REGION
Saturday, June 17, 2017
East Oregonian
Diplomas offer new beginning for EOCI inmates
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Pendleton High School
and Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College had already
wrapped up their graduation
ceremonies, but pomp and
circumstance played one
more time in Pendleton on
Friday.
As the graduates walked
down the aisle, blue jeans
stamped with the Department
of Corrections logo peeked
out from underneath black
robes, hinting at the rough
road each graduate had
traveled to get there — a
road that had landed them in
Eastern Oregon Correctional
Institution.
No one had taken as long
of an educational journey
as Eric Burnham, who was
recognized for earning a
master’s degree in Christian
counseling from Liberty
University. When Burnham
was first incarcerated 17
years ago he didn’t even have
a GED.
“I fell in with violent
friends, got in a fight with
another man and it went real
bad and I caught a lot of
prison time,” he said.
He credits his educational
opportunities in prison with
taking him on a journey of
self-discovery and change.
“You begin to realize
there’s
a
fundamental
problem with the way you
view other people and the
way you view yourself, “
he said. “I realized I could
contribute to society. I didn’t
have to be a drain.”
Most of the men in caps
and gowns were there to
receive a GED, but Mark
Fernandez
was
getting
his associate of general
studies from Blue Mountain
Community College.
The degree was made
possible by the New Direc-
tions Education Project, a
Pendleton nonprofit that uses
private grants and donations
to fund college courses at the
prison. After accepting his
diploma in front of family
members who had traveled
from other states to see his
graduation, Fernandez had a
long list of people he wanted
to thank, including instruc-
tors, peer mentors and prison
staff.
Because New Directions
only has the resources to offer
inmates a couple of college
classes per quarter, Fernandez
said getting a college degree
from BMCC was a “slow
process” he began in 2008.
“It was an escape from
prison life, to concentrate on
learning,” he said.
Stan Prowant, who was
one of Fernandez’s instruc-
tors from 2008 to 2013, told
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Mark Fernandez, right, receives his associate of general
studies degree at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution.
the audience that he was a
“very excellent student” who
was quiet, personable and
always prepared.
The 32 students receiving
a GED at the ceremony,
represented by class speaker
Donald Klein, was the largest
group of graduates at one of
the EOCI’s quarterly ceremo-
nies since the requirements
for a GED were increased in
2014.
John Remington, speech
and literature instructor,
congratulated them in his
keynote address for having
the courage to come to class
each week.
“Your education is the one
thing that no one can ever
take away from you, the one
thing you will always carry
with you,” he said.
There are critics who say
the opportunity to get a college
degree in prison takes away
from the punishment of incar-
ceration, but after Friday’s
graduation ceremony New
Directions board member
Bonnie Douglas said there is
clear research showing that
the more educated an inmate
is, the less likely they are to
return to prison after they get
out. And a majority of them
will get out at some point.
“Most of them will be your
neighbor someday,” she said.
Prowant added that the
connection seems obvious —
if someone gets out of prison
with no education and no job
skills, it makes it hard to find
a way to support themselves
without resorting to crime.
He described teaching
college courses like geology
at the prison as “teaching at
an all-boys school where they
all wear uniforms” — with
some exceptions, of course.
“They always ask me, can
we take a field trip? And then
they all laugh,” he said.
His students landed in
prison for serious offenses,
including violent crimes, but
only the best-behaved, most
motivated inmates are recom-
mended to New Beginnings,
so Prowant said in some ways
they were easier to teach than
his classes on the regular
BMCC campus were.
“You ask them to do
homework, they all do
their homework,” he said.
“They’re always there.”
Mardel James-Bose, an
instructor and board member,
said she and most other
instructors are able to look
up what their students were
convicted of, but usually try
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hard to avoid knowing what
they are in prison for so that it
doesn’t cloud their judgment
of the student’s academic
work.
Douglas said New Begin-
nings was started 16 years
ago after a federal rule change
that denied inmates access to
Pell Grants. Inmates in the
New Beginnings program
pay only $10 per credit hour
out of their own pockets,
which she said is “a lot more
money” on the inside than
in everyday society. Since
New Beginnings only offers
two classes at a time, and
they’re not always the classes
an inmate needs to finish up
their degree, getting just an
associate’s degree is a years-
long process, which is why
only six inmates have actually
graduated so far through New
Beginnings even though there
are many more taking classes.
