NASHVILLE — When Lipscomb University professor Richard Goode first had the idea of offering basic college classes to prisoners, he had no idea how popular the program would become. Last week, nine women received a special associate’s degree from the college after seven years of work.
It is not just the inmates who love the program, but also professors and traditional Lipscomb students who vie for opportunities to teach and attend classes inside the Tennessee Prison for Women.
Goode’s original goal was to offer six courses during two years for 18 credit hours. He met that goal in 2009, but the women who attended classes faithfully each week — often asking for additional reading and homework — did not want to stop. The university created an associates degree for them.
The nine inmates who graduated Friday were surrounded by robed faculty and fellow students from the outside who came to support them in their achievement.
Many fellow inmates attended as the women walked up the aisle of the prison gym .
Unlike many prison courses, the Lipscomb program has regular undergraduate classes at the prison one day each week. Professors trek out to the prison for the classes, as do 20 to 25 traditional students.