Hope College, Western Theological help bring Michigan to ‘forefront’ of prison education

Mitchell Boatman, The Holland Sentinel
·3 min read

HOLLAND — Representatives from the Michigan Department of Corrections visited Holland on Thursday, Jan. 12, meeting with leaders from Hope College and Western Theological Seminary to discuss higher education in prisons.

More:Prison education program from Hope, Western Theological Seminary gets official approval

Hope College, WTS and MDOC partner to run the Hope-Western Prison Education Program, which operates out of the Muskegon Correctional Facility. The program started as a pilot in 2019 and has grown into a fully accredited program.

The Hope-Western Prison Education Program has grown from a pilot initiative in 2019 to an accredited program.
The Hope-Western Prison Education Program has grown from a pilot initiative in 2019 to an accredited program.

Kyle Kaminski, administrator for Offender Success Administration at MDOC, said the department is excited about the progress of HWPEP.

“We’re really excited about our partnership,” Kaminski, who oversees education for MDOC statewide, said. “The program is really taking flight. It’s continuing to get stronger and stronger.”

There are currently 23 students in the program at MCF. The goal is to grow to around 80 students in four cohorts. The first participants could complete their degrees as soon as May 2025. The program is directed by Hope professor Richard Ray and WTS professor David Stubbs.

Courses are taught by Hope and WTS professors at the correctional facility. There are five classes offered this semester, with plans to grow to 12 or 13 classes per semester in the coming years.

The partnership is one of several for MDOC, including a Calvin University Program in Ionia, a Siena Heights Program in Jackson and partnerships with Mott Community College, Jackson College and Delta Community College.

“We have college programs in almost half of our facilities right now,” Kaminski said. “We want to be right at the forefront nationally when it comes to postsecondary access for prisoners.”

Western Theological Seminary and Hope College have partnered on the Hope-Western Prison Education Program in Muskegon.
Western Theological Seminary and Hope College have partnered on the Hope-Western Prison Education Program in Muskegon.

Kaminski said programs like HWPEP help individuals find success upon reentering society, and create a better community in prisons.

“The students who are engaged in this program are putting their energy into this program,” he said. “It’s having an impact on the facility where they live. Their positive engagement in this program reduces a lot of the negative things that can happen in prison.”

Matt Scogin and Felix Theonugraha, presidents of Hope College and WTS, respectively, say the partnership not only fits their missions of providing higher education, but their mission as Christian organizations.

“For us, it comes down to two simple but powerful things,” Scogin said. “One is, we believe in the transformational power of an education.

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“The second thing is, this is deeply connected to our Christian mission. It’s not just an opportunity to expand access to education, it’s an opportunity to bear out our Christian mission.”

“As Christians who have been forgiven much, we are called to love much,” Theonugraha said. “To be able to extend that grace and share the hope that we have in Christ through a group of people, incarcerated students, that society often forgets or marginalizes, to us feels like the right thing to do.”

Learn more at hope.edu/hwpep.

— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @SentinelMitch.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hope College, Western Theological help bring Michigan to ‘forefront’ of prison education