In the News

–News about the PTCPP’s impact is available in a September 2015 University of Mississippi News article titled “UM Program Transforms Incarcerated Men Into College Students.”

–The University of Mississippi News published an updated news story on the PTCPP’s impact in July 2017.  The article is titled “Prison-to-College Pipeline Program Helps Participants Build Futures.” 

—The Clarion Ledger published a news story on a new PTCPP course that Dr. Alexander and Dr. Pickett co-designed and co-taught at Parchman in Summer 2018. The article is titled “College in Parchman: Imprisoned men study civil rights behind bars.“

—On February 16, 2018, the PTCPP was the recipient of the Mississippi Humanities Council (MHC) 2018 Humanities Educator Award. According to the MHC, “The Humanities Educator Award goes to an individual or to a program that applies innovative techniques to engage diverse audiences with the humanities.

Our 2018 Humanities Educator Award recipient is using the humanities to reach one of the most isolated audiences in our state: the incarcerated learner. Dr. Patrick Alexander, an assistant professor of English and African American Studies at the University of Mississippi, created the Prison-to-College Pipeline in 2014 with a fellow instructor, Dr. Otis Pickett, who now teaches history at Mississippi College. They envisioned the program as a push back against the school-to-prison pipeline, offering participants a pathway to continued education, and ultimately, meaningful employment and re-engagement with society once they leave prison. . . Both Mississippi College and the University of Mississippi have supported the program by offering credit, at no charge, to students who successfully complete the courses.”