From 1970 to today
Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program
In 2009, faculty from GVSU’s School of Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Legal Studies adopted the international Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. This program brought 15 “outside” students (from the Allendale and Grand Rapids campuses) into the Michigan Reformatory to learn with 15 incarcerated (“inside”) students on a weekly basis. Although the program ceased during the COVID-19 pandemic when the host prison closed, the program overall served more than 300 “inside” and “outside” students. In spring 2021, the Dean’s Office in the College of Community and Public Service awarded the program the Emerging Community Engagement Initiative Award for its work.
Read more about the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program at GVSU in Sanda Vazgec's story, "Criminal justice class takes students inside state's oldest prison," in the Sept. 22, 2016, edition of the Grand Valley Lanthorn.
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