Continuing the Transformative Work of Education in Prisons

Belmont will continue a prison education program at the Turney Center Industrial Complex in Only, Tennessee with new SACSCOC approval  

Belmont associate professor of English Jayme Yeo remembers how it felt the first time she taught at the Turney Center Industrial Complex in Only, Tennessee. “I was super nervous because it was my first time with my own class, and I was a woman at an all-men's facility.”  

An interest in prison education programs led Yeo to participate in a five-week workshop teaching Shakespeare to justice-impacted people at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. Later, she was introduced to the Tennessee Higher Education Prison Initiative (THEI), a non-profit that provides services for justice-impacted individuals. She initially began instructing currently incarcerated men at the Turney Center through THEI’s program.  

“About five minutes into teaching the class something kind of magical happened,” Yeo said.  “I was no longer in front of a bunch of people wearing jumpsuits... and cinderblock walls, I was in a classroom looking at students. The whole space had been transformed by the fact that I was teaching.” 

In recent years, Belmont professors have provided coursework for Turney Center students through a partnership with THEI. In June, the Board of Trustees from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), Belmont University’s accrediting body, approved the Turney Center as an off-campus instructional site. With this approval, the currently incarcerated students at the Turney Center can continue working to earn a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the Jack C. Massey College of Business. 

Business professor Haskell Murray was involved in prison ministry at the Turney Center before agreeing to teach business ethics in Belmont’s prison education program last spring. While most courses are taught online, several professors such as Murray travel 75 minutes to the off-site campus to engage with students in-person, enhancing the overall learning and teaching experience.  

“For me, being out there in person was an important part of equity in terms of the educational experience,” Murray said. “There's something tangible about being in that shared space together, with embodied presence and real-time discussion. We had well over 1,000 contributions on the discussion board from 15 students over the course of the semester. I think some of that was facilitated by the fact that we knew each other in person and that led to very robust discussion virtually and asynchronously.” 

The SACSCOC approval signifies that students at this site receive an education equivalent to what students receive on the main campus. Given the realities of the situation currently incarcerated students face, staff and faculty have made considerable effort to find solutions to some unique challenges.  

With Scholarly Communications Librarian Claire Wiley spearheading efforts, Belmont’s library staff has been an instrumental campus partner for determining Turney Center students’ needs, finding solutions and ensuring long-term access is improved.  

“The needs of the students have evolved over the years,” Wiley said. “Sue Maszaros (Director of Library Services) and I went to the Turney Center earlier this year and were able to meet the students. We went on a fact-finding mission trying to understand their challenges so that we could have more information as we are trying to make improvements for their overall experience.” 

Computer lab access is limited to Monday through Friday roughly from 3 to 5 p.m. Students utilize the limited computer lab hours to review digital materials and transcribe written assignments into a word processor. Navigating the prison’s firewall is a significant challenge since students don’t have open access to the internet including research databases and online tools.  

“We've been able to provide research support directly to students, providing them access to things they can't retrieve on their own,” Wiley said. “We're still trying to figure out how to meet those needs without open access being an option.” 

From working ahead of the syllabus to make up for unexpected interferences like lockdowns to the immense gratitude expressed toward staff and faculty who “take time for the forgotten,” the dedication and commitment of Turney Center students is inspiring and rewarding for the staff and faculty to work with them. Adult Degree Program assistant professor Martha Minardi teaches Religion 1010 to students at the Turney Center. 

“The whole message of the Bible is that of redemption,” Minardi said. “I’m introducing or teaching God's word to these students who are really striving to better themselves. When they are paroled or when they have finished serving their sentence, this education will give them the tools and the credibility to be successful. Knowing that is rewarding.” 

Educating Turney Center students supports multiple University strategic aims, and moreover, provides an opportunity for growth and transformation for this distinct population of nontraditional students and the faculty who instruct them.  

“Teaching in prison changes faculty,” Yeo said. “It changes the teachers. Often when we’re thinking about how to serve our community, we’re not thinking of ways that we, ourselves, are changed and transformed. When I'm thinking about how prison education supports [whole] person formation, it does that for every single person in the room, regardless of where you are in relation to the desk at the front.” 

Belmont’s partnership with THEI and program at the Turney Center Industrial Complex reflect a commitment to the transformative work of education, whether a student is a freshman leaving home for the first time or a currently incarcerated student leaving one lifestyle and hoping to start over again.