The commencement procession of CUNY faculty clad in their ceremonial regalia exited the blue room staging area nearby, passed down the center aisle of seated guests, and filed onto the gym stage of Otisville Correctional Facility on Friday, May 8. The group headed towards the first ever City University of New York graduation held in prison

Banners emblazoned with CUNY, BMCC, Prison-to-College Pathways/P2CP and John Jay College of Criminal Justice hung from various places inside of the recreation center of 57 Sanatorium Road in Mt. Hope, New York.

A trio of incarcerated individuals, graduating students David Adamson, Tyler Gaston and Derek Smith, garbed in cap and gown, sat in the front row of guests attending the historic commencement. 

Founded by Dr. Baz Dreisinger and former John Jay President Jeremy Travis, the P2CP program was originally intended for the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility on Staten Island. Weeks before the scheduled start date in 2011, the prison closed, forcing coordinators of the program to scramble for another option, shifting their focus instead to Otisville.

Upon its delayed but eventual inauguration, Dr. Baz, as many P2CP students affectionately call her, taught one class per semester to an initiating cohort of 14 students.

A professor of English at John Jay, Baz is also the founder and Executive Director of Incarceration Nations, an international organization dedicated to social justice through education for the incarcerated. After earlier penning a book of the same name, the global movement gained momentum, with Baz herself shepherding its development and assisting in the creation of prison college programs modeled after P2CP in other countries.

In the Fall of 2024, the Borough of Manhattan Community College and John Jay officially established a partnership to confer associate degrees in liberal arts to incarcerated students who completed a prerequisite curriculum of BMCC courses.

On the campus of John Jay, students expressed support for their incarcerated counterparts and praised the college’s efforts to balance the scales of justice with higher education for the justice-impacted.

Joyce Kabengele, a sophomore majoring in forensic science, is proud of her alma mater and of students in the program.

“I’m excited that my college could offer such opportunities,” said Kabengele. “I’m proud of people that, despite being in prison, still had the courage to go through school.” 

Jefferson Reyes, also a sophomore forensic science major, believes that what is being offered is transformative. 

“People change, have a right to change. They want to get educated. They want to be someone,” said Reyes. “It’s good that John Jay is giving [an] opportunity to prisoners to study. Whatever they decide to do with their lives, I wish them the best.”

Some students enrolled in P2CP prior to its partnership with BMCC. Five alumni from among those earlier cohorts were present as guests of P2CP and its partner organization, the John Jay College Institute for Justice and Opportunity.

The five were included in a contingent of guests transported by chartered bus from the John Jay campus to Otisville, a long and winding ride of over two hours. All guests were required to pass a security screening by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

Harold Capers, a senior majoring in human services and community justice, was one of the five P2CP alumni invited. He initially enrolled while incarcerated at Otisville, beginning his studies in Spring 2022. 

After release from prison, Capers continued studying for his bachelor’s degree at John Jay. Currently interning at the institute, he is proud of his academic accomplishments which culminate in commencement on June 1 at the Barclays Center.

Like others who enrolled in P2CP, he was not entirely confident of his own abilities when he began matriculating.

“I was doubtful at first,” said Capers, “because I hadn’t been to school in a long time.”

Capers recalled the program’s academic director, Carla Barrett, offering words of wisdom to allay any concerns he had about relearning how to learn. 

“She said, ‘Harold, you don’t have to go to school to educate yourself. All you have to do is pick up a book,’” said Capers.

 “And I realized that I’d been doing that for years, you know,” he said.” So, I just got into class, started doing the work, and once I got the flow, that was it.”

Andre Ward, Executive Director of the institute, was himself incarcerated at Otisville C.F., released in 2006 several years before the creation of P2CP. At the May 8 ceremony, he reminded the graduating and newly enrolled students of his own journey to success.  

“I once sat where you are now, right here in this gym,” said Ward.

After offering brief anecdotes on their experiences attending college in prison, then receiving their associate in liberal arts degrees with congratulatory handshakes, graduates Adamson, Gaston and Smith next took part in a time-honored tradition.

Accompanied by the applause of CUNY faculty and the guests in attendance, the trio moved their tassels to the left side of their mortar boards.

Capers looked around at the large cohort of newer students present for the ceremony, but just beginning their academic journey. The moment was not only a sign of the program’s growing popularity and success but the dedication of individuals like Capers as well.

“It feels good to see more students, man,” said Capers. “I feel I gave something back.”

Harold’s videography, “Capers in Community Justice” is viewable on The John Jay Sentinel Multimedia page and will be screened at the Digital Video Production Spring Showcase in the Moot Court on Thursday, May 21, 2026, during community hour.