SRU students, inmates interact
For some Slippery Rock University students, inmates at a state prison in Mercer County aren't prisoners, they're “inside students.”
Reconsidering the way inmates are viewed is part of a new class being taught at Slippery Rock University. Professor Sarah Kuehn launched the Inside-Outside Prison class as an experiment last spring, and it is now offered as a regular class for the criminology and criminal justice major after receiving approval from the school's curriculum committee.
“Going into it, I was hesitant, thinking everyone is bad and there are going to be problems,” said Baylee Summerhill, an SRU student who took the class in the spring. “I was very uncomfortable.”
Summerhill was one of 12 SRU students who went to the state correctional facility in Mercer every Wednesday for a semester to work alongside 12 inmates who were chosen for the class. Kuehn described the class as being group work intensive that features in-class discussions.
“It's not a traditional lecture,” Kuehn said. “We get in a big circle and discuss issues — we talk about restorative justice, look at how other countries work their penal systems.”
To get to the class, SRU students enter the prison by going through metal detectors and make their way through the prison grounds to a room that was set aside for them.
Summerhill said he began to feel more comfortable by the third class.“As the class played out, it really became more like classmates, and that's why we refer to them as inside students and we're the outside students,” Summerhill said. “So we were trying to remove the labels and we saw them as classmates, not prisoners.”SRU student Chelsea Henefeld, 21, also noted a change in how she sees people in prisons.“We went in very apprehensive. I had this bias like, 'Oh, they're incarcerated, they might be bad people.' But we saw that they have the opportunity to change and they were very knowledgeable,” Henefeld said.She said the class helped her focus on what she wants to pursue after graduating.“My views on the justice system changed after that. I saw how broken the system is,” Henefeld said. “And I want to help change it, so that everyone can be treated fairly in the system.”For Kuehn, the class also had a large impact on her.“It's been the most rewarding teaching experience I've ever had,” she said.
The Mercer prison's superintendent, Melinda Adams, said she is “very pleased with the program” and welcomed future classes. “There was a lot of anxiety from both sides when it started,” Adams said. “The inmates were great.”She said that while the inmates don't get college credits for the class, they still found it rewarding and wanted to continue.“Inmates get a chance to speak to the students and learn something,” Adams said. “This is an actual college class that they get to participate in. They feel like they are actually contributing to the students' learning process.”She also noted that the class helps with reintegrating inmates back into society once their prison sentences are over.“They take what they learn today and apply what they learn into communities and create a humane and sustainable society,” Adams said.And for the students, she said it helps for them to see that the inmates are “human beings too.”Sitting at her desk, Adams read comments she received from SRU students.“They said that it reaffirmed to me that they're not just people (who) did bad things. Just cause someone has done wrong doesn't mean they're a bad person,” Adams read. “I had wonderful discussions and laughs. I'll remember this for the rest of my life.”
