Crito 10th anniversary event with BPI Alumni

Panel discussion at the UEA’s Crito celebration event, 2024.

This week we celebrated the UEA Crito Project's 10th anniversary, and we held an event to let people know all about our work and what the future holds. The Crito Project is of course inspired & mentored by the US's Bard College Prison Initiative, and we were proud to have a Rodney Spivey Jones, a BPI alumni, join us for this event.

"In 2011 my neighbour in the next cell slid a flyer for Bard Prison Initiative under my door... I did not think the chance to earn a degree would ever happen, and that's the beginning of my real academic journey. It lifted me up out of the darkness.  … Yes, stigma has been a constant challenge, and it often comes up in ways you don't necessarily expect. But earning a college degree while in prison has given me something that others may take for granted; it's given me social capital. I left prison with a job already; in part this was because of Bard College Prison Initiative, and in part because of the huge network I developed while studying. You leave a college classroom with friendships and bonds - aside from any alumni services, you just develop relationships naturally - and they have stayed with me to this day." - Rodney Spivey-Jones

"I'm the Head of Education, Skills and Work at HMP Warren Hill, a prison that has been working with the Crito Project this past year. I would say that it has been phenomenal for the men involved; the trajectory of their academic success, their experiences and positive responses have been far greater than I could have hoped for." - Karen Dollery.

The panel on the day was made up of the following guests:

Rodney Spivey-Jones (Manager of the Center for Justice & Economic Advancement, at Justice For the Future & BPI Alumni '17)

Sheirra Matthewson-Davies (Director of Strategy & Solution, People Plus)

Karen Dollery (Head of Education, Skills & Work, HMP Warren Hill)

Tom Greaves (Associate Professor, UEA School of Politics, Philosophy & Area Studies, and Chair of the Crito Project)

Ben Walker (Honorary Lecturer, UEA School of Politics, Philosophy & Area Studies, and Crito Project Founder & Course Director)