White House invites Education Justice Project director to prison reform discussion

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — University of Illinois faculty member Rebecca Ginsburg will participate in an upcoming roundtable discussion on prison reform at the White House. Ginsburg is among a small group of college and university leaders invited to the May 6 event.

Ginsburg is director of the Education Justice Project, a college-in-prison program that provides academic courses to individuals incarcerated at Danville Correctional Center in Danville, Illinois. EJP also provides support and services to family members of Illinois prisoners and to people who have returned to Champaign and Chicago upon release from prison.

Ginsburg last visited Washington, D.C., in September 2015 at the invitation of the U.S. Department of Education to participate in a roundtable discussion about the Second Chance Pell pilot program, announced last summer. The experimental program, to begin next fall, will restore access to federal Pell Grant financial aid for some inmates to pursue postsecondary education while they’re incarcerated in state or federal institutions.

“I look forward to telling folks about the multiple successes of the U. of I. program at Danville and other efforts statewide, and to encouraging the administration to continue supporting such initiatives,” said Ginsburg, who holds faculty appointments in landscape architecture and in education policy, organization and leadership.

“It hasn’t escaped me that President Obama is likely to be especially interested in developments in his home state. I’m glad that I’ll have good news to share about the commitment to prison higher education in Illinois and the potential for our accomplishing even more together,” Ginsburg said.

The NAACP of Champaign County honored Ginsburg for her work last October by selecting her to receive its 2015 Freedom Fighter Award.

Editor’s note: To reach Rebecca Ginsburg, call 217-265-6737; email rginsbur@illinois.edu

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