After leaving New Begin-
nings, some inmates can earn
a more advanced degree by
finding acceptance to one
of the shrinking number of
colleges that still offer “snail
mail” correspondence courses
that don’t require internet
access.
For more information
about New Beginnings,
visit bluecc.edu/community/
correctional-facility-educa-
tion/new-directions.
———
Contact Jade McDowell at
jmcdowell@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4536.
PM
2255 Highway 395 South. Hermiston, OR
Dean’s Pendleton Athletic
Frank Szumski, D.O.
360.921.2071
Kelly Lumber & Supply
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400 BLOCK • OF MAIN STREET
PENDLETON
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Pre-registration $20.00 • Day of Event $25.00
Forms available at CMEO or online at www.cmeo.org
RAFFLE • FOOD • KIDS’ ACTIVITIES • HOTDOG EATING CONTEST
Proceeds from this event help maintain and update exhibits at the Children’s Museum
Questions? contact us at 541.276.1066 or fi nd us on
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L AW O F F ICE
Michael
Breiling
Attorney at Law
discuss a contested piece
of land it owns north of the
Umatilla River.
A group of residents
attended the previous
meeting and requested that
the commission reverse
course and set aside the
land for preservation. The
commission had previously
looked at marketing the
land for riverfront housing.
The commission’s advi-
sory committee has recom-
mended continuing to work
with the group through
Jan. 1, 2018, which would
provide the group with time
to devise a plan that could
include purchasing the
property for preservation
purposes.
The commission will
also consider raising the
maximum amount of a
second story development
grant from $25,000 to
$150,000. If the devel-
opment includes a new
elevator, the applicant
would be eligible for an
additional $50,000.
A vote is also scheduled
to establish the Fresh Start
program, a grant program
for new downtown build-
ings that will pay up to 10
percent of a project’s cost
up to $100,000. The new
Pendleton Veterinary Clinic
on Southwest Emigrant
Avenue will be grandfa-
thered into the program.
Hermiston hosts receipt contest
East Oregonian
Local residents need to
dig into their pockets and
dresser drawers and pull out
receipts made for purchases
at businesses that are
members of the Hermiston
Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber is holding
a Summer Receipt Reward
Contest for a chance to win
a Body Champ Cardio Dual
Trainer from Big 5 Sporting
Goods, which is valued at
$299.99.
Purchases must be made
between June 1-30. For a list
of eligible businesses, review
the chamber membership
directory at www.hermiston-
chamber.com.
Receipts, which people
can keep, need to be taken to
the chamber for verification
by Friday, June 30. Every
$50 spent equals one entry.
The office is open Monday
through Thursdays from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays
from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at
the Hermiston Conference
Center, 415 S. Highway 395.
The drawing will be
announced Saturday, July 8
during Hermiston FunFest.
The winner doesn’t need to
be present.
For more information,
contact 541-567-6151 or
info@hermistonchamber.
com.
SPONSORS
Arrowhead Travel Plaza
useum of Easter
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With the increasing
presence of food trucks in
Pendleton, the city wants to
create a set of regulations
for them.
At a meeting Tuesday,
the council will consider
an ordinance that would
create new rules for mobile
food vendors. According to
a staff report, the ordinance
was put together using the
approaches other communi-
ties have taken to the issue.
If the ordinance passes,
vendors will be required to
obtain a business license
and a consent agreement
that shows that the vendor
is insured and has passed a
health inspection.
Mobile food vendors
can only be located in a
parking lot and cannot be
located within 100 feet of
another vendor that sells
similar food. None of the
location standards apply to
vendors that are being used
in conjunction with special
outdoor events.
The ordinance also
establishes a “mobile
vendor plaza” at Riverfront
Park on Southwest Court
Avenue, where multiple
vendors can locate.
The council will also
meet as the Pendleton
Development Commission,
where the commission will
Jason Walker, D.M.D.
Multi-state: $80 or Oregon only: $45.00
Required class to get an Oregon or multi-State
permit. Class includes:
• Fingerprinting & photo
• Oregon gun laws
• Washington gun laws
• Interstate travel laws
• Interaction with law enforcement
• Use of deadly force
• Firearm / ammunition / holster selection
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Food truck regulations
on city council agenda
Pendleton High School Senior Class of 2017 graduates
and Parents appreciates the support from the
following businesses for their generous donations to
sponsor the Drug and Alcohol Free activities.
Best Western
E
PENDLETON
East Oregonian
Inmates at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution stand after receiving their GED
in a graduation ceremony at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution.
Page 3A
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