Lafayette with his partner and the youngest of their five children. When not working, Reed enjoys kayaking, hiking and is pursuing a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology.

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

Prison University Project Hosts Second Annual Board of Directors Retreat

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On Saturday, June 8, Prison University Project board members gathered in downtown Oakland for our second annual board retreat.

The goals for the day were to energize and invigorate—to increase the board’s understanding of the organization’s vision and plans for seeking independent accreditation, to build community among our many important stakeholders, and to celebrate and discuss the impact of the College Program—all this in the service of strengthening the board’s ambassadorship of the Prison University Project.

Nate Levine of Building Blox Consulting facilitated a conversation about our strategies and plans in becoming an independent college, and Dr. Amy Lerman of UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy presented the context for the longitudinal study her team is conducting on the Prison University Project, including its intended impacts on the field of prison higher education.

We also welcomed six program alumni—Robert “Red” Frye, Curtis Penn, Leonard Neal, Eddie Herena, Jesse Vasquez, and Ricky Gaines—who represented the student perspective and shared how the Prison University Project has influenced their lives. Leonard and Red enrolled in some of the College Program’s very first courses nearly 20 years ago, and Eddie and Jesse, who paroled in the last few months, offered a more recent perspective on what current Prison University Project courses are like. Leonard’s wife Eleanor and Ricky’s wife Vickesha joined us as well, to share about the impact the College Program had on their families. With this remarkable range of experiences, the alumni discussion touched on years of Prison University Project’s history through first-hand accounts and acted as a kind of oral history for the organization.

The retreat culminated with Prison University Project’s key stakeholders—staff, board members (faculty and donors), and alumni—sharing a meal together at Miss Ollie’s in Oakland. Over food and drink, we continued conversations on impact, participated in a team-building activity, and celebrated the contributions of all members of the Prison University Project community.

The 2019 board retreat was funded by a capacity-building grant from the Kresge Foundation.

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

Our 2018 Annual Report is Now Available

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Our first annual report is now available! Last year was a big year for us, and we’re grateful for all of our community members who helped make it a success. Check out what we accomplished in 2018 by clicking below.

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

Introducing Our New Grants Officer and Executive Assistant

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We are thrilled to welcome Sharyl McGrew as our new Grants Officer and Wendy Quezada as our new Executive Assistant.

Sharyl McGrew is excited to bring her extensive experience in nonprofit fundraising and higher education administration to the Prison University Project development team. Prior to joining the Prison University Project, she worked as a grant writing and project management consultant for a range of education and social service clients, raising over $40 million. She also worked for 7 years at the WASC Senior College and University Commission, overseeing several key accreditation processes and making policy recommendations related to innovation and change in higher education. From 2009-16, she taught English and Communications classes for the Prison University Project and also volunteered with San Quentin’s Alliance for Change. Sharyl earned a BA in English Literature from UC Santa Cruz and an MS in Community and Regional Development from UC Davis.

Prior to joining Prison University Project, Wendy Quezada worked in higher education and non-profits in the Bay Area. As the first in her family to obtain a college degree, she is passionate about access to quality education for all.  In her spare time, she loves taking her two dogs on long hikes, and spending time with her husband and two young daughters. Wendy holds a B.A. in Anthropology and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration.

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