A trio of Augustana College students received hard-earned bachelor of arts degrees on Tuesday, May 27, with all the pomp, circumstance, family, friends, food, cheers, laughter and tears synonymous with the graduation season.
But what was different about a relatively modest-sized ceremony that packed a major degree of impact was the venue. It was the first of its kind ever held inside the walls of the East Moline Correctional Center and represented what Augustana calls a “transitional milestone” for the Rock Island-based leading liberal arts institution’s Augustana Prison Education Program (APEP).
On Tuesday, well more than 80 visitors including faculty and Augustana administrators along with family members and friends of the graduates made their way through EMCC security checkpoints to assemble in the prison gymnasium at 100 Hillcrest Road, East Moline.
They later cheered and some wept as Augustana President Andrea Talentino saluted APEP graduates Brandon Johnson, Jorge Herrejon and Christopher Allen who earned degrees through the program at EMCC.
The Augustana College president also congratulated the men on what she called an “exciting” and “hard-earned day.”
Also cheering the honorees – all of whom graduated summa cum laude by maintaining a 3.9 GPAs or better despite their imprisonment – were more than 30 fellow inmates dressed in prison blues who are currently enrolled in the program.
Supporting them was APEP’s inaugural graduate David Staples, who began his educational journey inside the walls of EMCC, where at the time he was serving what turned out to be a 29-year sentence for a crime the evidence shows he did not commit.
Staples leads by example
He later completed his degree on the Augustana campus after the Illinois Innocence Project secured his early prison release in 2022. On Tuesday, Mr. Staples – who is pursuing a master’s degree at Western Illinois University – acknowledged to a QCBJ reporter that it hadn’t been easy to return to EMCC. And he expressed relief as the transport bus he was riding in neared the exit gate. In spite of that history, he elected to don a suit and tie to be there to cheer the newest grads and support the latest APEP cohort.
Kent Barnds, Augustana’s executive vice president for strategy & innovation and vice president of enrollment & communication, also donned a cap and gown Tuesday to join a procession and recession full of robe-clad Augustana leaders. He later told the QCBJ “The inaugural commencement ceremony held at EMCC … was a great celebration of three committed, hard working students and a testament to the transformative and redemptive power of a liberal education.”
He added “It’s an example of what can be best in higher education — vision and collaboration of a college, a state agency, IDOC (Illinois Department of Corrections), and committed and generous donors.”
Graduates Tuesday also thanked family members and friends who supported them on the journey and shared hugs, laughter and tears at the luncheon following the ceremony. Among the friends was Rontrell Robinson, a special education teacher in Madison, Illinois, who drove more than 250 miles to be at the graduation ceremony for his former middle school pal Brandon Johnson. Though Mr. Robinson maintained contact with Mr. Johnson during his incarceration, he hadn’t seen his friend face-to-face in some 18 years.
In his speech, Mr. Johnson thanked generous donors who support APEP led by Austin E. Knowlton Foundation, which has donated $1 million over 10 years.
Founder’s work lauded
And the new graduate led APEP faculty, staff, administration leaders, family and visitors in a long and loud ovation for APEP’s founding Director Sharon Varallo.
“This graduation is not only a personal triumph for each student — it’s a reflection of what’s possible when we believe in the power of education to restore dignity and build brighter futures,” Ms. Varallo, a professor of communication studies at Augustana, said in a news release issued before Tuesday’s event. “It affirms what we already know: talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. APEP helps close that gap.”
In her address, Ms. Talentino likened APEP graduates to the Vikings who are more than a mascot for colleges including Augustana. They “were unafraid of what lay beyond the horizon, and it’s that bold spirit of exploration and inquiry that I love to see in all of our students, especially those in the East Moline Correctional Center,” she said.
“Your Augustana journeys to date may not have been as far-reaching geographically, but they have been just as world-stretching,” she added. “Whether voyaging through the human mind with one of your psychology courses with Dr. (Jessica) Schultz or tracing cartography of the human spirit in Professor (Jeffrey) Coussens’ theatre class, or broadening the horizons of your own experience in Professor (Rebecca) Wee’s poetry class – you have been adventurous like Vikings, and I applaud you for your spirit of discovery.”
Ms. Talentino also was joined at the podium by EMCC Warden Mark Williams and Latoya Hughes, the Illinois DOC director.
Ms. Hughes told the graduates “you are making history in the best possible way” and said their degrees reflect the “transformative power of education” which drives meaningful change and provides life-changing opportunities for growth.
Building better futures
“These graduates didn’t just complete a program; they committed to building better futures for themselves and their communities,” Ms. Hughes added in a news release. “Through our partnership with Augustana College, we can open doors to educational opportunities that were once closed for even more individuals.”
The graduates echoed similar themes when addressing the crowd. Mr. Herrjon told the audience first in Spanish and then in English that what drove him to dedicate himself to APEP and try to do something with his life while behind bars were the tears of his mother when she wept while visiting him in prison.
On Tuesday she wept again, but this time with tears of joy as she and her younger son, Oscar, watched Jorge receive his B.A. Mr. Herrjon also used the speech to remind the current APEP students that they are “more than your past, more than your convictions.”
Fellow APEP graduate Mr. Allen also addressed some of his remarks to the current APEP students, promising them that “We are just the first in a long line of APEP graduates.”
The Augustana College Prison Education Program’s first graduate, David Staples, talks to East Moline Correctional Center inmates who now are part of the program on Tuesday, May 27, during the first-ever graduation ceremony at EMCC. CREDIT KENDA BURROWS
APEP At a Glance
- Begun in 2020 as a non-credit volunteer effort by Augustana College faculty.
- Launched in fall of 2021 as a full-time B.A. liberal arts degree program at East Moline Correctional Center.
- The program is modeled after the Bard Prison Initiative featured in the 2019 PBS documentary “College Behind Bars.”
- It’s run by Executive Director Sharon Varallo, Augustana College communications professor, who was inspired by her daughter’s arrest for a crime she did not commit.
- The program is privately funded by a $1 million grant and a 10-year commitment from the Austin E. Knowlton Foundation in 2022. It launched with a $225,000 seed grant from the foundation.
- Additional support comes from individual, foundation and corporate donors.
- Students do not pay tuition or costs for EMCC coursework. Those who qualify may contribute to the cost via Pell Grants, but it is not required.
SOURCE: Augustana Prison Education Program; www.augieprisoneducation.org.
