Thanks to the support from U.S. senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, the Goucher Prison Education Partnership (GPEP) recently received a $355,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to upgrade and expand its offerings.

GPEP celebrated the first college graduation ever held in a woman’s prison in Maryland. NPR spoke to graduate Janet Johnson ’23 and Meredith Conde, GPEP’s director of operations and prison affairs, while reporting on nationwide access to college in prison.

Ann W. Duncan, the Susan D. Morgan Professor of American Studies and Religion at Goucher, has been named executive director of GPEP.

GPEP student James Randles III won the Rhoda M. Dorsey Leadership Award, which recognizes students for their sustained leadership, commitment, teamwork, ingenuity, and ability to work with those within and outside the Goucher community. James' mother Diane Richards, pictured here, accepted the award from Goucher President Kent Devereaux on behalf of her son.

The Goucher Prison Education Partnership (GPEP) was featured on WYPR's "Midday." The show's host, Tom Hall, interviewed GPEP Executive Director Eliza Cornejo, who discussed the program's current focus on expanding student academic opportunities and reducing time to degree.