A College Commencement Attracts Prominent Guests — to a New York State Prison
A dispatch from NYU’s Prison Education Program.
By Joseph Beer
The scarlet-tinged leaves that dot the mountainside surrounding Wallkill Correctional Facility in upstate New York do more than signal a change of season; they are signs of transformation — and a fitting accompaniment to the annual graduation ceremony of NYU’s Prison Education Program, held on October 28, during which associates degrees were conferred on six students.
PEP is a non-profit educational program operated by NYU offering an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Studies to men at Wallkill, as well as providing full scholarships for those who want to continue their studies post-release. This year, that transformation seemed ready to extend even further, as many states increasingly rethink the costs of decades of mass incarceration and begin turning their focus to criminal justice reform. That shift might have explained the presence in the Wallkill gymnasium this year of a surprising guest speaker: a man who had been, at least indirectly, responsible for the incarceration of some of those in the audience.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and his wife, Peggy, who volunteers with the Puppies Behind Bars program, had traveled to Wallkill. Peggy, who is also a professional photographer, snapped photos as the ceremony got underway.
“It is in the best interest of public safety to provide higher education to our incarcerated citizens,” Vance said in an interview shortly before the festivities began. The District Attorney said he was there to celebrate the success of PEP, one of a few educational programs that his office funds through its Criminal Justice Investment Initiative.
A reporter for The Wallkill Journal, who himself has a felony conviction, was surprised to find Vance receptive to his questions and eager to engage in a dialog about education and its role in the criminal justice system. This isn’t to say the DA’s stance aligned perfectly with PEP’s objectives.
“We consider education to be a basic right, not a way to improve incarceration,” PEP Executive Director Kaitlin Noss said. “Our students make use of education to change their own lives, and in the process, they are also brilliantly demonstrating that education is more effective than punishment.”
Wallkill’s gym received a serious facelift in preparation for the event. Illustrious purple NYU banners decorated its walls and podium. Golden and white mums brightened the stage, accenting a pair of scarlet begonias in the middle. There was even a live band stationed at the foot of the stage, welcoming guests with their rendition of “Mr. Magic” by Grover Washington Jr.
The guests in attendance included real estate developer Charles Kushner and his wife, Seryl, the parents of senior Trump adviser (and NYU Law grad) Jared Kushner, and their daughter, Nicole. The couple is known for their educational philanthropy and interest in prison reform (Charles has attributed his passion for the subject to his own incarceration), and the family seemed eager to witness first-hand the results of NYU’s approach to prison education. “I want to see more programs like this one, that helps young men and women to focus on education and vocational training,” Charles Kushner told The Wallkill Journal, “so they can go back into society equipped with the tools to win.”
Once attendees were seated, the band launched into “Pomp and Circumstance,” the traditional graduation march, and four of this year’s graduates, James Keno, Omar Padilla, Rayvon Gordon, and Jeffery Grimes — the latter three having completed their sentences and returned to Wallkill to support their classmates — proudly walked down the aisle draped in their purple gowns, as fellow students and distinguished guests offered up a standing ovation. (Degrees were also conferred on two other graduates, Darion Alls and Johnathan Salgado, who recently completed their sentences but chose not to return.) Delegates from NYU, including President Andrew Hamilton; Gene Jarrett, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; and Susanne Wofford, Dean of the Gallatin School, sat adjacent to the graduates, in their elaborate academic regalia.
A sense of the moment’s surreality seemed to appear on the students’ faces as they took their seats on the stage and felt the exuberant energy radiating from the crowd.
NYU PEP faculty director Kimberly Da Costa’s warm voice entranced the audience as she welcomed all of the attendees and congratulated the graduates, current students, and staff who made the graduation possible. “This day was a testament to the power of higher education to change our sense of what is possible,” Da Costa said.
Da Costa recognized Wallkill’s departing superintendent Catherine Jacobsen for her crucial support in allowing PEP to thrive within the prison environment. The campus had been renovated just weeks before and outfitted with brand-new furniture, computers, and an expansive library, filled with literature that emancipates students’ minds.
Jacobsen took to the podium to make her final speech at Wallkill, noting that despite “32 and a half” years in corrections, “I feel like I just started yesterday.”
“This is why I did this job, so that programs like this are available to incarcerated people,” Jacobsen said, adding, “These walls don’t define you, and don’t let them.” Her final comments evoked murmurs of approval. Jacobsen also received an honorary purple NYU baseball cap commemorating her commitment to education.
