ACC TDCJ Commencement Ceremony
ACC TDCJ Commencement Ceremony
“Regardless of where you started or what obstacles you faced your past does not define your future,” said Commencement speaker Parehkumar Patel, ACC grants project specialist. “Every day brings a new opportunity to rewrite your story, reshape your path and reinvent yourself.”
Over the past two months, 57 students have received their degrees at the Stringfellow, Ramsey, Clemens and Jester III units.
Thirt- two inmates were honored with their Associate's Degree at the Stringfellow ceremony. Several inmates also received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
DCJ studies have shown that the rate of recidivism, or chance of return to prison, greatly declines as an offender’s educational level increases.
“This is not just personal transformation, it’s about becoming a beacon of change in the community and beyond,” Patel said. “You’re transforming not only yourselves but the generations to come.”
ACC offered the first college classes to inmates at the Texas Department of Corrections in 1965. ACC was the first institution of higher education in Texas to offer college programs at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In 2016, ACC was one of 67 colleges throughout the United States to be chose to participate in the Second Chance Pell program, which provides grants to inmate students.
Prior to enrolling in college while in prison, each inmate must first earn their high school diploma or GED, and pass all the same entrance tests required for every college student.
ACC grants project specialist Pareshkumar Patel delivers the Commencement address at the TDCJ Stringfellow Unit on November 9.
ACC graduates wave at loved ones during the Commencement ceremony at the TDCJ Stringfellow Unit on November 9.
ACC graduate Brian Cawthon, left, receives his diploma from ACC President Dr. Robert J. Exley during the TDCJ Stringfellow Unit on November 9.
