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#UMassGives 2023 begins tomorrow and it is an opportunity for you to support vital initiatives on campus. We hope that you will consider donating to WGSS directly and/or to the UMass Prison Education Initiative, which is run by WGSS's Laura Ciolkowski. 

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The UMass Prison Education Initiative (PEI) is powered by faculty, students, and community partners who are engaged in prison education, research, and teaching, and who actively support equity and access to higher education.

The Initiative, with offices in the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, offers tuition-free UMass courses inside local jails, including “inside-out” courses that enroll UMass students and incarcerated students. The PEI also works to clear pathways for formerly incarcerated students to continue their education at UMass or in a community college setting and provides research, teaching, and community engagement opportunities for faculty and students interested in social justice and education.

Your gift will help us to:

• Purchase course books for incarcerated students
• Support our literary arts programming inside jails
• Provide transportation for UMass students to attend classes in the jail with their incarcerated classmates
• Create internships and paid opportunities for formerly incarcerated students to gain valuable work experience and contribute to the work of the PEI
• Train UMass students to provide academic support to people pursuing a college degree while incarcerated