Pictured: Inaugural graduates of the 2024 LIFTED cohort celebrate their degree accomplishments. Courtesy of Steve Zylius/UC Irvine.
Original article published on the UC Irvine School of Social Sciences website.
Article by Heather Ashbach, UCI Social Sciences.
As an undergraduate honors student, UC Irvine sociology major Jesse Rinke has immersed himself in his studies and academic research since his acceptance as a transfer student in summer 2023.
“I started out taking an English class, then stats,” he said. “I would say that one has been my favorite class so far – but every quarter I’ve enjoyed every class.”
He’s hoping to continue his love for learning as a graduate student with plans to pursue research on how incarcerated individuals experience the system and access opportunities for self-improvement and personal growth. He’ll be approaching the topic from a unique perspective: Rinke is currently incarcerated at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. He’s one of 18 students in the second LIFTED (Leveraging Inspiring Futures Through Educational Degrees) cohort whose sights are set on receiving a degree in sociology this June.
“Jesse is a dream student,” says David John Frank, UC Irvine professor and chair of sociology. “He writes with grace and responds with clarity. He listens as well as he speaks. And he draws meaningful connections between course materials and his own life experiences. Jesse ranks among the best students I’ve had in my thirty-year career.”
Frank is one of LIFTED’s dedicated UC Irvine faculty who have been making the drive to the San Diego facility to teach in-person courses since the program’s launch in fall 2022. He’s joined by faculty from the schools of social ecology, social sciences, arts, business, humanities, law, education, and engineering who offer quarter-long, in-person courses on topics ranging from politics, law and society to philosophy, literature and science.
“It’s an opportunity not only for students to study but to re-write their life narratives,” he says. “Stories that used to end with incarceration get reopened with degrees from the University of California.”
Funded through federal Pell grants, state Blue & Gold tuition grants, and a California legislative budget allocation, LIFTED is the University of California’s first in-prison bachelor’s program. Its students must meet the same admission requirements as other UC transfer students and the same graduation requirements, as well, to receive their degrees.
“LIFTED extends educational opportunities to eligible students in the state prison system; in return, UC Irvine staff and faculty have the opportunity to work with a diverse group of majority first-generation, Pell-eligible college students who are excelling — earning campus-wide writing awards and honors, making the Dean’s Honor Roll in record numbers, and even applying to graduate programs from within prison,” says program director Keramet Reiter, UC Irvine professor of criminology, law and society.
The program was designed as a demonstration project with infrastructure that is readily replicable with UC-community college-prison collaborations across the state.
“California has been a leader in providing public higher education opportunities to incarcerated students; with UC LIFTED, we are fulfilling the vision of California’s Master Plan for public, higher education of ‘allowing anyone from anywhere’ the opportunity to enjoy the rewards of a college education, extending UC opportunities to a broader range of eligible students,” she says. And the results speak for themselves.
“Students tell us about their kids, nieces, nephews, siblings, and spouses, being inspired by incarcerated loved ones to return to college themselves. Indeed, for one-fifth the cost of a year of incarceration, college programs in prison reduce recidivism rates from one-in-three people to nearly zero people,” she adds. “Not investing in college education starts to seem like the less logical, riskier proposition.”
For Rinke, the opportunity to continue his education has been a lifeline. The 40-year-old Navy veteran from Lawrence, Kansas has been incarcerated in San Diego since September 2017 with the roots of his journey tracing back much further. His father, who struggled with bipolar disorder, took his own life when Rinke was just a child. The family faced deep emotional and financial hardships that followed Rinke into adulthood. Through work and education in prison, he has found purpose in understanding how early traumas can contribute to incarceration and he’s helping others process their own pasts.
“Impactful events lead to emotional struggles – low self-esteem, a ubiquitous sense of deep shame for the circumstances – that make it hard to get along in school or in life after something like this happens,” he says. “Recovery is a process of going back into these memories, rather than suppressing them, so when I work with other people, it humbles me to create that space for someone. It’s powerful and healing.”
When he was offered a position with RJD’s Peer Leadership Mentorship Program to help GED students study for their exams, the job required a move to where the LIFTED program would launch. And Rinke jumped at the chance. At the time, he was working as a superintendent clerk and had already completed several AA degrees in math, science and behavioral sciences, but there was no opportunity to continue beyond the associate degree. LIFTED filled that gap, and Rinke soon found himself taking additional courses to meet the remaining requirements for admission to the program to earn a degree in sociology.
“I had to switch gears from what I’d previously been studying to ask what is sociology really looking at?” he says. “Going through all these classes and learning about society and how it’s put together and formed helped me look more at my past and understand myself, my own development, and that’s been very powerful. Being incarcerated with people of all walks of life but also similarities – similar socioeconomic backgrounds, coming from marginalized communities – put meaning to these abstract concepts I learned about.”
In particular, he’s enjoyed professor Frank’s course and mentorship. “Being in the same room with him and hearing him lecture and his feedback on my work has been an amazing experience,” Rinke says. “He’s an incredible mentor and human being and he’s had such an effect on my self-awareness, future and the way I can impact my community.”
With just one quarter left to go in his bachelor’s degree, Rinke has no intention of slowing down. As he explores options to continue his education while incarcerated, he has immediate plans to put what he’s learned to work.
“We have lots of peer-to-peer support groups here; incarcerated people are facilitating subjects like anger management and domestic violence,” he says. “I would love to continue to work with people on a rehabilitative level – help them process trauma, create spaces where they feel comfortable talking about past experiences. Those are the types of things that help people be motivated to go forward in life – pursue education, religious services, be involved.”
“With the skills that I’ve learned through UCI, I can be a big help with that movement in our community. And that’s something I’ll be doing as soon as all the coursework is in, essays are written, and diplomas are in hand. It’ll be time to get to work.”
Looking back, he’s so thankful for all the mentors and professors who helped make the program possible.
“I’ve never had so many people believe in me. It’s changed my life,” he says. “This degree, this program have shaped me into a better person.”