Incarcerated Students ‘Free and Abundant’ in Giving to Others

By Luciana Chavez Special to Merced College In 2009, the University of Notre Dame sought to harness all ways of looking at generosity to create a field of study around it. While launching its Science of Generosity Initiative, it defined the act itself as “giving good things to others freely and abundantly.” Freely and abundantly. What happens when you are not free? What if you rarely, if ever, have known abundance? Is generosity still possible? Yes, it is. It is within that context that we salute the Merced College Rising Scholars from Valley State Prison (VSP) and the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla. Roughly 200 students at the two facilities are members of the statewide community college honor society Alpha Gamma Sigma (AGS), and the groups have donated a combined $9,800 to the Merced College Foundation this academic year. “Donating allows us to contribute to our inside and outside communities in ways other AGS chapters can’t,” said student Alex Morris, president of the Valley State Prison AGS Chapter. Added Jennifer McBride, Merced College English Professor and Rising Scholars Faculty Coordinator: “These students identify as Blue Devils. We have 700 enrolled Merced College students that nobody sees. But Merced College is so important to them, they’re giving back to a campus that they can’t be a part of.” Scientific studies of generosity suggest that this virtue has evolved in humans to promote their survival. Justice-impacted and justice-involved people also have to develop strong survival instincts. “I came into VSP naked, with nothing but misery ahead of me,” student Jonathan Chow said at a recent AGS chapter meeting. “Now, we may be stuck in here, but we’re doing positive stuff. It’s important to all of us to be reminded that doing good things, and the positive exposure that comes from doing good things, is healing.”

People incarcerated at CCWF and VSP can raise money through food sales of things like Costco pizza or KFC chicken. The fundraisers are wildly popular and can generate big sums of money that are then split among official groups. By law, none of the funds can go back to the individuals who are incarcerated; all funds go outside the walls to registered 501c3 (nonprofit) organizations. The Inmate Leisure Time Activity Groups (ILTAG), which include 12-step programs, victim impact groups, service dog training, etc., at VSP and CCWF participate in the fundraisers and then decide where to donate their portion. AGS is an academic and service-oriented honor society. The chapters at CCWF and VSP—the only two chapters for incarcerated students in the state—had bigger ideas. They wanted to do more impactful service work beyond volunteering for cleanup crews and helping during Merced College registration on site. Those members are also heavily involved in ILTAGs. They asked if there was a way to help the college. Jill Cunningham, Vice President of External Relations and Executive Director of the Merced College Foundation, visited VSP to talk about how the college’s 501c3 organization works. She shared that people can donate and either choose which Merced College programs to help or let the Foundation decide how to use funds. Multiple ILTAGs at both facilities did both. After choosing the Merced College Foundation as an official 501c3, ILTAGs at VSP ($2,100) and CCWF ($1,000) asked that funds benefit the Merced College Food Pantry and Basic Needs Center. CCWF groups gave another $1,000 to support the Rising Scholar Scholarship for formerly incarcerated and justice-involved Merced College students. An additional $4,200 went to the Merced College Foundation itself. Cunningham said the foundation is using it to pay for graduation and honor society stoles, as well as diploma seals, for Rising Scholars graduates. The VSP groups also recently gave $1,500 to the college’s Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention (RSVP) program.

When the men were deliberating about where to send those funds, the powerful personal testimonials convinced everyone it was the right thing to do. One student talked about being abused as a child and then turning into an abuser as an adult. Another spoke of the safe house he lived in with his mother to escape an abusive father. “We were completely humbled and floored by the response from the students,” Merced College RSVP Coordinator Carissa Hansford said after a recent regular AGS meeting at VSP. “It was very clear they understood the importance of sexual violence prevention and outreach. I felt more understanding of that in that room than I normally do day to day. They expressed that it would have meant a lot to them to have someone intervene for them earlier in life.” The women at CCWF have an equally personal focus. Eighty-eight percent of all incarcerated women are parents. The AGS students there often talk about how devastated they are to miss parenting their children, seeing their children in foster care and coming from foster care themselves. Those students are determined to support organizations that help at-risk youth. “I’m very proud of these donations and moved by the generosity of our students in the prison education program,” Cunningham said. “Their commitment to giving back, even under challenging circumstances, reflects a dedication to community and the power of transformation. Their support not only strengthens our campus but also highlights the potential for positive impact that exists in all of us.”