illy holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbia International University. That
may not seem like a big deal until you consider Billy is an inmate in the South
Carolina Department of Corrections. He was one of 14 student-inmates to receive his
college degree at the CIU Prison Initiative commencement ceremony at the Kirkland
Correctional Institution in Columbia on Dec. 11.
The mission of the CIU Prison Initiative is to train inmates through an Associate of
Arts degree, to live in accordance with biblical principles and to equip them for the
unique ministry opportunities afforded by their incarceration. After graduation they
are assigned as chaplain assistants to prisons throughout South Carolina.
But Billy (full name withheld because of security concerns) who had already been
through the Prison Initiative program, kept on learning and found Ashworth College
in Georgia that allowed him to study via correspondence, doing his assignments with
pen and paper. (Online learning is not possible for the inmates because of Internet
access restrictions.) His credits that included a concentration in Psychology, were then
transferred to CIU which issued his diploma. Billy says he is not done.
“University of Nevada and University of South Dakota offer master-level classes in
counseling,” Billy told CIU Today. “That’s the direction I want to go because I want to
get into drug and alcohol counseling. That was my (criminal) background and there
are so many guys in here hurting because of drugs and alcohol, the counseling will
help me with ministry.”
Since its inception in 2007, 95 men and women have graduated from the CIU Prison
Initiative and serve in over 20 prisons.
B
CIU Student-Inmate Earns Bachelor’s Degree
By Bob Holmes
he commencement speaker at the
December CIU Prison Initiative
reminded the graduates that they are in
a unique position to reach their fellow
inmates for Christ because they share
their “chains.”
The speaker was the director of the CIU
Prison Initiative, The Rev. Andre Melvin
whose commencement address came
from Hebrews 13:3 that includes the
admonition to “remember the prisoners
as if chained with them.”
“You might say that this admonishment is
for those of us who are on the outside,”
Melvin told the graduates. “But I want
to push you forward. Now that you have
been equipped and trained, now it is
your turn to take the lead and show us
how it’s done. Why? Because you know
better than we do how to relate and
minister to (prisoners).
“Because you are walking in their shoes
you can relate to the inmate better than
we could ever relate to them. That’s
the goal of this program. You can reach
people that I can never reach.”
T
“Remember the
Prisoners as if Chained
with Them”
CIU Prison Initiative graduates walk through the prison
yard on their way to commencement ceremonies at
Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia.
CIU Prison Initiative
Director Andre Melvin
15
CIU Today
www.ciu.eduPRISON INITIATIVE