Dwight Hall 2023 Year in Review

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II delivers an
address at Dwight Memorial Chapel.
Photos by Dare Kumolu-Johnson
Jane and William E. Curran ’49
Distinguished Mentor Program
“I cannot emphasize how
fitting it is to learn about
building a movement from
someone like Reverend
Barber, who has gone
and done exactly all that
throughout his life. The
things that he preaches are
at the very core of what
Dwight Hall stands for.”
—Emily Zhang ’25 (below, right)
Junior Co-Coordinator on 2023
Dwight Hall Student Executive
(ExComm) and Senior Co-
Coordinator on 2024 ExComm
Yale Prison Education Initiative
Founded at Dwight Hall in 2016, the Yale Prison
Education Initiative (YPEI) brings a liberal arts
education to students in prison, delivering college classes
and programming offered by Yale faculty that replicate
the rigor, outcomes, and expectations of courses taught at
the University.
YPEI offered its first credit-bearing Yale courses and
programming to incarcerated students in Connecticut in
2018. In 2021, a transformative grant from the Mellon
Foundation and a partnership with the University of New
Haven (UNH) allowed the program to expand to begin
offering UNH courses and college degrees to students in
prison. YPEI also launched programming for incarcerated
women at the Danbury federal prison in October 2022.
Dwight Hall honored the Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II as the
2023 Dwight Hall Jane and William E. Curran ’49 Distinguished
Mentor. The Distinguished Mentor program, established by William
Curran ’49 in memory of his wife Jane, recognizes leaders who have
made remarkable contributions in public service and invites them to
serve as mentors to Yale University students by sharing their expertise,
experience, and insights.
Bishop Barber is a social justice activist, pastor, and professor of the
practice at Yale, serving as the Founding Director of the Center for
Public Theology & Public Policy at Yale Divinity School, President of
Repairers of the Breach, and Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign:
A National Call for Moral Revival.
As part of his mentorship, Bishop Barber delivered an address to 120
members of the Dwight Hall and Yale community on April 4, 2023.
The day marked the 55th anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. In his speech, Bishop Barber contextualized our
current moment within a long legacy of change-makers. From Frederick
Douglass to Fannie Lou Hamer, he explained how the movements of
today descend from the movements of before, and how, even after his
speech, the works of those men and women will not be complete.
He also emphasized that his work was not partisan, yet instead united
around common values of love and kindness. Though there have
been efforts to sow division in our society, Bishop Barber argued that
we must find “the moral ground that exists beneath our ideological
differences.”
Peter Crumlish ’09 M.A.R., Executive Director of Dwight Hall,
reflected on Bishop Barber’s speech afterwards, stating, “the Reverend
Barber’s call to action was inspiring…He beautifully filled the role of
the Jane & William E. Curran ’49 Distinguished Mentor, encouraging
the students present to commit themselves to using their allotted time
on this planet to make the world a better place.”
A poster spread the word
about Bishop Barber’s address.
June 9, 2023 marked the momentous celebration of
YPEI’s first-ever commencement, which took place at
MacDougall-Walker prison. The site graduated seven
students—six of whom were still incarcerated—with
associate degrees from the University of New Haven.
Hosting the ceremony in a visiting room at the prison,
YPEI staff took great care in incorporating as many
elements of a conventional commencement as possible. The
ceremony included awards for outstanding achievement,
speeches from each of the graduates, and a commencement
address from Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, who
called it the most moving graduation ceremony he ever
attended. In the 2024 ceremony, YPEI anticipates 13
students will graduate during the MacDougall ceremony,
including its first two Bachelor’s degree recipients.
This year also saw YPEI’s Danbury site celebrate its oneyear
anniversary as the only college program offered to
any women in any federal prison in the United States.
Robust programming included art classes offered through
YPEI’s partnership with the Yale School of Art’s Art and
Social Justice Initiative, in addition to courses in English,
philosophy, math, and psychology. In spring 2024, YPEI
will see its first degree graduates at the Danbury prison.
The work of YPEI is made possible through the
commitment of staff members Zelda Roland ’08, ’16
Ph.D., Founding Director; Vanessa Estimé, Assistant
Director; Tracy Westmoreland, Site Director at Danbury
and Transfer Coordinator; Emme Magliato ’23, Program
Assistant, and hundreds of undergraduate and graduate
student Fellows and volunteers.
Marcus Harvin (middle) and his fellow YPEI
graduates meet Governor Ned Lamont.
Photo by Karen Pearson
YPEI 2023 GRADUATE AND
COLLEGE-TO-CAREER FELLOW
SPOTLIGHT: MARCUS HARVIN
MARCUS HARVIN was released from prison in
2022 but obtained special permission to return
to MacDougall-Walker to participate in the
ceremony with his former classmates after
completing his coursework on campus at UNH.
He is currently pursuing his bachelor’s degree at
UNH and serves as a YPEI College-to-Career
Fellow, where he receives professional
development and mentorship opportunities at
Yale and UNH. Marcus also served as a UNH
President’s Public Service Fellow in 2023 and
recently founded Newhallville fREshSTARTs, a
food pantry to provide healthy produce and
holistic programming for neighbors in need. In
the future, Marcus hopes to become a defense
attorney.
“[YPEI] literally is the light at the end of the
tunnel that gives the day illumination. When
you get to those classes, you don’t feel like you’re
in prison. You actually go from being in a cell to
being kind of, sort of on a campus. You literally
feel like you’re not in the same place anymore.”
10 DWIGHT HALL AT YALE CHANGE HAPPENS HERE | DWIGHTHALL.ORG 11