I am proud to share with you that CR's Pelican Bay Scholars Program earned the California Community Colleges Board of Governors’ 2019-20 Exemplary Program Award.

The Board of Governors established the Exemplary Program Award in 1991 to recognize outstanding community college programs. The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges selects annual themes and this year focused on student support services.

Our Pelican Bay Scholars Program, established in January of 2016, serves incarcerated students at Pelican Bay State prison, a maximum-security facility near the Oregon border. Our program that incorporates sufficient student support services underscores the California Legislature’s commitment to educating and rehabilitating the incarcerated. More than 95 percent of those in jail and prison will be released and the incarcerated who are receiving an education while behind bars have 43 percent lower odds of recidivism after being set free.

Rory Johnson summed up the importance of our program in a June 2019 Times-Standard article when he said “They [incarcerated prisoners] didn’t have access to quality higher education before we came along,” Johnson said. “Just because they’re in prison doesn’t mean they can’t benefit from an education and that society can’t benefit from their education.”

Please join me in thanking the following faculty and staff colleagues for contributing to the success of our Pelican Bay Scholars Program:

Faculty: Christopher Callahan, Will Meriwether, Bernadette Johnson, Levi Gill, and Ashley Knowlton

Associate Faculty: Chrystal Helton, Erica Silver, Sandra Rowen, John Schutt, Jesse Leimer, Melissa Courtnage, Misa Smith, Celia Perez, Kade Pomerleau, Jennifer Miles, David Sedgewick, Jermaine Brubaker, and Jennifer Dutton

Classified Staff: Tory Eagles, Tanya Anderson, Angela Schauber, and Lynn Durkee

Administrators: Rory Johnson and Angelina Hill