HBCU Forward Initiative at Howard University

 

A collaborative initiative between the PGP and Howard University students and faculty 

In January 2021, the PGP launched a multi-year initiative to redesign our volunteer experience, in order to elevate and better support Black volunteer tutors, recognizing that those most impacted by the criminal legal system should be leading efforts to change it. We know that racism embedded in the carceral state, as well as family and community history of incarceration, may prevent Black college students from volunteering and has the potential to make the tutoring experience inside carceral facilities traumatic.

PGP received a multi-year grant from the Pritchard Foundation to develop a model program for Black volunteer tutors at Howard University (HU), which prepares them to tutor inside carceral facilities and reentry spaces, process their experience, and lead criminal justice awareness work through campus-based education and advocacy.

To launch the initiative, the PGP is collaborating with HU professor Dr. Bahiyyah Muhammad, founding director of Howard’s Higher Education Prison Program. Dr. Muhammad is partnering with the PGP to design, pilot, and evaluate our enhanced volunteer model through a participatory action research process that centers the experiences and insights of Black volunteer tutors.

The initiative has three phases: 

  • Phase 1 (Summer/Spring 2021) – Research and planning

  • Phase 2 (2021/2022) – Pilot and evaluate 

  • Phase 3 (2022/2023) – Iterate and replicate 

We are pleased to share with you now a report from phase 1 of the initiative, which analyzes the PGP’s current tutor training and volunteer support model, and 2020-2023 Strategic Plan, as they relate to the initiative's goal of elevating and supporting Black volunteer tutors. The report also outlines recommendations that will guide the design and implementation of our model program with Howard volunteers during the 2021/2022 academic year.

For questions on the initiative, please contact Maco L. Faniel, Director of Equity, Inclusion and Justice Education.

 
 
The Petey Greene Program