After a 12-year hiatus, Wilmington College is back to teaching in-person classes at several Ohio prisons.
This includes Lebanon and Warren Correctional Institutions. But also — for the first time — it will present classes to women at Dayton Correctional as part of Ohio's Prison Education program.
“We can’t put people into prisons, treat them as though they are not human for a certain number of years and expect them to come out and be good members of society."
Currently, the college is offering six to eight evening courses during this spring semester.
English professor Ursula McTaggart has been one of the driving forces behind the program, and said the classes are open to all incarcerated people regardless of how much time they have served.
The instructors will be teaching business courses. This includes upper level courses at the 300 and 400 level, allowing people to earn a bachelor's degree while incarcerated.
"So it’s going to be the exact same degree you’d receive if you were a main campus student at Wilmington College,” McTaggart said.
Instructors will also teach general education including natural sciences, humanities, English composition and college-level algebra.
These will compliment Sinclair Community College’s Prison Education program.
McTaggart believes this education will also benefit Ohio’s communities.
“We can’t put people into prisons, treat them as though they are not human for a certain number of years and expect them to come out and be good members of society," McTaggart said. "If we want a society where everyone participates justly and treats each other well then we have to give people the tools to participate in those ways.”
Wilmington College began offering education in Ohio prisons in 1967.
