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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.edu

PRISON INITIATIVE