Inmates earn degrees from Shaw University and donate to help restore campus

  Eleven inmates at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women (NCCIW) were awarded their degrees from Shaw University on Thursday, May 26th in a graduation ceremony held in the prison’s chapel. Two inmates earned bachelor of arts degrees and nine earned associates degrees.

   Gwendolyn Chunn, a nationally known juvenile justice expert and former president of the American Correctional Association, spoke to the graduates.

  At the end of the graduation ceremony, inmates who are members of the NCCIW Women’s Club and the NCCIW Recreation Club presented a check for $1,000 to Shaw University officials to help in the repair and cleanup of the Shaw campus, which was hit hard by a tornado last month.

  “Within 4 or 5 hours after the storm passed through, I had inmates asking what they could do for Shaw,” said Warden Bianca Harris. “You might not expect that coming from here, but that’s how these ladies are."

  Fifty-seven inmates from NCCIW and the neighboring Raleigh Correctional Center for Women are currently enrolled in classes through Shaw University’s Center for Alternative Programs in Education.