About

Our Mission

The WVU Higher Education in Prison Initiative (HEPI) improves educational access for people imprisoned in the Appalachian region and generates experiential learning and research opportunities for WVU students and faculty. 

HEPI coordinates an associate degree program and offers a range of educational programming for people in prison. We provide reentry support for currently and previously incarcerated students. We also organize campus and community events that explore solutions to the crisis of mass incarceration.

Our Values and Guiding Beliefs 

HEPI emerged from a decades-long partnership between West Virginia University (WVU) and the Appalachian Prison Book Project (APBP). The central work of the initiative is to build an associate degree program at State Correctional Institution Greene (SCI Greene), a maximum-security prison in Waynesburg, PA. The initiative aims to build an intellectual and creative network that bridges the divide of prison walls and makes possible a more diverse and inclusive Mountaineer community. 

HEPI raises money to cover costs for tuition, books, and instruction. A three-year grant from the Laughing Gull Foundation and a two-year grant from The Sunshine Lady Foundation have provided critical support along with the steady contributions of APBP. 

“Securing multi-year funding validated the ongoing work we have been doing to better extend higher education opportunities to this often overlooked population,” said Program Coordinator and Co-Founder Rayna Momen. “We are grateful to the various stakeholders for believing in our vision.”

In addition to offering credit-bearing classes in prison, HEPI develops leadership from people who have been directly impacted by the criminal punishment system, provides support to returning citizens who want to pursue higher education, and integrates restorative practices and a commitment to racial justice into everyday operations. 

In Fall 2022, HEPI launched the associate degree program at SCI Greene in partnership with Waynesburg University. Upon completion of the sixty-credit curriculum, students will earn an Associate of Arts degree in Professional Studies from Waynesburg University.

HEPI is committed to reciprocal modes of learning, to broadening horizons and hopes, and to joy. Classes are taught by WVU faculty who experience a revitalized commitment to teaching and, without access to technology, develop more interactive and collaborative classroom strategies. Similarly, WVU on-campus undergraduates and graduate students develop skills and passions, pursue new career and educational paths, and name this experience as the most impactful in their college lives.

Dr. Katy Ryan, WVU English Professor and HEPI Founding Director, taught the inaugural Inside-Out course. “This American drama class was one of the highlights of my 23 years of college teaching. Each week students collaborated on original performances in response to plays we read by August Wilson, Lorraine Hansberry, ntozoke shange, Clifford Odets, Tony Kushner, and Quiara Algería Hudes. Students made brilliant props, wrote poems and songs, and shared incredibly moving performances. They also built a beautiful community dedicated to lifelong growth and learning.”

After the course ended, students, faculty, and prison staff began meeting biweekly as a Think Tank to develop more programming at SCI Greene. This group, named the Inspiring Change Collective, created a book club that rotates through the prison, increased access to mental health awareness strategies, and formed an inside advisory council for the degree program. The Collective also worked to strengthen vocational training, develop a peer mentoring program, and increase creative outlets for people inside. 

HEPI prioritizes student leadership and supports programs within the prison that grew out of credit-bearing courses. Students created a a peer-led mentorship program and are peer tutors at the Greene Writing Studio, which is modeled after the on-campus Eberly Writing Studio. HEPI also hosts semesterly creative writing workshops led by American fiction writer and essayist Dr. Ann Pancake. "The whole process of us coming together for this collaborative project," said an inaugural cohort member, "is the tangible proof that by working together, side by side, we could achieve a lot in making a way for better living… Things are finally looking up for once.”

For more information on WVU HEPI, including ways to support the initiative, contact Katy Ryan, Founding Director, at kohearnr@wvu.edu or Rayna Momen, Program Coordinator, at rmomen@mix.wvu.edu.