‘A second chance at success’
Hudson Link brings education, hope to incarcerated individuals
Photos courtesy of Angela James Photography
The Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison graduation ceremony celebrated achievement.
As graduates streamed into the gymnasium, dressed in their caps and gowns and sporting honor cords, their families cheered them on with joy. You might say the graduating class was a bit small, totaling 45 students. Otherwise, the ceremony was virtually indistinguishable from any other college graduation.
But this wasn’t just any graduation ceremony. This was the first Bachelor’s degree graduation of the Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison program at the Shawangunk Correctional Facility. Held on June 21, 2023, thirty-three men received their Associate in Science from SUNY Ulster at the ceremony, with a dozen more earning a Bachelor of Arts from the Mount. Of these 45 students, 41 graduated with honors.
Hudson Link provides college education, life skills, and reentry support to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals to help them make a positive impact on their lives, their families, and their communities. It also aims to lower rates of recidivism, incarceration, and poverty.
For some, an education is part of a solid foundation for returning and contributing to their community. For others, it’s a way to improve themselves for their families and friends. And to all the men enrolled in the program, education represents hope.
One of the Mount graduates, Biesheem P., was a keynote speaker at the ceremony. His was a message of hope and an acknowledgement of the hard work all the graduates did to earn their degree.
It’s something no one can ever take from them, he noted.
“As we continue to grow, our light will get brighter and brighter,” said Biesheem. “And as time passes, hopefully, this same light will illuminate the cynics. And they too will begin to see beyond our bad choices to see the determination of men, who, despite their shortcomings, are pushing and striving to be better individuals. We are an example of that paradigm shift. There is a difference between who we once were and who we are striving to become.”
The ceremony was just a little bittersweet for David D., age 56. While it felt “fantastic” to have graduated from the program, David wished his journey of education could continue. To him, the program was a “cathartic experience.” If a master’s degree program were to be offered, he wouldn’t hesitate to apply.
David said that his wife, also a college grad, inspired him to join the Hudson Link program and earn a degree of his own.
The program “allowed me to expand my mind and emotions,” he explained. “It gave me the tools to think outside the box.”
After a moving speech from SUNY Chancellor John B. King, who previously served in President Barack Obama’s cabinet as the 10th U.S. Secretary of Education, the graduates heard from Sean Pica, Executive Director of Hudson Link. Like all those graduating at the ceremony, Pica earned his college degree in that same gymnasium in the early ’90s.
“We could not be prouder of this graduating class of students and to have such incredible partners in this work,” said Pica. “The challenges our students face while obtaining their degrees during incarceration often seem insurmountable, but this group persevered. By earning a college degree, we know they will be equipped for a second chance at success.”
Mount Saint Mary College student Katie Hogg produced and directed this video about the Hudson Link program. Emily Araujo was the assistant director.
Investing in education
While the recent graduation marked the first cohort of Mount B.A. graduates from the program, it was far from the first graduation that Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison has celebrated.
Hudson Link was formed in 1998 to address a lack of access and opportunity for people looking to use the power of higher education to change their lives during and after their involvement with the justice system. Currently celebrating its 25th anniversary, the organization awarded its 1,000th degree this year and continues to provide college education, life skills, and transitional services to currently and formerly incarcerated people, equipping them for greater economic and social success.
The Mount began its partnership with Hudson Link and Shawangunk Correctional Facility in January of 2020, offering a pathway to a Bachelor’s degree to those who have already completed their SUNY associate degrees.
The program isn’t only about preparing these students for life after prison – it also helps to improve the community, Pica explained.
“Ninety-five percent of people in prison are going to be released one day,” he explained. “So the question becomes, how do we want them back? Do we want them educated and ready for success outside of prison, or do we want them without marketable skills and at risk for re-offending? By offering education to the incarcerated, we are investing in more productive citizens, healthier families, and safer neighborhoods.”
To illustrate the organization’s effectiveness, Pica points to data they have collected over the decades. According to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, about 40 percent of people return to prison within three years of their release. Pica notes that the recidivism rate for those who have gone through the Hudson Link program has been 2 percent since the program began 25 years ago.
For George Abaunza, former vice president for Academic Affairs at the Mount and a professor in the Hudson Link program, the proof of Hudson Link’s positive impact is apparent right in his classroom, night after night.
“They work hard,” Abaunza said. “They read what you assign them. They read MORE than what you assign them…You’ve got a group of students who are not only dedicated, but they are incredibly appreciative.”
He added, “I can’t think of a population that could use that type of transformative power [afforded by education] than those who are incarcerated…What we offer is the opportunity for redemption and transformation.”
Shawangunk redemption
About three months before the graduation ceremony, SUNY Ulster graduate and current Mount student Willie S. discussed his journey through the Hudson Link program. Since he began in 2018, he’s put in plenty of long days reading and longer nights studying.
But it’s all been worth it.
“Education is very important to me,” he said. “It helps us see the light at the end of the tunnel [and] it changed my whole perspective on life.”
He echoed that sentiment during his keynote speech at the recent graduation: “All indicators point to education as the key to success,” Willie noted. “We have one set of keys in our hand with this accomplishment.”
Willie was one of the many who never thought he was capable of earning a college degree before joining the Hudson Link program. But now, with his associate’s degree under his belt and his bachelor’s within reach, he hopes that he can be an inspiration to other men at Shawangunk Correctional Facility who are thinking about earning a degree.
“What does education mean to me? Salvation,” Willie said.
Willie’s classmate, Tarik H., describes the Hudson Link program as “empowering.”
“Education is a beacon of hope and light – it changes your mindset,” he explained. “I’m becoming a role model.”
Being in the Hudson Link program has produced a “snowball effect” for Tarik and his classmates. “It changes the culture here,” he explained. “It takes people who you think can’t be redeemed and it turns them into redemption stories.”
A year before the Shawangunk graduation ceremony, the first graduate of the Mount’s partnership with Hudson Link, Douglas Matthews, received his diploma at the Mount’s 2022 Commencement ceremony on campus. Douglas had been released from incarceration just in time to attend the Mount’s ceremony in-person. He also returned for the Shawangunk facility’s ceremony in 2023, so he could graduate with his classmates and see them honored for their work.
Douglas summed up the impact of the Hudson Link program powerfully: “It allowed me to achieve something while I was inside,” he said. “This was one opportunity that I knew I could use to improve myself and help me to become something different, something better…It allowed me to develop myself and hopefully pass that on.”
Plans for the Mount’s next semester at the Shawangunk Correctional Facility, in partnership with Hudson Link, are already underway.