Anthony Annucci, Acting Commissioner of the New York state prison system, echoed her congratulations and voiced his adamant support for higher education in prison. “Education is how we will advance our collective humanity,” he said, before introducing his “friend and colleague,” District Attorney Vance.
Dressed in a blue suit and white shirt, Vance praised the graduates, each of whom would be receiving an associate's degree, for “transforming adversity into excellence” and “[choosing] to rewrite your life story.”
He added that his emphasis on education for incarcerated people was not merely a matter of altruism but benefited society as a whole. “The single most important factor in reducing recidivism is a college degree,” he pointed out.
For PEP student Jerry Leverette, his words sparked a small flame of hope. “Only with that mentality will anyone be able to make a lasting impression on our deplorable penal system that plagues society with mass incarceration,” he said later.
Vance was followed by NYU history professor Stephen Hahn, who reminded the audience that “the path towards social justice must be guided by those who have endured and yet are determined to overcome injustice.”
Mychal Pagan, an “ascending poet” and student of liberal studies, took the podium next, articulating his own intellectual hunger via a poem he wrote for Fire in the Lake, a 2019 Gallatin publication that provides a platform for PEP students to share their experiences. His words captured the fire that burned in the hearts of his fellow classmates:
“What our mind dreams, our will builds,” went his refrain, growing more emphatic with each repetition. “What our mind dreams, our will builds.”
Moments later, Wofford asked the assembled to rise for the “formal conferral of degrees.” One by one, the new graduates accepted their diplomas and shook hands with NYU President Andrew Hamilton, whose enthusiasm and delight was apparent. He said he considers the NYU PEP graduation to be “one of the most spectacular events of the academic calendar.”
After receiving their degrees, each stood at the podium to share a few words with the room — words of family, love, and commitment; words of struggle, plight, and perseverance.
“I made the mistake of telling my wife about the first graduation [in 2017],” Keno said to chuckles. “Every time I even mentioned quitting, she would hit me with ‘Yeah, o-kay.’ We all know what it means when a woman says that.” On a more serious note, he added that he wondered how things would have turned out “if I’d taken this road long ago — if I would be part of the solution instead of adding to the problem.”
Rayvon Gordon rose to speak, flashed a dazzling smile and admitted he’d been pinching his skin throughout the ceremony to make sure the experience was real. “It’s real!” the crowd roared back.
Jeffrey Grimes, who was recently exonerated of the charges that brought him to prison in the first place, promised to use his education and personal experiences to alter society and reshape the criminal justice system.
Padilla began by admitting that PEP staffers had deemed his speech as originally written a bit controversial for the occasion. The Wallkill Journal obtained a copy of the original speech, a vehement oration that took on the miseries of prison, the marginalization of minorities, and the fallacies of a punitive society and ended with a quote by Harriet Tubman: “I freed hundreds of slaves but could have freed thousands if only they had known they were slaves.”
Several students expressed disappointment that Padilla had been asked in advance to temper his remarks. “Those words inspire us to recognize the psychological bondage of our unjust society and break the chains of oppression through higher education,” Aunray Stanford said after reading a copy.
But others admitted the decision to emphasize the positive made sense given the power players in attendance and the importance of maintaining goodwill and continuing to build momentum for the kind of college programming PEP represents. After all, there are more than 50 correctional facilities in New York State and many thousands of incarcerated men and women who could also benefit from similar academic programs. Expanding prison education will require the dedication not only of hard-working students and faculty but of politicians, philanthropists, and community members who understand the importance of education in creating an equitable society.
As keynote speaker Dr. Kim Wilson, co-host and producer of the Beyond Prisons podcast, put it, “Education is not done for individual gain but for the purpose of social uplift.”
“Do not be a passive consumer of knowledge,” Wilson continued.” Instead, I want you to see yourselves as having agency in the production of knowledge and to create the world we all need.”
This story has been approved for publication by an official at the Wallkill Correctional Facility.
Joseph Beer is a student in NYU’s Prison Education Program. Email him at prison.education@nyu.edu.
Additional reporting by Andy Lopez, Aunray Stanford, Mychal Pagan, and Jerry Leverette.
Correction: February 1, 2020
A previous version of this article did not specify that NYU PEP staffers found Padilla’s original speech controversial. It has been updated to describe the situation more clearly.
