I don’t believe in prisons. I do believe in higher education. Every day I teach we have count; that feels like prison. Every day I pass through three checkpoints; that feels like prison. But when I am in the classroom looking at students’ faces, when I read their words, hear their voices, I am renewed in my belief that a gathering place where we can discuss ideas and question our intent is meaningful. Last class, a student said that the classroom is a haven where intellectual thought is honored and prison talk left outside. He called the space sacred. There’s liberation in imagination. There’s freedom in the classroom. As an MTC donor and faculty member, this is what I am supporting.