COLUMBIA, S.C. — A group of South Carolina inmates now have a college degree. They graduated Friday from a prison initiative program in partnership with Columbia International University (CIU).
Family and friends filled the Kirkland Campus at the South Carolina Department of Corrections to celebrate graduates.
“Emotional, overwhelmed, excited, very grateful for what I've been given,” graduate Rusty said.
Eighteen graduates received their associate's and bachelor's degrees. Rusty is one of the oldest students the program has seen. After applying four times, he was accepted and couldn’t turn down the offer.
“This opportunity at my age, at 74 years old, being able to attend college and seek out an associate of arts degree was a blessing that I did not deserve, but I take it, I don't take it for granted," he said. "I appreciate it very much. I'm very grateful to the donors and the people who are in support of this ministry,” he said.
“They seize opportunity to better themselves, to grow, to learn, and they're so grateful and appreciative of our program and of our faculty coming in and sharing life with them," Dr. Andre Melvin, the program director, said.
After graduation, they are relocated to prisons throughout South Carolina, becoming missionaries and ministers in various facilities.
“We encourage them as much as we can. We tell them they can do it. They can accomplish it," Dr. Melvin said. "We also, of course, an institution of faith, believe that God will help them, and it's challenging, because, again, a lot of them aren't sure that they can get a college degree and so we encourage them, and they encourage each other to stick with it.”
The program started in 2007. Friday's ceremony celebrated the 15th cohort of this program.
The success is attributed to the prison initiative organized by CIU. Every year, eligible inmates are chosen via an application and interview process to participate in the two-year program led by CIU professors.
“They seize opportunity to better themselves, to grow, to learn, and they're so grateful and appreciative of our program and of our faculty coming in and sharing life with them," Dr. Andre Melvin, the program director, said.
After graduation, they are relocated to prisons throughout South Carolina, becoming missionaries and ministers in various facilities.
“We encourage them as much as we can. We tell them they can do it. They can accomplish it," Dr. Melvin said. "We also, of course, an institution of faith, believe that God will help them, and it's challenging, because, again, a lot of them aren't sure that they can get a college degree and so we encourage them, and they encourage each other to stick with it.”
The program started in 2007. Friday's ceremony celebrated the 15th cohort of this program.