“There is a mistaken belief in what someone who went to prison is capable of and what they should be doing,” said panelist Dr. Stanley Andrisse, an endocrinologist and assistant professor at Howard University’s College of Medicine. “We want to break that narrative, to help folks beyond that.”
In his early twenties, Andrisse was sentenced to ten years in prison for three felonies. He noted that the prosecutor in his case argued that he should receive 20 years to life “because she said I had no hope.” Andrisse proved that prosecutor—and the narrative behind her—wrong.
He went to graduate school after prison to become a medical doctor. Today, he directs a nonprofit called From Prison Cells to PhD that supports current and formerly incarcerated people pursuing education. On the panel, Andrisse noted that people sometimes see him as an exception, though he stressed that is not the case.
“There are brilliant individuals behind prison walls, but they haven’t been given access and opportunity,” he said. “From our work helping college in prison programs, I know that most faculty will tell you the greatest students they’ve ever taught were inside a prison.”
Last week, the Biden administration added more colleges to join the third round of the Second Chance Pell Experiment. The Obama administration launched this initiative to expand access to Pell Grants for people in prisons participating in select programs via the experiment. With Biden’s latest additions, 200 schools in total can take part in Second Chance Pell.
Pell Grants provide federal financial aid to college students from low-income households. But since 1994, incarcerated people have been banned from this aid. Yet after almost three decades of bipartisan advocacy, Congress in December 2020 voted to end the ban. In July 2023, Pell Grant access will be restored to people in prisons.
