Rhodes College: 45 Inmates to Earn Certificates

Starting this summer, incarcerated women at the Women’s Therapeutic Residential Center in Henning, Tennessee, can enroll in a full four-year degree program. This expansion allows inmates to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies through Rhodes College. The initiative is part of the college’s Liberal Arts in Prison program, which began in 2016.

Dr. Stephen Haynes, a 30-year professor of religious studies and humanities at Rhodes, directs the program. He cited data indicating that people involved in higher education and prison are 43% less likely to return to incarceration. The program started as a Great Books Discussion Group in the fall of 2016 with about 25 women. Demand quickly shifted toward coursework that provided college credit.

Every week, Rhodes professors and students meet at the statue of former college president Charles Diehl on campus. They then travel to the low-security rehabilitation-focused prison to teach the core curriculum. By May, approximately 45 women are expected to graduate with certificates of liberal arts. This follows a spring 2025 report that 92 incarcerated women at the facility had accumulated 765 Rhodes credits, with 32 having already earned certificates.

Jameshia Davis, an inmate serving a 24-year sentence for drug and firearm possession, completed the program and became a tutor for other women. She described her initial reaction to attending classes at Rhodes. “I thought it was hard at first, because when you hear Rhodes College, it makes you think of like Harvard or something,” Davis said. She noted that education previously seemed unlikely for her. “Education, if you would have mentioned education to me before I came to prison, I would have probably looked at you like you was crazy,” she said.

Davis has a parole hearing scheduled for May. She plans to continue her education toward a bachelor’s degree after release. She said her son in high school finds encouragement in her progress. “When they see good things that I’m doing, it makes them be like, ‘Hey. If mama can do it, I can do it,’” Davis said.

Rhodes English professor Dr. Lori Garner has participated in the program for about five years. She said the experience improves her teaching on campus. “I really think they make me a better teacher. When I learn their perspectives, I can bring them back into my classes at Rhodes,” Garner said. She added that the inmates bring diverse life experiences to stories she has taught for decades.

More than 70 students have volunteered for the program. Seniors Sophie Stevenson and Laurel Phillips lead discussion groups and organizational activities. They have been involved for two to three years and view the inmates as friends. Phillips said the group shares details about their children, pets, and parole dates. “We hear about their kids and their grandkids and the pets and the birthdays and special occasions and when they are going up for parole and like potentially going to be released,” Phillips said.

Stevenson said the program has defined her college career. “I would love to keep working in prisons after this, and I’m really grateful to have gotten this opportunity,” Stevenson said. She noted that she did not know this option existed when she arrived at college.

The expansion is funded by a $500,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation. The grant supports the new degree program and the expansion of educational programming in the men’s facility at West Tennessee State Penitentiary. Program sponsors are currently seeking donors to help sustain the initiative into the future.