These 3 Ex-Cons Got Scholarships to VCU

These 3 Ex-Cons Got Scholarships to VCU

By Molly Greenberg

A new Virginia Commonwealth University scholarship is giving three people who were formerly incarcerated at the Richmond City Justice Center the opportunity to continue their education.

The three ex-cons who took college classes while in jail have received John Patrick Dooley Open Minds Scholarships, which will compensate for all tuition, fees, and books for a three-credit course.

Named in honor of the late John Patrick Dooley, a VCU alum who served in Virginia’s government for over 30 years and was father to John David Dooley, another VCU alum who was a teacher in the Richmond City Sheriff’s Office for 36 years, the scholarship is made possible thanks to the Open Minds program sponsored by the Richmond City Sheriff’s Office and VCU that provides dual enrollment college classes hosted at the Richmond City Justice Center for VCU students and prison inmates alike.

“This is a historic moment,” said David Coogan, co-director of Open Minds and a professor in the Department of English in the College of Humanities and Sciences, in a statement. “Our two institutions have never had a scholarship to encourage the best students who happen to be incarcerated to go on to become the best students on campus. We hear a lot about the school-to-prison pipeline. With this new initiative, we hope to create a prison-to-school pipeline.”

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