Six Become First Wyoming Pathways from Prison Students to Earn UW Bachelor’s Degrees

Six women at the Wyoming Women’s Center in Lusk recently made history, becoming the first cohort of women in the University of Wyoming Pathways from Prison program (WPfP) to earn bachelor’s degrees.

 

The graduates each earned a Bachelor of General Studies from UW during a commencement ceremony Aug. 20 at the Wyoming Women’s Center. The members of the class of 2026 are Scharay Drenaena-Burnett, Amy Katherine Doerr, Paulette Kay Iliff, Lorrie Lin Hood, Kelly Kay Turner (Hoover) and Taylor Marie Nicks.

 

“I couldn’t be prouder of these graduates, who have shown great dedication and resilience in completing this degree,” says Rob Colter, executive director of the WPfP program and head of UW’s Department of Philosophy and Religion. “It is an extraordinary accomplishment, and they have shown what can be achieved when people work together, even in difficult circumstances. Hopefully, they are but the first of many.”

 

The ceremony featured opening remarks by Colter; an introduction by Matt Griswold, UW vice provost for online and continuing education; a keynote speech by Jennifer Lackey, the Wayne and Elizabeth Jones Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University and founding director of the Northwestern Prison Education Program; a graduate address by Nicks, the class of 2026 representative; remarks by Daniel Shannon, director of the Wyoming Department of Corrections; and the call of graduates by Jackson Colter, outreach coordinator for WPfP.

 

“Education allows you to enter into conversations with people you may never meet, places you may never visit and times you never lived through,” Lackey told the graduates during her keynote speech. “It allows your imagination to move beyond the circumstances of the present and reminds you that your life participates in a world much larger than the space in which you happen to be standing.”

 

The six graduates are members of the inaugural WPfP women’s cohort. Their graduation marks a significant milestone for the program and for higher education opportunities available to incarcerated individuals in Wyoming.

 

WPfP is a collaboration between UW and the Wyoming Department of Corrections that seeks to provide high-quality, for-credit college courses to incarcerated women and men at no cost to the students through support from federal Pell Grants.

 

Pell Grants are federal financial aid awarded to eligible students to help cover the cost of higher education. The availability of Pell Grant funding for eligible incarcerated students makes it possible for WPfP to provide college courses and degree opportunities without requiring state funding for the program.

 

Lackey also encouraged the graduates to take life seriously and to invest in a future larger than their own lifetime.

 

“Keep living with the world beyond the walls,” she said. “Keep reading. Keep learning. Keep asking questions. Keep imagining. Keep laughing. Keep finding your way into the great, unfinished conversation of human life.”

 

The ultimate goal of WPfP is to transform lives, both within and outside prison walls, by creating opportunities for skill-building, personal growth and self-reflection. Through the program, incarcerated students can pursue college coursework while working toward degrees from UW.

 

Research has consistently shown a relationship between higher levels of education and reduced rates of recidivism, with those who attain college degrees generally less likely to return to prison.

 

For more information about WPfP, visit https://uwyo.edu/wpfp or email rcolter@uwyo.edu.